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Quite an enjoyable sencha — rather light & sweet on the first brew, and more astringent subsequently. This is another low-cost, good-quality sencha from O-cha.
First infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 50 sec.
Second infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 90 sec.
Third infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
This is a tasty sencha, with the usual elements of astringency and grassiness. It would make a good choice for those who prefer their senchas on the less intense side. More flavourful than the Miyazaki Organic Asamushi Sencha
First infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 50 sec.
Second infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 75 sec.
Third infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
Ho… Ly… Schiznitbajesushotdiggitygollygoshdangdarndamnit!
New benchmark matcha. Gotta dock the Hibiki-an Pinnacle score as scale adjustment.
Brewed with 2g in about 25-30mL water just off a boil in my summer chawan to make a koicha that pours a bit slower than wall paint but faster than honey. Unreasonably delicious. Really. Consumables have no place tasting this good and offering such a rich and satisfying an aroma and flavor presenting a HUGE progression of flavor with such a wonderful balance of sweet, bitter, sour, and umami (saltiness is absent, otherwise all bases covered in taste). I have to call it intense in expression just ‘cuase it’s koicha but it’s very mellow. Intense like a rich but mild stew with egg and baked potato. No, this doesn’t taste like stew or potato (egg is very much present though far more obvious when prepared as usucha). Heavy stuff and in a very good way.
Dark Jadeite coloration makes other matcha look yellowish by comparison (Forest/Jungle Green compared to Kelly/Emerald Green). Deep color goes hand-in-hand with the heavy, rich fragrance of greenery and a touch of hothouse flowers in the dry fragrance.
Pushed through a sieve with the chashaku into the bowl.
Wetted it whisks easily and even forms a hint of a froth layer despite how thick it is. Doesn’t clump and flows well. Texture is thick and eggy and silky smooth.
All kinds of greenery characteristics come out in this ranging from Nori and Wakame Seaweeds to cucumbers to kale to steamed cauliflower and broccoli florets to edamame to heaped piles of moist freshly mown grass to celery to honeydew melon flesh and watermelon skin. Aroma feels like it leads the way into the mouth followed by the initial shock of flavor and then wave after wave of shifting masses of flavor encompassing the above and mixed with various florals that I honestly didn’t feel needed to be disseminated out from the bunch as any combination would not really mesh to give a good approximation of the impression. In general, take the smell of a warm spring day of all the smells across a field, evergreen forest ravine, and the fresh air off a seaside bluff and mix with the heady impression of a hothouse with flowers, large-foliage orchids and bromeliads, and Nepenthes and then mix with the fresh crisp smell of a cut flower shop and fresh produce stand. Then take this swirling, shifting mass and let it flow at you like a heavy ocean fog rolling over and up a hillside into you in waves of clearing then intensifying mists and breezes and vapor. Ever hike Point Reyes or Big Sur on a warm late spring – early summer day giving way to a cool evening as the fog reclaims the land? Marin Headlands north of San Francisco and the Carmel/Monterey area sort of get this too, but it’s the oceanside hills in the coniferous forest bands that really get this effect. But yeah – that. In your mouth. With added awesome levels of epicosity.
Now I need to go off and find a higher grade matcha to force my benchmark higher since I know there’s way better out there. I’ve heard good things about Way of Tea and I know a couple folks who teach Japanese Tea Ceremonies who I told I wasn’t into the full ceremony but if experiencing better tea than this is the reward than I think I can deal with some leg pain and cramping from sitting seiza.
I also took the remnant koicha, diluted it to about usucha strength and whisked for a pleasant but light matcha. Did a second round on the stronger side of usucha for a superb and more cucumber-kale focused matcha. This tea reeeeeally does best as thick tea, though.
Preparation
Having been in all those places and know in my memory the smells of the Marin Headlands and Carmel/Monterey with the pine/sea/sand-salt…brine and everything else…even the flower growers…I can’t imagine this in a tea. Where is the have to try this button. BAM!
Hahaha, agreed.
Keep a mind that those greenery flavors greatly supersede the floral ones and sort of envelop them all. It’s pretty darn difficult to disseminate characteristics in koicha since it’s so freakin’ thick and laden with so much flavor (good or bad). The mashup aromas described here are mostly a precursor and intertwined ephemeral quality with the heavy greenery of the liquor. The only actual aromatic cues that I was able to glean for myself were Coastal California Poppy, Lowland Nepenthes pitchers in a hothouse, and Orchid… Though only the first is the smell from the flower – the others are foliage.
