O-Cha.com

O-Cha’s Kabusecha is my favorite Kabusecha. Its taste is between a sencha and gyokuro, but leans more towards a gyokuro. After drinking it for a few years now, I find that it is a great way to switch-up my green tea routine. Japanese green teas hold a special place in my heart because of their “ocean taste” that I absolutely love. I find it amazing that a green tea can so vividly remind me of the ocean; O-Cha’s Kabusecha is no exception.

Dry Leaf: Beautiful emerald green needles that are fairly unbroken. The smell is full of briny sea tones that include fish (in a good way), shellfish, and seaweed. Also, there is a tinge of dry hay.

Ratio: 0.6g/1oz. water; 175 degrees F

1st: (1 min.) Neon yellow, clear infusion. The smell of the wet leaves is full of briny sea tones like the dry leaf smell (fish, shellfish, and seaweed). These same sea tones thankfully come through, in a big way, in the taste. A pronounced veggie sweetness is present throughout. The mouthfeel is wonderfully thick and miso soup-like. The astringency is low / non-existent. The taste leans towards gyokuro, but does have some aspects of sencha.

2nd: (30s) Wet leaves smell of veggie sweetness mixed with slightly less pronounced sea tones (same as above). Liquor is more green / yellow and cloudy. The taste has a more pronounced dry hay aspect, with less pronounced veggie sweetness and sea tones. Now, this tea is leaning more towards an asamushi sencha. The mouthfeel is not as thick and a slight, but nice astringency is present.

3rd: Wet leaves still smell of sweet veggies. I think it is great how persistent the smell is throughout the infusions. The liquor is still green / yellow and cloudy. The taste is beginning to wane with less tones of sea and dry hay. However, there is still some nuances of gyokuro sweetness. This infusion is much like the second but with a more subdued flavor profile.

Overall, I am incredibly fond of Japanese green teas that are full of sea tones. This Kabusecha is wonderful and a great way to break my tea routine of Japanese senchas and gyokuros. I recommend it highly!!

Wonderful looking leaves for an Asamushi sencha, lots of big longer needles that are a deep emerald green color. The leaves smell amazing inside a prewarmed kyusu while waiting to be steeped.

The first infusion has a wonderfully mellow and comforting smell. A bit vegetal but not harsh in any way shape or form. It also has a slight hint of toasted grains in the aroma. Not sure where that first cup went, but smooth, with hints of vegetable broth and grains. Could have possibly used a bit of a longer steep.

Second Infusion: About the same parameters as the first infusion. This one smells much more like celery, with a hint of raw carrots, and lettuce. The taste has a bit more of a bite this time, but in a nice leafy green vegetable sort of way.

Third Infusion: Slightly warmer, slightly longer steep. Getting a slight hint of raw cabbage on this one both in aroma and taste, but as I love cabbage this is great by me.

Can likely go for a few more infusions, but I will stop taking notes.

Quality Gyokuro at an affordable price.

First brew is golden and light.
Second brew is brothier, more vegetal, and still golden.
As you rebrew the leaves, the brew turns from gold to a spring green, the liquor strengthening in color and flavor until after the 3rd brew..

From until the 5th brew, the leaves resiliently produce a well rounded cup of tea. The leaves do not bitter in the sitting water when prepared correctly.

Leaves are an even tone of a deep, rich forest green and very silky. Care for the leaves during growth and harvest are apparent through the appearance of the leaves, and the complex flavor of the brew.

Sweet, vegetal, light. Great for memory, attentiveness, cleaning out the blood, and weight loss.

Another few infusions later, I can confirm that this one wants a longer first infusion, even better when handled properly. About 150 degrees, 1 minute plus to start; 150 degrees, perhaps 45 seconds for the second; and gradually increasing time & temps through 6 or 7 infusions.

The scent of this Kirameki sencha is quite sweet and rich even before the dry leaves hit the preheated pot. Deep green leaves, 4.7 grams into my 5 oz kyusu.

1st infusion in my kyusu was with cooler water, 150 degrees, and absurdly short at 20 seconds (I was thirsty and impatient). Sweet peas, vegetal, but of course too dilute for best impression.

2nd infusion at 30 seconds, 155 degrees, much better, a hint of astringency behind the warm, vegetal, grassy sweetness.

3rd infusion at 45 seconds, 165 degrees, warm, sweet, grassy, delicious. A hint of that warmth of sun-warmed dry hay, not quite caramel, but deep and lovely.

