Yuuki-cha
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Another set of infusions, and what is most interesting this time is how much it reminds me of the ‘white oolong’ from Norbu that I have recently been enjoying: I think the common denominator is a very light oxidation and absence of any roasted taste. This is as close as you can get to a green tea with it still being clearly oolong.
The leaves are curly green twists, with a rich sweet scent, and hints of chocolate
2.3 grams of tea in a small porcelain gaiwan with about 70 mL water, filtered tap water at about 195 degrees
first infusion, 30 seconds
pale yellow liquor, sweet, rich, warm summer meadow, grass just turning golden with caramel sweetness, with just a hint of a more astringent vegetal grassiness that adds interest without being at all unpleasant
2nd infusion, 20 seconds
this time the vegetal/grassy flavors are stronger, a bit in front of the golden meadow.
3rd infusion, 45-60 seconds (lost track of time a bit)
this is the moment the tea should bite back with bitterness if it were so inclined, but it is only a little sharper and more insistently green-like, yet still that clearly oolong backdrop that is so surprising in this Japanese tea.
4th infusion, 1 minute
Ok, a teeny bit of astringent bite-back. Teeny. Bit. But still the vegetal/golden warm meadow is stronger in the overall impression, with some astringent aftertaste.
Several more warm delicious infusions, astringency fading again.
I’m now on the 8th or 9th infusion, and out to 4 minutes, and we’re at sweet water. But that was a lot of tea from just a few leaves.
Preparation
I got a sample of this for a tasting through the egullet.org tea forum, along with a sample of the Sakimidori Kamairicha:
Both Kamairichas in small gaiwans with about 75mL water, 2 grams of tea.
The teas are curly, very different from the needle-like bits of senchas, but a nice deep green appropriate to sencha. The leaves smell sweet and rich.
First infusions about 30 seconds because I checked the water temp just after I poured it, and it was hotter than expected—150 degrees. They’re both warm, roasty, toasty, vegetal, peas and corn and asparagus, but also a little lightly floral. Delicate yellow-green liquors.
2nd infusions about 30 seconds, temp about 150 degrees. A little more astringency in the Sakimidori, a little smoother in the Okumidori.
3rd infusion, 45 seconds, 155 degrees: still seeing that same difference, more sharpness in the Sakimidori, more smoothness in the Okumidori. I wasn’t sure at the 2nd infusion if the infusion times were a little off, but the differences were consistent through the next infusion.
4th infusion, 1 minute, 160 degrees: these are really, really nice teas. They are not senchas, but feel closer to a sencha in flavor than to a pan-fired chinese green tea.
5th infusion, 160 degrees, 90 seconds: the differences are lessened again. Still both are sweet and vegetal.
6th infusion, still 160 degrees—forgot to up the temp; time about 2 minutes (more carelessness); still entirely delicious, and just the most subtle difference between them.
7th infusion: spilled the Sakimidori. Enjoying the 170 degree, 2 minute infusion of the Okumidori a lot. Would have liked to try for another infusion, but the spill got the teakettle base and I want to let it try before I use it again. Sigh.
The leaves remain bright grassy green at the end of the infusions, obviously broken pieces but a bit larger on average than leaves of typical senchas.
Preparation
I got a sample of this for a tasting through the egullet.org tea forum, along with a sample of the Okumidori Kamairicha:
Both Kamairichas in small gaiwans with about 75mL water, 2 grams of tea.
The teas are curly, very different from the needle-like bits of senchas, but a nice deep green appropriate to sencha. The leaves smell sweet and rich.
First infusions about 30 seconds because I checked the water temp just after I poured it, and it was hotter than expected—150 degrees. They’re both warm, roasty, toasty, vegetal, peas and corn and asparagus, but also a little lightly floral. Delicate yellow-green liquors.
2nd infusions about 30 seconds, temp about 150 degrees. A little more astringency in the Sakimidori, a little smoother in the Okumidori.
3rd infusion, 45 seconds, 155 degrees: still seeing that same difference, more sharpness in the Sakimidori, more smoothness in the Okumidori. I wasn’t sure at the 2nd infusion if the infusion times were a little off, but the differences were consistent through the next infusion.
