Yunomi

I had an awesome day, best day I have had in a while! Lately all my plans have been going poof for one reason or another so when everything went perfectly today it made it all the sweeter. First off I got a gloriously comfy new desk chair and shelves from a very nice lady on freecycle, the chair is high back and leather just like my old beloved chair, and the shelves are a perfect fit for my Tea Lair. Ben decided to take me out for an afternoon snack at Subway and shopping at the thrift store where he bought me some awesome new clothes. Also the radio seemed to be playing all the right music so I had fun dancing and singing like a goof. All an all, awesome day.

Today’s tea is a little bit of summer captured in tea, Sencha Summer Citrus by Yunomi.us and Ocharaka Tea Shop. This beautifully bright green sencha is blended with Natsumikan (translates to Summer Tangerine) a type of citrus native to Japan. The only distinctly Japanese citrus I have had is Yuzu, so it was exciting to research the Natsumikan a bit, famous in the city of Hagi and frequently brought back as a souvenir. They are described as being a blend of oranges, lemons, and grapefruits with a more sour quality. Sounds exciting! The aroma of this summer themed tea is intensely citrus, true to the description it smells like a citrus salad rather than one specific fruit. There is also the sencha aroma, delightfully fresh sweet grass and mown hay. It blends quite wonderfully with the slightly sweet and slightly sour citrus aroma from the Natsumikan.

Steeping the leaves brings out more the the fresh green aroma, very evocative of a field in summer, full of fresh grass, sweet hay, and a delicate touch of vegetal. There is of course still the aroma of citrus, but it is much milder and mostly sweet like oranges. The liquid is delightfully green with notes of fresh grass and vegetal (I want to say artichoke and lettuce but it is very faint) there is also a very delicate touch of kelp and of course an undertone of citrus.

The taste is mild and refreshing, it is very much so something I would want to sip during a summer day. There is a bit of citrus sweetness, again with the blend of different citrus fruits, and a midtaste of sour citrus, but it fades to sweetness again which is quite nice. There is a green, fresh grass quality that blends well with the citrus, the green is more vegetation than vegetal so it almost feels like you have the citrus leaves as well as the fruit. As the tea cools the citrus becomes sweeter and the sencha takes on a vegetal lettuce quality. This tea is good both hot and cold, and it might be the best citrus themed teas I have yet to taste.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/yunomius-and-ocharaka-tea-shop-sencha.html

Sipdown (128). So I’m finishing off the other half of this sample today. I thought I tasted perhaps a bit of floral flavor, but I think that’s just my mind trying to connect the tea to the name. Like I said in my previous tasting note, it’s basically just another sencha to me. I steeped very briefly (~20-30 sec?), which helped reduce the bitterness, but it was still there. Disappointingly not what I was expecting from this tea. Will not repurchase :(

Backlog. Yesterday was inadvertently a very Japanese day- all Japanese green teas and Japanese food for dinner. Not that I’m complaining! Anyway, I had this after classes to relax before I headed back out into the cold for dinner. I have to say, I was really excited to try this one but was disappointed. It tasted just like a regular sencha (grassy, a bit murky) to me with nothing really coming from the “flower” part of the blend. And I did make sure that I had flower buds in the tea. I also tried resteeping a few times to see if the floral flavor would show up, but it never did. As a sencha, it was also very finicky. It turned from very mildly flavorful to bitter much too quickly for my lazy self to babysit. Sadly, I’m not going to be reordering this one. I do have one teaspoon left, so perhaps it will miraculously taste better or I will be more patient, but I don’t really see that happening.

First infusion 135F for 3 minutes. Pale, light green. Thick and savory.

Second infusion at a higher temperature is a nice lightly bitter, grassy,

Tea #30 from HHTTB2

Thumbing through the reviews, I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one getting the Sencha flavor still coming through in this cup. It’s definitely a unique experience, as I’m used to that flavor being blitzed away through the roasting and replaced with something wholy different.