4th 160 degrees, 90 seconds, milder than I expected for what was a longer-than-anticipated infusion—really seems rather dilute. That rich depth of the last infusion is not there, but what is here is sweet and pleasant, if not deep.

5th 170 degrees, about 2 minutes, and again, the depth is lacking but the surface is still good. I now really regret that first too-short infusion because this tea doesn’t seem to be giving me the many infusions that compensate for the first mistake.

Overall, another lovely tea, and I’ll be a lot more careful iwth the first infusions next time. 45 seconds is probably a better starting time, then 30, 60, 90, 2 min.

An excellent first infusion followed by a very pleasant second make this a great tea. The third infusion is nothing special, but third infusions rarely are for me in the world of senchas.

First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.

Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.

Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 5+ min.

Brewed the new and improved version of this tea, made from a blend of Kyushu leaves. A very good tea, all round, with a pleasantly vegetal taste in the first brew, and a deliciously-grassy and astringent second brew. At the price, an excellent value!

First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 1 min.

Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 1 min.

Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 5+ min.

My second try of this tea. It has a pleasant toasted flavor, not strong or smokey or wooden. Mellow, subtle. The toasted flavor makes me think of how fall oak leaves smell, if that makes sense. It has a satisfying flavor that is very easy to drink.

I was expecting something very bland or burnt-tasting, but it was a very mild, soft, round flavor. Comforting, relaxing for the evening. I will definitely be keeping this in my stash.

Opening the pouch, first notice a sweet rich scent, with hints of cherries & chocolate.

Preheated the kyusu (iron-rich clay, unglazed interior) for the 4 grams of leaf, typical sencha appearance of the dark thin pieces of leaf.

First infusion 160 degrees, about 30 seconds, pouring into my big chawan, lots of leaf bits come too—probably will strain the next infusion. Thick, silky, rich mouthfeel with sweet, delicate vegetal flavor, oh my. It is a little less leaf than I usually use in this 160mL kyusu, so the richness of the mouthfeel is surprising.

Really enjoying this one a LOT, now about the 5th infusion, and temp upped to 180 degrees for this infusion: it’s still sweet, light, rich. A bit of astringency has crept in, and I probably should have kept this one a bit shorter.

One more infusion, 180 degree water, and about 1 minute infusion, and we’re back to sweet, light, rich, with astringency retreating again into the background. I agree that this one is ‘Supremely’ good.

This is an unusual tasting tea: brothy (in a chicken-noodle-soup way, rather than a fuka-type brothiness) with undertones of saltiness. Had to really play around with the brewing to get a half-decent 2nd infusion.

First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 35 sec.

Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.

Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 5+ min.

A wonderfully strong veggie-tasting fuka. First rate! Gives a better second infusion than most other fuka-s I have had.

First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 35-40 sec.

Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 40-45 sec.

Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 5+ min.

Boy, am I glad I gave this tea another chance!

I received a generous sample of O-Cha’s Otsuusan from my fellow Green Tea enthusiast Shiobicha, and brewed it up according to my normal parameters a couple weeks back (2 tbsp/155*/1.5mins, first steeping). It came out overwhelmingly sweet and soapy through all three steepings, and I couldn’t even bring myself to finish my iced; diluted final steeping.

Today I was thinking of cracking open something new, but remembered I had samples to work through first. I added two level tbsp to my 10oz kyusu and let my 165* water steep for a little over two minutes. Much to my surprise, the “soapy” taste was almost nowhere to be found in this rich, forest green cup of tea.

The next two steepings (~180 for 2.5 minutes, and boiled thereafter) were rich and tasty — I used a full 10oz for my final steeping, and was still able to get a nice vegetal sweetness that never overwhelmed me in the way my first experience did. Not sure if I’d necessarily buy it, but it’s a fun blend if you don’t mind working to get it right!

Thanks to Cole for the sample of this. This is the only other Sakura sencha that I’ve ever had (the first, and still favorite, being from Den’s).

The fact that this is mostly kukicha makes this fun (and different from the true sencha version of the other). The aroma is really strong and probably the best thing about this tea. The flavor of cherry is definitely present, but not overpowering… actually it’s pretty amazing that this has such a nice flavor and aroma without anything other than sakura leaves (no flavors, oils, etc.). Nothing wrong with flavoring of course, but it surprised me.