4th infusion, 1 minute, 160 degrees: these are really, really nice teas. They are not senchas, but feel closer to a sencha in flavor than to a pan-fired chinese green tea.
5th infusion, 160 degrees, 90 seconds: the differences are lessened again. Still both are sweet and vegetal.
6th infusion, still 160 degrees—forgot to up the temp; time about 2 minutes (more carelessness); still entirely delicious, and just the most subtle difference between them.
7th infusion: spilled the Sakimidori. Enjoying the 170 degree, 2 minute infusion of the Okumidori a lot. Would have liked to try for another infusion, but the spill got the teakettle base and I want to let it try before I use it again. Sigh.
The leaves remain bright grassy green at the end of the infusions, obviously broken pieces but a bit larger on average than leaves of typical senchas.
Preparation
The taste was good, but it seems quite strong. I noticed that if I drink it too fast (three cups in an hour) it makes me very anxious. I’ve never had tea do that before.
I was only able to get four 30 second steepings out of it, with most Sencha’s I’ve been able to five 30 second steepings.
Preparation
This is a delicious, rich, sweet sencha, with a depth of flavor that makes me think of deep evergreen forest, still retaining a lightness that I associate with light-steamed asamushi sencha (vs the deep-steamed, more umami-heavy fukamushi). Surprised to see I don’t have a tasting note for it yet—must have put one in a long time ago under another listing name—perhaps the shincha version last year?—and forgot to put one in for this version.
I routinely do this one 5 grams of tea in a 5 oz kyusu, preheat kyusu, start with water between 150 and 160 (depends on my mood), first infusion 30", then 20", and gradually increase time/temp until I get to 2-3 minutes at 180 degrees, and usually that’s at 6 or 7 steeps. Makes a nice sweet morning tea, grassy and ‘evergreen-y’ and delicious.
Preparation
I originally bought this tea out of a mere curiosity of trying bancha and sampling tea from Yuuki-cha. I just placed an order for a kyusu and figured it would be a good idea to throw a tea in my cart, but not something seriously expensive (the kyusu had already put a huge dent in my wallet).
When I opened the bag I was very intrigued. The smell was oddly nostalgic, yet I couldn’t place my finger on it and I still can’t. It almost smells yeasty to me- oddly enough a smell I kinda like.
So on to the real test – the taste test… and it was a letdown, but only at first! I finally managed to brew this tea correctly yesterday and fell in love with it. I used the suggested upward amount of leaf (6 grams) and 4 oz. Today I’m enjoying a big 8 oz. glass with hopefully many infusions. I was able to get around four good cups of this one yesterday.
The taste is very mild and reminds me of the herbs I used to drink in abundance (I still do, but I drink more tea now), like horsetail and strawberry leaf. And yet, there’s something different and unique about this tea. The description refers to this tea as fitting for spring and I think they’re spot on. It’s as rejuvenating as stepping into a open field of spring flowers. After imbibing these sylvan elixirs, one is gently lifted and brought back into a renewed state of energy and life. After drinking four cups of this yesterday I cleaned like crazy for three hours!
Preparation
I am writing this for a few reasons:
1) to celebrate that Steepster is now loading in a bearable amount of time for me (though I just lost my first bit of post as I’ve seen people mentioning)
2) to remind myself to take the term “intensive summer course” more seriously next time
3) to scold myself for not having finished last year’s shincha (and to be excited for the new shincha I have on its way soon)
That’s pretty much all. This is still quite nice. I chose wisely with the pan-fired one. It’s got some buttered veggies goodness going on, but very sweet.
Woww good job, seriously!! I’m struggling with a REGULAR art history course. But I’m taking intro to archaeology too.
My weekend, meant to be long and fun-filled, ended up being pretty rough. I became really sick at the wedding I was attending due to an uninvited guest: a kidney infection! Much pain and time spent in a cottage country ER, not enough tea!
