O-Cha.com

Smooth green goodness. Bright first notes – almost citrus, the end is creamy.

I’ve logged this tea before (quite a number of times actually) but that was all from the 2010 crop. This is 2011. I’ll admit, I knew I wanted more of this tea before shincha preordering was even an option. I mean, it was so delicious last year. Sweet, pungent, notes of muscat and nori. It’s the stereotypical sencha profile taken this close to perfection. On top of that, it could take any kind of brewing method – it gave me deliciousness when brewed in not only my kyusu but also a steeping ball and an in-cup steeping basket (and not many sencha seem to be able to take that kind of abuse). So last year this delightful tea had firmly burrowed into my heart.

But this year, I didn’t order any. I was trying to be good and only do one (slightly massive) shincha order and O-cha.com didn’t get that order this year. And I loved my new shinchas. I really did. They were good to me. But by summer time, I was missing this one. Every time I’d try a new green tea, I’d think, “Mmm, this is delicious… but Yutaka Midori is better.” Fortunately, I happened to be complaining about my lack of my one favorite shincha around the time that my SIL was apparently searching for a birthday present for me. So she surprised me a pack of this. Have I mentioned the awesomeness that is my SIL?

I’ll admit, part of me was a little nervous to try this one again. Tea quality can differ from crop to crop and Japan didn’t exactly have an easy time of it the past year. Maybe the new crop wouldn’t be as good as the year before. Maybe it would tarnish my memory of Yutaka Midori forever.

Thankfully it didn’t. It’s just as tasty (and as forgiving) as last year. This tea has officially become one of my top hedonistic pleasure. Rough day? This is what I do: Drop some YM into a preheated pot and sniff the heady, sensual notes of gourd vegetables baked by the sun. As I smell the thick, heavy green-ness of the tea, tension begins to melt away. Add some water, pause for a few moments then pour. Inhale the oceanic notes, warm and heavy and I notice that my eyes have drifted closed as I smell. Sip. Ah, nectar of the gods. It explodes on my tongue – sweet, heavy, pungent, green. A strong but sweet vegetal taste with flashes of citrus, muscat, nori and ocean. The texture is heavy and silky and it coats my mouth and tongue and I can swear that when I swallow, I can feel it flowing down my throat into my stomach and then seeping into my muscles, forcing them to soften and relax. One cup later and I’ve officially become a puddle of mush. Rough day? What day? We had a day? All I can remember is tea.

Are there better senchas out there? Eh, probably. But I have yet to run across one that is as consistently delicious as this one is. Others might have flashes of orgasmic brilliance, but repeating that perfect cup can feel nigh on impossible. (I’m looking at you Maeda-en Tokujo Shin-cha.) This one though? Every cup gives me afterglow. Every. Cup.

Excuse me while I go bask some more.

I have been craving green tea all day today. I came home, desperately in need of a nap (I almost fell asleep on drive home), but I wanted shincha so badly that I asked the husband to only let me nap a couple of hours because then I’d still have time to have some of this tea without worrying about staying up until 2am (which is what got me needing a nap in the first place). The husband (delightful man that he is) just woke me up so first thing I did – make this.

Of course, I’m a sweet and loving wife, so naturally I made enough to share with him. I wasn’t ultra precise as to temp though, which turns this normally citrusy crisp tea into this fuzzy, thick, pungent thing that, while not as striking as the bright freshness that comes from more detailed brewing, is still pretty awesome. Totally worth a shortened nap. I’ve been drinking on this for a month almost (and had zero sencha for a month or two before that, waiting for shincha) so I’ve pretty much forgotten what bad sencha tastes like. Oh, logically I know it is out there (vague recollections of Golden Moon’s sampler poke at the back of my brain) but this tea, no matter how it is brewed, is so perfectly sencha that I think it all sencha tastes just like this.

I’m approaching the end of the bag of this tea and I’ve really enjoyed it. Like a lot. (Duh, we all knew that. Just look at the score.) But I have two more packages of shincha in my pantry, another from O-cha and one from Maeda-en, both unopened and I’m really looking forward to busting one of those out soon. Hopefully I will get on with them as well as I have with this one.

It’s shincha, baby! Woo! Guh. The smell kills me. So awesome. Faintly buttery, green, thick. It makes my mouth water. I’m seriously not one for much prep work with tea making because I’m lazy. But I will preheat a pot for sencha. Because sencha in a preheated pot? Smells deliciously awesome.

Last year this tea was a kind of sensitive to temp so I’m using the thermometer, not just the Zojirushi display. I really need a yuzamashi but lacking one, I’m using my tea cup. Water temp at 172° and into my pot it goes. Started the pour at about 35 seconds because this pot has a 10 second-ish pour. The aroma mirrors that of the leaves in the pot but milder. Not a super strong smell, but very nice.

Oh, the taste makes my tongue dance! It has a very fresh and clean taste for a deep steamed sencha. Almost citrusy. Grassy. Faintly buttery feeling, a faint hint of nutty (I read someone that mentioned sunflower seeds and can totally see that, which surprised me.) Just a faint hint of dryness left on my tongue after each swallow but that astringency just makes it seem fresher, no hint of bitterness. This strikes me as a very ‘typical’ sencha as far as taste profile goes but it’s not ordinary. It’s more regular sencha, amped up into, dare I say it? Perfection.

Ah, there is sencha in my pantry once again and I’m so pleased. Especially since this is such a tasty one!