There really is nothing to not like about this tea. It is one of those things that anyone would enjoy, from those who only know tea as coming from a bag, to those who drink “the real stuff” all the time.

A pleasant tea, with a somewhat sweet and rich first infusion, and rather grassy subsequent ones. A nice combination of some gyo & asa characteristics.

First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 90 sec.

Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 30 sec.

Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 5 min.

This is a nice matcha, and at a very good price. I found it to be mild, and rather smooth and /or creamy. Although I am not fan of matcha, this one is going down OK with me.

I used 2 good-sized (but not heaping) chasakus of matcha, in 1/4 cup of 80 deg. water, whisking for about 15-30 sec.

This is a very enjoyable, great quality fukamushi sencha, all around.
It’s isn’t quite as good as a few others I’ve had, but looking at the price O-cha asks, as others have said, it is great value. I would buy it. I’ve gotten 3 excellent steeps out of it today, and can probably get a decent 4th.

Thanks Cole for the good-sized sample!

Thanks to Cole for the nice sample!
This tea is very similar to O-cha’s (formerly offered) organic sencha, Okitsugawa Supreme.

Meaning, I found it to be a nice-tasting sencha, but unremarkable, or just simple. Since it’s not obtainable anymore (at least currently), it won’t make for a good everyday organic sencha…but if it was available, I’d say it would make a good every day green tea.

This is my first karigane (gyokuro-based kukicha), and it is a very interesting, enjoyable tea. The word ‘tart’ is a perfect descriptor. There’s a bit of the sweetness and strong flavor of gyokuro, but the tartness is one of the main flavors. I don’t think I’ve had any tea like it before, actually.

Regular kukicha (sencha-based leaf twigs), which I very much enjoy, is quite different from this. Though there may be some tartness in kukicha, I seem to remember it being sweeter, with a strong aroma.

Anyway, this is a great tea if you want sencha or gyokuro, but something a little different. It’s enjoyable and hard to mess up (even at hot temps it hasn’t become bitter).

This is an excellent fuka sencha, with an almost perfect balance of the vegetal and the sweet. The great taste, aroma, colour, and price make this an outstanding fuka sencha for daily use.

First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 45-50 sec.

Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 30-35 sec.

Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 3 min.

O-Cha’s Chiran Sencha (which I’m drinking here in Shincha form) is a deep steamed Fukamushi tea that’s made of fresh leaves from the Yutaka Midori bush. It’s an easy brewer that tastes great extra-strong, but for this review I did a “proper” brew of 4g to 4oz water in my tiny Banko houhin.

First (155*/ 90 secs): Bold aroma — I just love how fragrant and flavorful this tea is from the get-go! I taste a tiny bit of bitterness up front, but it finishes so sweet and softly, it’s hardly even noticeable until the cup cools. Even better is it’s slightly fruity, mostly umami aftertaste that really comes out nicely at lower temperatures.

Second (175*/ 60 secs): What a beautiful cup! The second infusion of this sencha is a deep, enchanting jade that is a joy to behold. The taste holds up great, too — mellow, vegetal, and a more astringent than the first cup. Oddly enough, I taste less bitterness and more fruity notes this time around. Hmm!

Third (185*/ 90 secs): I used a little less water for this infusion, and the higher temperature/low water ratio seems to have brought the bitterness out. Still, even though it’s a thicker brew than the other cups, it still has good flavor for a third steeping. I love how much “good stuff” you can extract from a nice Fukamushi!

Fourth (Boiled/ Until I got thirsty): Surprisingly good! I went ahead and iced this one (as I usually do with my last infusion), and stayed very “green” despite being watered down. I think I’d really enjoy a liter of this iced.

In summation, O-Cha’s Chiran sencha is a killer tea for the price. Not only does it have a great balance of vegetal flavors, a building bitterness, and a hint of sweetness that comes out nicely at lower temperatures, but it holds up well to stronger brewing ratios (2:1) and multiple infusions. Would definitely buy again!

Got this on sale..the 2010 end of year clearance. Must say it has held up nicely in the Japanese cold storage. Typical Fuka look to it..lots of smaller needles, broken bits and some dust. The smell in a warmed kyusu is very pleasant. It seemed quite deeply steamed.. the leaves post brew look like creamed spinach! the aroma, to me, is of asparagus and spinach as well..perhaps some melon tossed in. 1st steep for 30 seconds.. 2nd at 15 and then creeping back up on both time and temp into the fourth steep,