But yes. I’d say “Must. Buy!” But I’m left wanting to find out what is even better still since I know this is actually somewhere near middle-quality range.
That’s scary! I used to work in a winery in California, and sometimes even the aroma of some tea’s is someone punched me in the nose it’s so complex and powerful! Wine can be like an elevator that has lost power. All of a sudden, you’re falling rapidly through flavors trying to catch each one in your memory.
Tea is rarely like wine but this one seems to have been that type of experience for you. A better one…oh my?!
I almost placed an order with them last night but was not exactly sure what I wanted – was looking for creamy and buttery teas, then with the cost could not risk not loving what I got.
@Bonnie — What winery and whereabouts? I’ve lived in Petaluma most of my life, just recently moved a tad north to Santa Rosa, and work at a company based in Healdsburg so I’m just a hop, skip, and a jump to quite a few wineries.
I had a Dian Hong the other day from Zomia Tea that seriously had an aspect similar to the aroma of walking through a cellar with Chardonnay in French Oak, though stone fruit was dominant over it. Maybe not quite like wine, but related to it!
Yeah, it can be tough picking through the more assertive teas and wines. In matcha it’s way easier to pick apart when prepared as thin tea; for koicha the consistency is thicker than many forms of paint or melted chocolate so it takes an already assertive tea type and compresses everything and then the body actually inhibits your ability to figure out where in the mouth would typically be highlighted the most (kind of a big thing for me). This particular tea coats the mouth like sipping cocoa and goes down with a similar pleasant light bitterness and overall smoothness. Didn’t think to say that earlier as I was sorta lost in the texture and didn’t bother trying to relate it apart from it being silky and lacking in clumps. On that note, I’m going to edit a typo I noticed – I brewed with about 1oz water, which is about 28mL not 15mL!
@ Azzrian — I’ve tried and loved their Gyokuro, Kabusecha, and Sencha offerings but this is the first time having a matcha from them appropriate for koicha. I had always thought Gyokuro was their strongest suit and some do match what you are looking for (when brewed with lukewarm water).
Well, I’ve stayed in Windsor 5 or 6 times but my family (dad) was from Yountville and brothers moved to Napa later. My cousin Norma has a vineyard in Ukiah contracted to Beaulieu Vineyard (where my dad trimmed vines in the 1930’s as a child). (I love going to Calistoga to visit the wineries close by and the small Russian Orthodox Church and Monastery attached with the gardens planted by the Priest who is a botanist.) I worked at Fortino’s in Gilroy (Santa Clara County) but would venture South to Paso Robles for the sunny fruity ‘Reds’ I love. (that’s were I had some of the most spectacular multi-leveled wines). Along the Sonoma Wine Trail I liked visiting the organic growers and Gloria Ferrer for the Asian Garden (I have a bio pic that I use now and then of me looking over a small bridge that was taken there). Do they still BBQ oysters in Healdsburg at the Brewery on Friday nights? That with beer…nice!
Thank you Thomas!
I just drooled a little.
I haven’t dined much in Healdsburg, but hear Bear Republic is a good brewery and restaurant – if they do barbecued oysters I’m going to have to start visiting! That’s right around the corner from work at Flying Goat Coffee and right down the street from the new teashop Zomia.
That’s the one. But it was quite awhile ago that I remember them having the Friday Nite BBQ’d Oyster’s. They did have some nice bar grub though at the time for lunch without going broke.
Loved your Manten review. Have you managed to try Taiko-San Uji Matcha yet?
I used 4g of tea in 4 oz. of water…
- steep #1 (68 deg. C, 60 sec.) sweet, chestnut, vegetables, umami…delicious taste…liquid is clear if the kyusu is not shaken during pouring, when I make one “swinging” move, the liquid is not so clear
- steep #2 (71 deg. C, 20 sec.) deep green broth, still sweet taste, grassy taste comming in, still full of umami…fukamushi shincha as good as it gets
- steep #3 (74 deg. C, 45 sec.) a little thinner brew, but still excellent for 3rd brew, thick soup, grassy, some umami still there
- steep #4 (77 deg. C, 80 sec.) this one is quite thinner, but because there is not much bitterness, it’s still enjoyable
Excellent tea, this year (2012) is on par, or even better as the 2010 tea.