Second Steep: 175°, instant pour. Much cloudier brew this time. Delightful fresh and citrusy, gently sweet. It’s a little bit more astringent than the first brew but I’m pretty sensitive to astringency and am still finding at a very pleasant level. So tasty.
3.6g/6oz

Very interesting tea… Ive tried brewing it cooler and warmer and so far very much prefer the smooth mellow taste of the cooler steeping. The stems provide an interesting “twang” to the tea. If you are tired of sencha or gyokuru this is a great tea to add to your cabinet.

Japanse green tea at it’s best. Well worth the price tag.

Finishing this off today, and it went out w/ a bang. Flavored it w/ http://steepster.com/teas/the-tea-farm/8736-green-champaca: 4g green champacha steeped in 180 degree water for 3 min, then decanted into my chawan, added 1 scoop matcha, and whisked w/ my chasen. Adding the matcha definitely improves the green champaca tea. The thicker mouth feel and more vegetal flavor definitely cut down on the floral aspect of the green tea.

Thick and cold… needed something to wake myself up before church. 3oz water/1 scoop.

Refreshing, thick, vegetal, sweet, smooth, crisp, clean… so good!

Back logging from this morning. Made thick.

Definitely need brain power and patience today. I’m trying to figure out my Bible reading plan for Lent. Divide by chapters (which would make it easier to pick up where I leave off) or verses (which would make it more even)? I steeped a bag of RoT’s Get Relaxed! for 9min 20sec for the patience and added a scoop of matcha for extra brain power:)

Didn’t actually drink this today, added it to 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt. If you can get past how it looks, it’s actually REALLY good. But it’s a touch on the sweet side so I think it might be better w/ plain yogurt.

Nursing my arms (3 viles of blood drawn and 2 flu shots last nite) today w/ a half bowl of this!:)

Psyching myself up for my 2nd pu erh experience after a really bad one. Half a bowl. 8oz water/1 scoop. Smooth, rich, creamy. Just plain good.:) I’m making this last quite a while Ricky, are you regreting giving it to me yet? LOL.;) Hopefully this’ll make me “worry no mori” about pu erh. Ok, sorry… REALLY bad joke! hehe

Thick Jasmine matcha. Well… kinda sorta. I say, “kinda sorta” cuz I didn’t use a 1st infusion. Wanted to kill off my Adagio Jasmine #12 (an oolong) leaves from yesterday so I steeped the 5th infusion for 7 min, but in only 3oz water and used that to make my matcha. The result wasn’t all that much different. A little sweeter and smoother.

This went down so good last nite I decided to have it again. This time, 1 scoop matcha/3oz water/1TB (.5oz) white chocolate coffee creamer. The creamer made the matcha creamy, and a lil sweet, but also a little savory. I’ve always considered white chocolate to be both sweet and savory, probably because it’s actuallly cocoa butter. Makes me think matcha would pair WONDERFULLY w/ white drinking chocolate (is there even such a thing?) because I think the white chocolate would let the matcha come thru more than a dark or semi sweet. The creamer and water were also in a good ratio- the consistancy was creamy instead of diluted cream. I hate when that happens… probably why I’m so picky w/ my chais.

Haven’t had this one in a while (in part due to being sick) so I decided to ring in the new year w/ this before spending some time w/ my Best Friend and then getting some sleep. I’m actually logging this before I drink it because I’m getting in bed right after I’m done. 3oz water/1scoop matcha. Yummm! Happy New Year!

Yeah… I know… I’m probably gonna regret this, but I haven’t slept in 3 nites and mom decided to do all her Christmas shopping tonite and then we need to wrap presents so I won’t be in bed til late. I needed a matcha that was sweet and smooth so I went w/ this again. Not to mention the dull color matches my mood. YUM!

Got this in a tea swap from Ricky. He must be completely crazy though, I don’t know why he’d ever want to part with this!:) Oh well, I’m definitely not going to complain. I just hope that this sets w/ my stomach.

Observations opening the tin: It’s in a silver bag and I can see this resulting in not only a big mess, but also wasted matcha and I DON’T want that. It’s darker and duller in color than Den’s Tea’s Matcha Kaze- olive green. It’s also finer.

Now onto the tricky part. I VERY carefully dump the contents of the bag into the tin which I placed in my matcha bowl to collect the mess then dump what fell out in the tin. Success! Very little waste. But it didn’t help my cold… the fine powder went up into the air a bit and made my cough worse.

Preparation: 1 scoop/8oz water

When I wisk it I notice the dullness in color as well, it’s not as vibrant as Matcha Kaze. I also realize that it’s more fragrant- just like the tin says. A nice sweet aroma. And what’s that…? Foam! Yes it’s wimpy thin foam mainly around the edge of my bowl, but I actually got it to foam.

Now for the real test… taste and texture. The sweetness isn’t just in the aroma. It definitely carries over to the taste. The mouth feel is also smoother than Matcha Kaze. Maybe that’s because it’s thinner so it whisks together better and thus gets less chunky.

Conclusions: I’m not going to say this is better than Den’s Matcha Kaze, but it is different. It’s sweeter while Matcha Kaze is more… savory? Umami? I’m one of those people who can’t tell what is or isn’t umami so is matcha is supposed to be umami? I also like that it’s not only from a company who deals exclusively w/ Japanese greens and teaware like Den’s Tea, but is actually located in Japan. It’s kinda hard to compare since this one didn’t get a full foam, but I think this matcha is closer to Rishi’s than Matcha Kaze which is neither good or bad as I love all 3 of my matcha experiences. -Except I really prefer a bulk container instead of indivual servings like Rishi’s