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When I say this is one of the best that I’ve ever had I am saying a lot. I drink mine plain. And I’ve tried a ton of matcha from many different companies. Mandarcha is an amazing company. If you are ever in Kyoto make sure to put it on your Must Do List. It is there that I discovered this matcha. I fell in love with the incredible aroma. Something I can’t quite put into words but after visiting a matcha milling facility in Nara I’ve realized that matcha literally smells like matcha. Sure you could say creamy, a bit vegetal, with some unique marine hints but this is just the smell of high-quality, fresh matcha. And the coloring is divine. A gorgeous green. I feel so melancholy seeing the last of the powder going into my chawan. T_T. It’s available online but just not the same as purchasing it in-store. Oh, so creamy. The texture is absolutely amazing. The powder stays suspended fabulously. This pairs well with Ghibli’s music.

Located near the Uji River in Uji, Japan is the amazing tea shop of Baisa Nakamura. During the Global Japanese Association Master Course, we had the honor of seeing Nakamura-san use his mini-processing equipment to make tea for us. I don’t think I’ve ever called equipment cute but these chibi-sized gadgetry were amazing and cute. They also sell nitro brewed tea.

This tea is great when brewed US style in a mug but it’s even better in a kyusu.
Mug brewing: Grab your favorite mug and metal infuser. Be sure it is one that is never used by coffee if anyone else drinks coffee in the place you reside. It can ruin the tea. The amount you add depends on the mug but standard is usually about 1 tsp. More if you like it strong. You can brew anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes. This is a tea that is safe to forget about for the most part. The flavor is so nice. Full of squash and redwood notes.

Kyusu brewing: Japanese squash. Kabocha. With just a bit of roasting but also like you bit into a bit of a fresh one. I picked this one up in-store but unfortunately, I don’t see it listed online. Also a bit of chocolate but more so on the cacao side. I really enjoy the homeyness of the wet aroma. Like walking into a nice warm house on a blustery cold winter day. A slight hint of fire mixed with a squash stew on the stove.

This is a very unique tea. I admit I did not buy it for its taste but more so for its interesting ability to change color kind of like the butterfly pea flower. The flat leaf is a mix of glossy and matte leaves. All uniform in their darker green color. The dry aroma is not as strong as I was hoping. It’s slightly vegetal but mainly too muted for any enjoyment of anything.
On its own the flavor is nice, peas, buttered peas, and maybe asparagus. Probably the worst-looking tea color. Almost grey. Murky. Like a storm with its tint of green. The color change is super cool. From a murky weird brown color to pink when using lemon juice. The taste is peas with lemon. Weird. Nope. My daughter also agrees. It has an interesting flavor but this one is more for science than it is for taste so I’m not sure of where to rate it… Maybe rate for taste… Sorry. If you want to see the color change check it out here! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083808627473

The sample I have is from the Intermediate Japanese Global Tea Association class. However, there are very few companies that sell this tea and I didn’t see this company listed so I decided to make a steeper page for it since I was impressed with the amount of detail they used. The tea has been open and ready for me to use for a bit so the dry aroma is somewhat diminished but there are notes of pan-fried leaves. Some leaves are glossy, some dull. Twisting and curling. Went with a one-minute steep to start. The initial aroma coming off the leaves is lovely. Notes of pan-fried corn with a bit of butter and a bit of asparagus. Smooth mouthfeel with just a touch of astringency. I think I actually over-steeped this one. Round two fight. 30 second steep now. Much better. Good vegetal notes. My egg and rice breakfast with furikake sprinkled on it might have been a bit too strong for this one though. Better to sip on its own. Third steep. Even less time. Still vegetal notes. The furikake is just destroying the other flavors though. It’s all over my palate. Point taken with that one.

On a side note. I am looking to start nitro brewing teas at craft fairs. But the hurdles I am going to have to jump through to do it are a bit daunting. I broke down a bit yesterday but I am picking myself back up today and hoping for the best. Pray things will come together for me because I would love to see this work.

