Yunomi

Had this tea with dinner, which was heavy on beef. The meal really brought out the grassiness of the tea, and I did not notice the savory aspect as much until I was sipping on it afterward. Not my favorite Japanese green tea, but I will enjoy the sample while I have it.

I’ve kind of been a tea making disaster lately. Today, I didn’t realize the bottom of this free sample packet had a hole in it, so I opened it from the top. Cue tea falling out of both ends and me frantically scooping it into my infuser. Not to mention that this tea is on the fine side, so it would fall through the strainer. Sigh. The point is that the steeping and measurement was not so accurate this time around.

Anyway, this tea interestingly smells savory yet tastes more grassy to me. The texture is also thicker, which is nice to have on a windy day like today. I’m terrible at identifying and describing tastes, but I think this one may be a little too umami for me. At least that’s what I think it is. I am still enjoying the cup, though!

Edit: On the second steep, that intense umami-ness went away, and it has a cleaner taste now. The problem now is that it’s a little bland to me. I’ll have to experiment with the other half of the sample to hit that right medium. I also tried some of the tea leaves and it was surprisingly mild. It had a seaweed texture with a green tea taste. Might be yummy to mix it into some rice or something next time.

Sipdown! Excited because I have too much tea, but sad because I really enjoyed this tea. It was pretty savory for a sencha. The problem I had with it was that the tea leaves were very fine and fell through the strainer. Since I took a long time to drink my tea, it ended up being pretty bitter.

This is one of the two free samples I got from Yunomi and the first of their teas that I’ve tried. The dry leaf had a slight fishy smell to me, kind of like dried anchovies. The tea itself was pretty savory and less grassy/vegetal than other Japanese green teas that I’ve had. I drank this on its own, but I think it would be a great tea to have with a meal, maybe with some spicy foods. I really enjoyed this!

I was actually given some of this tea by a Japanese woman who works at a cafe I frequent on the way to class. She helps me with my Japanese and I help her with English (not that she needs it). She told me that the tea was produced by some of her family members who work on a tea farm in a place called Yame （八女） which literally translates to 8 women. I was given the impression that it was 8 of her sisters, cousins and aunties producing delicious tea on the island of Kyushu. This is apparently not the case.

Now I’m not actually sure as to what kind of tea it is, as all she had told me was that it was ‘YAMECHA’. After a few cups and a whiff of a Gyokuro at a nearby tea supplier, I surmised that it was in fact a Yame Gyokuro (similar leaf colour and aroma, and apparently about 50% of Gyokuro produced in Japan is from Yame, so the odds are in this assumption’s favour!)

I was very grateful for the tea (she had given me a lot of it), and was eager to figure out how to brew the stuff.
One of my Chinese acquaintances, while we were having a tea session, exclaimed that he knew exactly how to brew it: he took a huge scoop of the tea, ground it down to a powder in a pestle and mortar, and then poured the powder into a tall glass and proceeded to pour boiling hot water over it.
The product was an extremely bitter brew that nobody could finish.

So that’s not how you do it.

I was still curious as to how to brew it, so once I got home from the taste testing I gave it another go, using only my instincts.

I brewed it as you would brew a regular green tea (about 80C for about 1.5 minutes), and it produced a very murky cup of tea. It appeared that due to the varying sizes of tea leaf particles, a good portion of the tea had passed through the strainer and into the cup. In addition, there was a mysterious white foam collecting around the rim of the cup. I thought to myself, “protein?”. Not entirely sure what was going on there. It was a pleasant cup of tea none-the-less.

I decided today to give it a traditional brewing: sitting down with all the bits-and-pieces, my tiny tea gong and my laptop at hand to record the fleeting sensations and the pass through my sensory faculties.

Brewed at 70C for 1.5/2 minutes

This tea has a very warming sweetness, delicate grassiness and faintly nutty flavour. It has a satisfyingly full mouth-feel, and lingers long enough for you to be able to fully appreciate it, as well as time to bid it farewell. The flavour is deeply rich, much like the ‘Pakistan green’ of the leaves (I had to look that colour up; it seems like a slightly awkward descriptor though).

Aroma: Again very warming, deep and rich.

The colour of the liquid is a nice bright green, however I notice that there are particles of varying sizes swirling in my cup, giving it an almost murky appearance. Once they settle it is almost a ‘Paris green’ (again, had to look it up – so many types of green!).

I’m not entire sure what is meant to be done about the particles. Are they an intended feature of the cup? Or perhaps a fine strainer is necessary? I’m not entirely bothered by them, simply curious as to their intentions. Perhaps they add to the mouth-feel that was so satisfyingly bold.

Either way, this is one of my favourite green teas to date, and I intend on making each cup as special as the last.

Backlog:

This is my last backlog for this evening … I’m gonna try to do a little bit every night and hopefully I’ll get caught up eventually!

This was a very interesting Houjicha … I could still taste the vegetative tones of the Sencha in this tea, as well as some of the floral tones of the Sencha … usually, it’s been my experience that with the roasting process, the houjicha becomes an entirely new flavor but here, I taste notes of the Sencha still … I like that though!