After a few days without proper tea, I wanted something good and this afternoon I need something to help me mend. This was delayed in getting to me due to the postal strike but this was the perfect time to break into it. It makes such a bright, healthy-looking green liquor I don’t know how it can do anything but make me better! It’s deliciously sweet, has a nice body to it, and I can just pick up on the floral taste the description mentions in the aftertaste. Yum.
Preparation
Hmm, I expected to like this one more. Not bad, but very little body and a bit bitter today. Must try again soon.
Still trying to decide how I feel about this one. The leaves are small pieces, like a chinese keemun, and I think that contributes to astringency verging on bitterness. But there is also a fruitiness that is pleasant, and a toasty warm depth that is very nice. I’m not going to rate this one yet because I just don’t know where it is going to go, after 2 or 3 sessions.
Took longer than I expected to get back to this tea, and I went in a completely different direction: I was determined to get a mellow brewing, so used a small quantity of leaf and brewed up a whole thermos of tea with relatively cool water—185°F/85°C. This came out toasty, a little earthy, mellow and pleasant. I’ll work up from here now, to try to get more of those plummy fruity notes without reactivating the astringency that was off-putting the first time through.
Preparation
A first trial of this one this evening was interesting. The catalog description noted chocolate and roasted notes, and those were certainly present in the finely broken up bits of dark toasted leaf and stem.
I used 3 grams of leaf to about 3 ounces of water, in a preheated kyusu, with water about 195 degrees. The first infusion at 30 seconds was lightly fruity but also toasty, and reminded me mostly of the Hwang Cha Korean ‘oolong’ from Hankook—in that mellow combination of earthy/toasty sweetness with fruity plummy highlights. The second infusion, also 30 seconds, was more reminiscent of a black tea, with stronger astringency coming to the fore. I had to dilute this infusion to enjoy it, with about 50% more water than originally infused, to drop the astringency to a tolerable level, but because I was eyeballing the water level in a measuring cup to try to get the right tea/water ratio, I might have simply added too little water.
I decided at that point to stop for the night, and to try again tomorrow with a little larger quantity of leaf, so that the infusions will fill my 5 oz kyusu, and I won’t have to guess on the water quantities.
Overall, my first impression is that this one might be of great interest to those who mostly drink black teas, as something less radically different than matcha or sencha, but still a quite unique japanese tea. I’m not sure whether a little tweaking will make this as much a favorite as the Hwang Cha, a tea that took a little while to grow on me, or not.
Preparation
Delicious. Vibrant colour. Aromas are in the nutty spectrum. Has that fine balance between savory and sweet, finishing clean.
Price: $25.00 for 100g
Buy Again: Yes
Preparation
I guess the buy again was intended mostly for my own reference, but it wouldn’t hurt to include an extra line or two.
Didn’t realize I was missing a first tasting note on this lovely tea. I opened the package a couple of weeks ago and have been enjoying it as a morning tea. It’s very much as I expected from the Shincha—sweet, delicate, vegetal, without overpowering umami, just how I like it. It’s an excellent start to the day.
I do it as I do most of my sencha lately: about 1 gram of tea per ounce of water, net 4-5 grams for my 5 ounce kyusu, preheating the kyusu and infusing water first at 160 degrees F for 30 seconds, then 10 seconds for the next infusion, then back to 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 60 seconds, 2 minutes, and often going to 170 or 180 degrees by the 4th or 5th infusion to get more flavor out of the tea. Good that way or when keeping all to 160 degrees.
Preparation
After a suggestion from a tea-friend, I tried this today at a lower than usual temperature, 145 degrees, increasing to 160 degrees over the course of the session with about 6 infusions. It was lovely lovely lovely.
(about 1 g tea per oz water, 5 grams in 150 mL kyusu, tap water, infusions about 30", 15", 30", 45", 1 min, 2 min).
Preparation
Still enjoying this one very much, getting towards the end of the pouch, and I agree that the flavor profile is lighter than the Tenryu Misakubo, which is why I prefer this one, because I prize a honey-sweetness that gets drowned out easily when the umami increases.
Fortunately my order has shipped and I’ll have plenty more of the ‘sencha’ version of the same tea shortly, before this one runs out.