This smells more like a bancha with a hint of sencha. I started with a minute steep time but decided to begin the pouring at 55 seconds. It definitely has that metallic tint on the palate like a bancha. But the mouth feel is very smooth. It also probably wasn’t the best choice to consume after waffles. This is also called Summer Sencha on the packet so this one might have been produced a bit differently, at a different time during the summer, and or many other factors. This sample came from the Global Japanese Tea Association intermediate course.

Last tea from the rare tea class. Though the post-fermented teas were tasted last to keep them from spoiling the taste of the other teas. I shouldn’t say spoil. But ruin sounds worse. Change maybe? Yes, change. This is the first time I have seen a stem of this size in tea. It’s HUGE. Good amount of stems and twigs in this one. The aroma is very woody which makes sense considering what it contains. Dry wood and a mix of other woody aroma notes. The present leaves are all light brown and small. The wet leaves are also full of woody notes that have a slight pine note to them. I really want to revisit this one.

This is a lovely tea. Reminiscent of a dark roast hojicha. The dry leaf is quite big for the most part but there are smaller leaves in there. They are also cut like a very big version of CTC. Dark and olive brown leaves with a mix of light brown twigs. The wet leaf is just a darker version of the same. Notes of campfire with roasted marshmallows. Nice roasty notes. Flavor is highly like hojicha with the roasty and toasty notes but a bit heavier on the roasty notes. If you like hojicha be sure to give this one a try.

Tokushima is located in southern Japan. In the summer they harvest the leaves for this tea, usually around July. The first part of the name (Awa) comes from the original name of the prefecture and bancha is the name used for older leaves/later harvests. The leaves are a mish-mash of light olive, browns, and some dark brown/green. Kind of crinkled. You can tell it’s been pressed. The leaves are quite large. The liquor aroma is definitely the best part in my opinion. It is very brothy. This would make a good soup base. Maybe for ramen or just a dashi for udon or soba. drooling Uh, but it’s also a bit picklely. Just a bit. And the flavor is high in pickling spices. Not off-putting but very different indeed.

From the rare tea class on the last day of the Master class. If you are ever able to take part in this I highly recommend it. I want to go again.

Ah. Goishicha. If you think dark tea, heicha, pu er, is weird. You are about to experience a whole new level of mind-blown. This was my second time having the honor of tasting this tea. The first was through the Global Japanese Tea Marathon. Let me tell you. Nothing will quite prepare you for tasting this one. Or Ishizuchi Kurocha for that matter. I won’t down play that lightly because it is not your typical dark tea category experience. rofl. Actually, would be an interesting prank tea. Maybe Anyway, the entire room will be quite musty after brewing this. And will remain that way for a bit. Good luck to you.

Ah, but then you must taste it too. You are first greeted with a square. A square of dark, glossy tea leaves. This shape will remain after steeping unless you play with it. Though after infusing it will be slimy looking with pickle and very slight light aroma. The mouth feel is smooth. But you won’t be able to concentrate on the feel because the flavor will be insulating your senses. Pickle. Pickling. Fermented leaves pickle. It’s unique and I’m not selling it well but go try it anyway. This tea is an art.

Another tea from the rare tea class. And holy crap is this rare. If you ever have a chance to try it please do not pass up the opportunity to do so! And forget my review when you do so that you can form your own opinions. But also because I had some really weird things I tasted. It was all over the place. Except for the dry leaf which I didn’t get to smell but I did get to see. They are slightly glossy and the leaves are quite big. The flavor is lemony with some umeboshi on the side and then some pickle. And the problem with pickles is when you start thinking of pickles and dill you can’t unsmell it. The wet leaf reminded me of tomato sauce with dill. Like maybe they added too much dill. This will not become a cupboard favorite but it’s so unique I want to try it again.