The vegetative notes taste a bit like roasted vegetables … and I like this unique taste. There is a slight creamy tone to this cup too … it’s a little bit nutty, a little bit toasty and warm, a little bit vegetative and savory, and a little bit sweet and creamy! A really nice cuppa.

Backlog:

A very unique Oolong – different is good! Sweet, mild, fruity … with a hint of sour to provide an interesting sweet and sour experience.

Notes of flower in the distance, but this is much more a fruity tea than a floral tea. Definitely one worth trying if you’re an Oolong fan! And the price is right!

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/05/08/certified-organic-oolong-tea-by-the-takeo-family-from-yunomi/

Its interesting. Tastes like my other fuka from o-cha (Sae midori) but more sour and has a distinctive citrus flavor. It tastes like… someone dropped some citrus powder in my tea. its ok, but i don’t think I would buy it. the gyo i tried was good and I’ll probably buy that :)
If you like astringency this one is for you~!

Today we are reviewing the other tea that I received from Yunomi, Blue Oolong by Masami Higuchi of the Kaneban Higuchi Tea Factory. Awesome fact, this tea comes from the Shiga Prefecture, home of the beautiful Lake Biwa, and I love knowing this because visualizing where the tea I am drinking comes from just makes the experience even more enjoyable. The aroma of the Blue Oolong is delightfully earthy and mild, it reminds me of the piney, earthy, mineral, aroma of mushrooming in the forest. I swear that is an incredible compliment! There is also a tanginess to the aroma that vaguely reminds me of chrysanthemum flowers which blends very well with the initial aroma of earthiness and pine resin. The finishing notes are green like freshly unfurled oak leaves. A very intriguing aroma for an Oolong.

The steeping brings out some very fascinating notes of sweetness which really accentuates the earthiness. While enjoying the steam wafting into my nose from the steeping leaves I get this wonderful feeling of brightness flicker through my whole body, I cannot help but sigh in contentment. The liquid still retains the pine aroma but has more of the pine needle than pine resin and is pleasantly sweet, there is an interesting undertone of kelp which just made my mouth water.

Something new and exciting! This Oolong is tart and refreshing, very surprising and new to me, which I like. It mixes the tartness with a smooth, creaminess that vaguely reminds me of Greek Yogurt. The aftertaste brings in notes of sweetness and a hint of floral that fades into kelp. I love how complex this tea’s flavor is, it is certainly unlike any Oolong I have ever had (possibly any tea) and I had to suppress a giggle at how enjoyably new this flavor is.

The second steep takes away some of the tart astringency and replaces it with a smooth floral taste with hints of vegetal green. I am surprised how much the second steep mellows the tea out to tasting more like a ‘traditional’ green Oolong with orchid notes, but there is still the aftertaste of kelp which I adore. Thank you Yunomi for giving me the chance to try some of your teas! I cannot wait to get my tea obsessed hands on some more.

I got some lovely samples from Yunomi yesterday. decided to celebrate by first week of work at new job with a Shiboridashi of gyokuro.
The first infusion I did at 120* F for 30 seconds, It was light flavorless and only slightly green.
The second infusion I did around 140* for 30 seconds to a minute. This one reminded me of the Fuka sae midori from o-cha.
Third infusion was around 140-150* and i think I did 1 minute. Tasted like a kabusecha but grassier, and no strong cucumber peel flavor. Very well rounded. super green in color.
Fourth infusion probably 140-150* very green in color. and very sweet like powdered sugar.
I got 5 and 6th infusions but they were more sweet and weak green flavored.

I still have some left and will try another round of brewing. I probably made some mistakes with this first round, but all in all it is good and the flavor changes were both surprising and lovely.

In general most of the infusions were very sweet, no astringency.
Later note: I took the used tea leaves and tried to eat one. the flavor was over powering. Next time I will use the leftover infused leaves to make fridge green tea. or maybe mix with rice.

As my tea drinking day starts drawing to a close, I thought a cup of this tasty gyokuro that I kept from the HHTTB would be nice. Sweet & vegetal, it’s almost like a thin spring greens soup.

Another tea from the Here’s Hoping TTB.
It’s been awhile since I had a Gyokuro. I do enjoy them. It’s a very pale infusion, a very sweet spring green color. The tea is like a thin Matcha, very green & delicious.

I got a free sample of this tea with my recent Yunomi.us order. MAN I love me some Japanese greens. This is very tasty Shincha :)

Oh gyokuro how I miss you when you are away, hehe. I got my package from yunomi.us yesterday! 4 gyokuros for sampling and some salted Sakura blossoms. Can’t wait to try them all!

This was a really interesting tea.

Mulberry leaf tea is supposedly very similar to sencha, but without the caffeine. The process of making this tea is the same as well as the preparation. Heck, the appearance looks similar (I could be fooled this was a gyokuro) but smells slightly olivey.

Anyways, I found if sencha was a raw vegetable, mulberry leaf tea would be the sencha cooked. The tea is grassy, savory, buttery, with cooked green bean and squash notes. But unlike sencha, this tea isn’t crisp and fresh. It’s different yet similar at the same time.