This is a tasty and somewhat unusual sencha. There is a certain tartness, or piquancy, to the taste, as well as a pleasant aftertaste. Very nice!
First infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 80 deg., 40 sec.
Second infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 75 sec.
Third infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 80 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
This is a very mild, gentle and soft asa. Would be ideal for those who like their senchas on the light end of the flavour spectrum. Hence, it is too low-key for me.
First infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 2 min.
Second infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
A delicious asa that has shades of a chu / fuka about it. Pleasingly grassy and astringent, with overtones of vegetal goodness as well. Brews a greener cup than many asa-s.
First infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 80 deg., 40 sec.
Second infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 80 deg., 45 sec.
Third infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 80 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
A very enjoyable karigane sencha: sweet and toasty. More sweet in the first infusion, and more toasty in the second. Delicious, refreshing, and rather light in taste. A great tea to enjoy on occasion.
First infusion — 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 90 sec.
Second infusion — 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
This tea is quite finicky, but totally worth it if you are patient and careful with it. I found that the water needs to be JUST right for this tea, because it easily goes bitter if it is too hot, but if the water is too cool it won’t bring out the abundance of flavor.
This tea has a very strong green aroma, both dry and in the pot. Very umami, sweet, but not quite as sweet as I was expected, and quite astringent. In fact, the first steep is slightly more astringent than I would like, but subsequent steepings were beautiful. I can get about six good steepings out of this tea.
I can say that this is one of the best green teas I have had.
The vendor itself was pleasing too. I received my tea in about a week in a half (from Japan to Florida!). I was impressed with the quick service. I will definitely order from them again.
Preparation
O-Cha’s Kabusecha is my favorite Kabusecha. Its taste is between a sencha and gyokuro, but leans more towards a gyokuro. After drinking it for a few years now, I find that it is a great way to switch-up my green tea routine. Japanese green teas hold a special place in my heart because of their “ocean taste” that I absolutely love. I find it amazing that a green tea can so vividly remind me of the ocean; O-Cha’s Kabusecha is no exception.
Dry Leaf: Beautiful emerald green needles that are fairly unbroken. The smell is full of briny sea tones that include fish (in a good way), shellfish, and seaweed. Also, there is a tinge of dry hay.
Ratio: 0.6g/1oz. water; 175 degrees F
1st: (1 min.) Neon yellow, clear infusion. The smell of the wet leaves is full of briny sea tones like the dry leaf smell (fish, shellfish, and seaweed). These same sea tones thankfully come through, in a big way, in the taste. A pronounced veggie sweetness is present throughout. The mouthfeel is wonderfully thick and miso soup-like. The astringency is low / non-existent. The taste leans towards gyokuro, but does have some aspects of sencha.
2nd: (30s) Wet leaves smell of veggie sweetness mixed with slightly less pronounced sea tones (same as above). Liquor is more green / yellow and cloudy. The taste has a more pronounced dry hay aspect, with less pronounced veggie sweetness and sea tones. Now, this tea is leaning more towards an asamushi sencha. The mouthfeel is not as thick and a slight, but nice astringency is present.
3rd: Wet leaves still smell of sweet veggies. I think it is great how persistent the smell is throughout the infusions. The liquor is still green / yellow and cloudy. The taste is beginning to wane with less tones of sea and dry hay. However, there is still some nuances of gyokuro sweetness. This infusion is much like the second but with a more subdued flavor profile.
Overall, I am incredibly fond of Japanese green teas that are full of sea tones. This Kabusecha is wonderful and a great way to break my tea routine of Japanese senchas and gyokuros. I recommend it highly!!
Preparation
Wonderful looking leaves for an Asamushi sencha, lots of big longer needles that are a deep emerald green color. The leaves smell amazing inside a prewarmed kyusu while waiting to be steeped.
The first infusion has a wonderfully mellow and comforting smell. A bit vegetal but not harsh in any way shape or form. It also has a slight hint of toasted grains in the aroma. Not sure where that first cup went, but smooth, with hints of vegetable broth and grains. Could have possibly used a bit of a longer steep.
