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A light-colored liquor, the first sip of which has quite a sweetness. Definitely getting a good bit of pine, both from the scent of the leaves and from the flavor itself. A slightly sweet scent clings to the empty cup. I’m left with only a hint of a lingering flavor on the tongue with this particular steep, and I am still feeling the nice, smooth sensation that the liquor introduced. The second steep brings more of the same, and the following steep is flavorful, yet mellow, with a very refreshing, almost minty aftertaste. Still enjoying it four and five steeps in, we’ll see if anything changes!

This morning I’m paying a bit more attention to the flavor of this one, but it’s hard not to drink it down too fast. It’s got a creamy feeling in the mouth, and I’m finding the flavor of this to be closer to collard greens than spinach. Getting some kale in there, too. I’m contributing the “stemmy” taste I mentioned in my last note to this, which would make sense since both are more fibrous than spinach. The second steep is a nice, lighter experience of those same great flavors.

The first steep of this smells so sweet and the first sip is so creamy! Oh my gosh. Cream, mango. In the second steep, once the leaves have expanded, there is less cream and more of a floral fruitness. By the third steep I’m getting a much more tea leafy flavor. The creamy sensation is still present, although the fruit and cream flavors have mostly dissipated. I’m still getting a creamy aftertaste. No time to explore this any further today but I’ll be having it again soon.

Somebody tell me how to feel right now. My initial reaction to the aroma of this one is pure confusion. It is, after all, my first time having a genmaicha made with something other than green tea, and my first time having black and oolong blended together, and one of my first times having cocoa blended with tea. I can definitely smell the black tea in this, and I feel like I can really taste all of the ingredients. Every flavor is distinct, and the cocoa and jasmine rice particularly stand out to me. I’m really appreciating the bittersweetness of it. It’s got a nice sense of decadence without the overwhelming richness that can sometimes put me off something that I would describe as such. It’s also got a nice lingering flavor. I will definitely be having this again soon!

Hmm…so I decided to not follow the brewing recommendations for this and I’m thinking that was a mistake. I did drink this one on previous occasion, but I don’t really recall how it tasted. It didn’t really stand out much in my mind, though. I brewed it with about 5 grams in around 90-100 ml of water and it mostly tastes like burnt rice. I can’t really taste the tea at all, but there is quite a lot of rice mixed into this, more than what I’m probably generally accustomed to with genmaicha. Tried another steep since the rice was not soggy, basically the same. I will make sure I steep according to their instructions the next time I try this.

5g/~100 ml, ~1 minute steep @ 70C, second steep around 15 seconds at 80C

This tea has the wonderful, umami, vegetal aroma that I’ve quickly come to know and love from kabusecha with a flavor to match. It does differ from the other kabusecha I’ve been drinking. Maybe this sounds kind of basic (and obvious)…but it tastes…stemmier. Like the difference between eating the leafy part and stemmy part of a dark green. The flavor is slightly less in your face, slightly fresher. I know Holly spent a lot of time sourcing this tea to find one that didn’t have an overly-fired taste and it shows! I’m not sure which green I would most liken this too, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out as I drink my way through the 95g I have left!

I swear, my excessively useless talent is closing tabs and windows without my notes getting saved. ::sighs:: So let’s try this again.

When I first opened this package, the smell of rum filled my nose. I expected a rummy aroma, but it still managed to surprise me! And this tea surprised me, yet again, when I poured water over it and was hit with the smell of mushrooms. At first I thought it was shiitake, but then I realized it smells almost exactly like bunashimeji to me.

The liquor is dark and the mushroom aroma is strong, but the taste is not at all overwhelming. It’s very smooth going down, and has a very pleasant, rather light bunashimeji taste on the first steep.

The second and third steeps bring more mushroom aroma and flavor. The more I let it cool before drinking, the more the rummy notes come through, along with a touch of sweetness. After the third steep I notice a coffee-y, dark chocolatey aftertaste left behind.

The fourth steep tastes sweeter than all the previous ones to me, blending pleasantly with the other flavors. The following steep tastes the rummiest to me, and I—unfortunately—don’t get a chance to go beyond this before the day comes to an end. I definitely have enjoyed it, though, so this will be on the list to drink again soon.

Drinking this for the second time, decided to change up the steeping a little bit.
Still used 5g for 90 or so ml of water. Instead of brewing it and pouring it out of the gaiwan as usual, I just stuck the strainer into my gaiwan, poured the leaves in there, poured water over and let it steep like that. I guess because of how fine these leaves are, they mash together and block the liquid really easily if I try to do what I would with other leaves.

1st: ~60 seconds at 70C
Still has that great umami flavor and it’s a bit more moderate instead of as in my face as it was yesterday.

2nd: ~10 seconds at 80C
About the same taste I got during this steep yesterday.

3rd: ~30 seconds at 80C
Also about the same as what I got on the same steep yesterday. The flavor is continuing to gradually mellow out. I’m noticing these leaves are super absorbent. They end up holding a lot of the water that I pour over them, so I end up pouring less water than I intend to, as I don’t notice it getting soaked up until after I’ve looked away for a while.

4th: ~30 seconds at 90C
Still getting some umami notes this steep, along with the bitterness that one would eventually expect. I forcibly pushed the rest of the liquid out of the leaves for this final steep, so I’m sure doing that brought some more of the bitterness out. I’ll give saving these leaves for lunch a shot today, too! Overall, I think I liked the way I steeped yesterday better.