Cool, interest and practical factor of this tea is high for me, but on a taste level for me, meh. I like tea tasting fresh and crisp. But don’t let that stop you from trying a mulberry leaf tea – it is sooo different than what caffeine free teas that are more popular like rooibos and herbals.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/2013/08/26/kuwacha-sencha-mulberry-leaf-from-kesennuma-kuwacha-eitoku-via-yunomi-tea-review/

Somewhat sweet but still brothy, too! This is very delicious! I’ve noticed it can get grassier tasting if infused for longer than a minute. On the other hand 2nd infusions and possible 3rd infusions are somewhat lemony…which I enjoyed, too! A versatile cuppa. Yum!

So, second steep, a mere 10 seconds. See, I knew my tastebuds would start to change their ideas pretty quick – (I wish they’d do that with olives, I really would like to like olives…).

The smell is still not really my, erm, cup of tea, but the taste is really growing on me. All the positive things you would expect from something that still does remind me an awful lot of spinach. A zinc tang, an earthiness. And it’s really green.

Not my favourite yet, but I did rather enjoy that.

In the last month I’ve been lucky enough to win two competitions run by Yunomi.us.

Each time I’ve won one main prize, and then they’ve sent me a 5gm sample of something else as well. This was one of those samples.

I wanted to try the warm water steeping method, but I have no means of testing my water temperature yet and I was less keen to wing it when I only have a 5g sample, so I went for standard (both of which are recommended). That’s 30secs in boiling water. The very first thing that strikes me when I’ve steeped it is that it looks like spinach. The second thing is that it smells like spinach.

I mean, really smells like it. I’m not talking ‘spinachy notes’. I’m talking what the water in the pan after your mum has overcooked the sunday dinner smells like.

Now, I think me and this tea have got off to a bad start. By the time I was getting to the end of my first cup I was thinking ‘Mmm, maybe…’. But at first all I could think was ‘This is weird, I’m drinking spinach water’.

I don’t want to dismiss this straight away, because I know even after this short amount of time my tastes are changing and I could end up absolutely loving this. But for a first time Sencha drinker – undecided.

You can read the full review here:
http://tunesntea.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/tea-morita-sayama-sencha/

I fallowed the steeping instructions for the most part from the site. My first steep was brewed at 160F, while all the others were brewed at 185F. All steeps were steeped for 45sec.

Steep 1: Very savory; strong unami flavor. Slight pleasant grassy flavor and buttery. Light sweet matcha after taste. Very mild astringency

Steep 2: Grass is more present. Not really any unami any more. Never mind it taste it now. Still slight match sweetness. Astringency is stronger, but not bad. Has a strong tea flavor.

Steep 3: More astringency now; but still pleasant. Strong green tea flavor (DUH) some unami now. In the beginning there was a stronger matcha flavor. This tea seems to change profile as it cools. Interesting. This is a very savory steep. Not as grassy as before. Mild astringency now. Cooler: more matcha flavor and a smidgen more astringency.

Steep 4: The prevailing flavor is match. Very sweet with just a touch of savory to ground it. YUM!

Overall this was a very interesting and pleasant tea. I had a rich and dynamic flavor. I love how depending how you steep it greatly changes it’s flavor profile.It seems to change flavors as it cools as well; making each sip different. I am sad to see my sample gone I would have loved to have some more of this on another day.

Mmmm, my second gyokuro! This one was even better! My first gykuro was from Den’s Tea, but this one from Yunomi.us / Kurihara Tea was more balanced and buttery.

I followed these steeping instructions http://yunomi.us/4832/gyokuro-steeping-technique/ which was kind of annoying getting my water to 120F / 50C as my kettle only goes as low at 160F. However, the result was really good! My gyokuro was syrupy, buttery, creamy and spinachy! I got a handful of resteepings out of my tea too! The astringency was actually good too!

Uggg, I think I need to acquire more gyokuro (maybe one of the higher quality ones off Yunomi) but I know my cash flow will be pissed off!

Full Review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/gyokuro-standard-kurihara-tea-via-yunomi-us-tea-review/

Full review tomorrow on http://www.sororiteasisters.com but here are the snippets:

I have to say this is one of the freshest cups of sencha I have experienced to date. The taste of this tea reminds me of the aroma of fresh cut grass in the summertime. The flavor is so natural, and in a way light and refreshing, yet the body is so deep and complex that I can’t decide which way to describe it. Can it possibly be both light and rich at the same time? Indeed it can!

I would absolutely order more of this tea and am happy to have discovered Yunomi! I think it is wonderful that they support small tea farmers in Japan and are supporters of Tsunami Recovery.

I am also in love with their tea selection and selection of other items from tea ware, to tea candy, fashions, furnishings, and so much more! I will be stalking their website until I can afford a hefty order with them!

Muppetlove THANKS for this!

This is a mighty fine Houjicha but it’s a tad different than your standard Houjicha…it just has that little extra something-something.

Sure – it has that robust roasted flavor and notes of woodsy/nutty goodness but it has a sweet-mineral type flavor to it too! I like it!