Second Infusion: About the same parameters as the first infusion. This one smells much more like celery, with a hint of raw carrots, and lettuce. The taste has a bit more of a bite this time, but in a nice leafy green vegetable sort of way.
Third Infusion: Slightly warmer, slightly longer steep. Getting a slight hint of raw cabbage on this one both in aroma and taste, but as I love cabbage this is great by me.
Can likely go for a few more infusions, but I will stop taking notes.
Preparation
Quality Gyokuro at an affordable price.
First brew is golden and light.
Second brew is brothier, more vegetal, and still golden.
As you rebrew the leaves, the brew turns from gold to a spring green, the liquor strengthening in color and flavor until after the 3rd brew..
From until the 5th brew, the leaves resiliently produce a well rounded cup of tea. The leaves do not bitter in the sitting water when prepared correctly.
Leaves are an even tone of a deep, rich forest green and very silky. Care for the leaves during growth and harvest are apparent through the appearance of the leaves, and the complex flavor of the brew.
Sweet, vegetal, light. Great for memory, attentiveness, cleaning out the blood, and weight loss.
Preparation
Another few infusions later, I can confirm that this one wants a longer first infusion, even better when handled properly. About 150 degrees, 1 minute plus to start; 150 degrees, perhaps 45 seconds for the second; and gradually increasing time & temps through 6 or 7 infusions.
Preparation
The scent of this Kirameki sencha is quite sweet and rich even before the dry leaves hit the preheated pot. Deep green leaves, 4.7 grams into my 5 oz kyusu.
1st infusion in my kyusu was with cooler water, 150 degrees, and absurdly short at 20 seconds (I was thirsty and impatient). Sweet peas, vegetal, but of course too dilute for best impression.
2nd infusion at 30 seconds, 155 degrees, much better, a hint of astringency behind the warm, vegetal, grassy sweetness.
3rd infusion at 45 seconds, 165 degrees, warm, sweet, grassy, delicious. A hint of that warmth of sun-warmed dry hay, not quite caramel, but deep and lovely.
4th 160 degrees, 90 seconds, milder than I expected for what was a longer-than-anticipated infusion—really seems rather dilute. That rich depth of the last infusion is not there, but what is here is sweet and pleasant, if not deep.
5th 170 degrees, about 2 minutes, and again, the depth is lacking but the surface is still good. I now really regret that first too-short infusion because this tea doesn’t seem to be giving me the many infusions that compensate for the first mistake.
Overall, another lovely tea, and I’ll be a lot more careful iwth the first infusions next time. 45 seconds is probably a better starting time, then 30, 60, 90, 2 min.
Preparation
An excellent first infusion followed by a very pleasant second make this a great tea. The third infusion is nothing special, but third infusions rarely are for me in the world of senchas.
First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.
Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.
Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 5+ min.
Preparation
I would recommend increasing your temperatures and modifying steeping times a bit. Maybe 75*/90 secs for the second and 85*/120 secs for the third? I do recall the first and second steepings being the very best of this tea, but it’s been quite some time.
Yum! :)
Thanks for the feedback, Cole. I have tried various temps & times with numerous senchas, and it always seems that the third infusion is very weak and bland. Considering the success others have had with third (and fourth and fifth infusons), I think my taste buds are just plain weird! :-)
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Sencha from Chiran is, like many kyuushuu teas, famous for its sweetness, and steeping on 60 degrees is not a bad idea considering the extra amount of sweetness you will get from it. Have you perhaps tried increasing the amont of steeping time a bit? I usually use 6-7g for 1.6 dl. water and steep it on 70 degrees for about 50 seconds, but if I was to lower the temperature, I would increase the steeping time to around 1.5 minutes
I look forward to hear your thoughts on this matter. :D.
Thanks for the comments, Shadowleaf. Yes, I have tried increasing the steeping time. In fact, I steep the third infusion for 10 minutes. And it still turns out bland.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Brewed the new and improved version of this tea, made from a blend of Kyushu leaves. A very good tea, all round, with a pleasantly vegetal taste in the first brew, and a deliciously-grassy and astringent second brew. At the price, an excellent value!
First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 1 min.
Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 1 min.
Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 5+ min.
Preparation
My second try of this tea. It has a pleasant toasted flavor, not strong or smokey or wooden. Mellow, subtle. The toasted flavor makes me think of how fall oak leaves smell, if that makes sense. It has a satisfying flavor that is very easy to drink.
