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99C/99C
20s/20s

I forgot I have to review and narrow down resumes by the end of the day. Time to drink something I know I’ll enjoy to try to knock this out in an hour.

99C/99C/99C/99C/99C
20s/20s/25s/25s/30s

The dry leaves are dark and have a nice, deep, mineral-y aroma that gets even nicer once the leaves are wet.

Medium liquor that is just a bit on the lighter side.
First steep is quite mineral-y and has some bitterness. The SO describes it as being like drinking perfume, but I don’t get that sense from it. Not particularly flavorful for me, and not too much of an aftertaste, just a hint of mineral and that sensation of having consumed something salty. I would say the bitterness wanes off a bit in the second and third steeps, but the flavor is more or less the same.

It’s a busy day, so the leaves end up sitting for probably more than an hour after this before I come back to them. They don’t really seem to be evolving into anything else for me, so I’m going to call this session done and I’ll have to try brewing this tea another way next time so I can get a better feel for it!

70C/80C
30s/30s

Steeped uncovered in gaiwan. Medium-colored liquor.

The first time I drank this I didn’t mind it, but it’s not doing it for me this time. The leaves themselves smell burnt to me, and the first steep tastes artificial. There is nuttiness and a roasted taste there, it just doesn’t taste authentic to me.

The second steep is a little bit better, but not by much. I think it’s just not for me. I’ve got 8 grams left of this, but I don’t see myself drinking it.

Decided to switch it up from the Sae Kabusecha that I’ve been obsessing over lately and only have a few sessions-worth left of. I used a little less leaf than I have previously and still got a lot of great flavor out of it. The thing that continues to surprise me about this tea is the creamy mouthfeel it leaves behind. I even feel a bit of a head rush after a few steeps, but this is my second tea of the day, so there’s probably some caffeine in my system from earlier.

This is a great option for sharing with people who are newer to Japanese teas, especially shaded teas. This is a great option for enjoying the flavor shaded tea has to offer without being overwhelmed.

We drank this with a bit of the included vanilla bean this time and that definitely amped up the vanilla flavor! We continue to enjoy this one!

This is pretty compressed and taking off the top of the mushroom “cap” worked out best.
It smells like the ground and the first steep kinda tastes like ashes.

The second steep smells more mushroomy and umami. The SO says it smells like octopus. The taste is getting more earthy and leathery and there is less of that ash taste.

Third steep, I feel like more smokiness is coming out, which I really enjoy. I am a fan of smoky tea. The leaves are getting nicely expanded at this point, and I’m getting even more of that nice, mushroomy aroma. Gonna keep going with this one, as I’m enjoying it more with each steep. There hasn’t been much noticeable bitterness or anything, and it’s been mostly pretty smooth with a noticeable soothing sensation left behind in the throat. If anything else particularly stand-out surfaces I’ll update this. But in any case, I’ll definitely be coming back to it in the future.

I was so intrigued by the aroma and taste of this one yesterday that I decided to give it another try today. I switched up my brewing parameters a bit this time around to do more, shorter infusions. The steeping leaves, again, smell very much of sweet, toasty nuts. The first steep is very light in color and flavor, it has a hint of creamy nuttiness with a very smooth texture that coats the mouth and throat.

The second steep is slightly more vegetal but still quite light in flavor, and the third steep is bringing out the slightest bit of bitterness, the nuttiness mellowing out with each steep. I can tell if I keep going it’ll just get more bitter while the other flavors will continue to diminish, so I’ll call it done for now. Was a good session!