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“Life without Tao’s kukicha is hard. Fortunately I found this to tide me over. There’s a definate drop in quality but kukicha that can be overlooked (it’s twig tea, they mock this stuff in Japan!)....” Read full tasting note
“Yay, back home from an exciting day of eating dim sum and going to the Asian market! I just recently got a Japanese cookbook and needed to stock up on dried noodles, miso, sauces, etc. This was my...” Read full tasting note
Maeda-en’s Traditional Kuki-cha is made from the twigs and stems of fine Sen-cha, which is then deep-steamed for a mild, earthy flavor.
We recommend to steep 1tbsp & 1tsp of Kuki-cha in hot water (160-170F) in a large pot for 60 seconds. Great with sweets.
Maeda-En has been in business for the last 25 years as an importer, manufacturer and wholesaler of green tea & green tea desserts. Our Japanese grown, fresh quality green teas are shipped directly from our production factory in Japan to the states and then world-wide.
Gyokuro Kuki-Cha Twig Tea (Blender's Series)
Maeda-enKuki-Cha Twig Tea With Matcha (Blender's Series)
Maeda-enKUKI-CHA Twig Tea With Matcha
Maeda-enGenmai-Cha Brown Rice Tea (Traditional Series)
Maeda-enSen-Cha (Traditional Series)
Maeda-enGold Genmai-Cha Brown Rice Tea (Traditional Series)
Maeda-enBut watch your steeping times; if I don’t frantically empty the teapot at 50 seconds this kukicha goes bitter instantly. I truly need to get a French press…
Yay, back home from an exciting day of eating dim sum and going to the Asian market! I just recently got a Japanese cookbook and needed to stock up on dried noodles, miso, sauces, etc. This was my only tea purchase from the Asian market, which let me tell you, is impressive. They basically had an entire aisle of tea in various mysterious packets and I wanted to check them all out, but I didn’t want to subject the boyfriend to that when he was already being sweet enough to go shopping with me. I just happened to see this package in passing, and since I love kukicha I decided to give it a try. It was only about $7 for the 150g packet, after all. The stems have that familiar straight and stick-like appearance with a mix of rich green and lighter cream colors. Dry scent is a touch grassy but really sweet.
I would say this tea is definitely worth the price! The beginning of the sip has more of an umami presence that I normally find in kukicha and almost tastes like sencha. However, the middle and end have that unmistakable sweet flavor that just says “kukicha” to me. It’s also very smooth with no astringency or bitterness whatsoever. Definitely worth the price at just over $1 per ounce! I’ll have to make another trip to the Asian market sometime soon just to check out all of their teas.
Flavors: Creamy, Seaweed, Smooth, Spinach, Sweet, Umami
I have a Korean/Japanese market nearby I’ve stopped in for teas occasionally. I’ll have to check to see if they have this tea. The cashiers at that market are so friendly! It’s a great place to shop.
Good luck on the Asian cooking!
The market I went to seemed to have everything – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, etc. It was huge and we were there for quite a while, ha ha.
They also had Maeda-en’s sencha and genmaicha, and they were some of the very few packages with English on them. :P
I’ve become a bit of a tea snob when it comes to sencha and genmaicha. lol I find most of the packages from Maeda-en are clear (letting the light in) and the quality is not the greatest. If you can find packages that do not let light in, I find the tea is better.
Yeah, you’re right, it was in a package that was partially clear. However, it seems quite fresh and I’ve already transferred it to a tin. :)
Most of the other teas were in totally opaque packages, but they also were mostly in Chinese/Japanese so I would’ve needed to spend a lot of time looking through them all, and I didn’t want to make the boyfriend endure that, ha ha!