In any case, this tastes like heavily roasted veggies with a definite nutty and toasty quality. Vegetal, but warm and savory.

And it made me crave smashed parsnips with rosemary and garlic. Huh.

I owe all of you an apology, as you noticed I did not blog yesterday, I completely forgot! The whole day I had this nagging ‘I know I am forgetting to do something’ and it wasn’t until I woke up this morning that I realized what it was. Feel free to blame the excessive amounts of Minecraft I have been playing this week. While out walking to the store today I thought to myself, I need to blog about a tea that captures the idea of Winter because it is really cold today.

Kyobancha by Yunomi.us and Obubu Tea Farm captures the idea of Winter in a different way than most teas. From Kyoto (that is where the Kyo part of the name comes from) this Bancha is plucked in March, having spent the entire Winter curing on the bush and then roasted. A rare tea, even hard to find in Japan, I knew I had to try it because the idea of this tea’s Winter journey makes me think that a little bit of the season is captured in the leaf. I am nothing if not whimsical in my way of looking at nature. The aroma is that of old leaves, like it is late Autumn and you are walking through a forest where all the leaves have fallen and there is that distinct aroma of old leaves and crispness. There is a roasted aroma but it is faint compared to other roasted teas and there is also a mild loamy aroma that ties it in with the forest imagery. I really enjoy where the aroma of this tea transports my mind.

Once the leaves are steeped the aroma of loam becomes stronger, as does the roasted aroma. I can also pick up notes of umami as I move the leaves away from my nose. It is savory and rich with also an earthy note and a very delicate hint of smoke. The liquid has a strong roasted aroma, but also notes of buttery sweetness.

Time for tasting! The first thing I notice is the buttery and very smooth mouthfeel, it just slides down my throat and I have be careful to not chug it! The flavor is sweet and rich with notes of earthiness and loam with a hint of wood. It reminds me a bit of brandy but without the alcohol, hard to imagine alcohol without the alcohol, I know. There is of course a roasted taste as well, it is mild, I could see someone who is not a huge fan of roasted teas enjoying this one. The flavors in this tea, while being distinct are also very subtle, it is a soothing tea for when you don’t want to be overwhelmed by flavor and just want to enjoy the delicate. As the tea cools it becomes sweeter and smoother. This tea is wonderful for cold days or right before bed (especially since it has almost no caffeine) and is very soothing to the stomach after a rich meal.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/yunomius-obubu-tea-kyobancha-tea-review.html

Tea #1 from Here’s Hoping Travelling Teabox

I was quite excited to brew up a Houjicha. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a Houjicha tea and I was craving one.

I thought at first that there was something wrong with this tea, like maybe it has been affected by other tea flavors in the box. I detect a strange sort of generic fruitiness in the back ground. Aside from that, it certainly doesn’t taste like the Houjicha teas I’ve had before. I don’t know quite how to describe it, but I don’t like it. Reading the other reviews here, I can see that it should taste unique, but I don’t know how much of what I taste is the tea or how much is tea box ‘pollution.’

Sipdown (126)! I took the rest of this sample (a heaping tablespoon) and cold brewed in one of my water bottles. It’s probably more leaf than I would’ve used and I left it in there for quite a while on accident (maybe 12 hours or so?), so it had a pretty strong roasty taste by the time I tried it out. I did enjoy it, though, and I think it was the right idea to try a less roasty houjicha for cold brewing. I will miss this one, but not too much because I still have tons of it’s sister (dark roast) lying around waiting to be sipped on.

I only have a couple servings left of this, and the rest of the leaves are started to resemble coffee grounds a bit. I think the sample packet just got a bit crushed, oops! That in combination with accidentally letting it steep for quite a few minutes made the tea pretty strong today. It actually didn’t get bitter, but it was more roasted tasting than usual. Anyway, was loving this as usual, but I have a bunch of the dark roast houjicha, so I won’t be reordering any houjichas for a while.

Backlog. Last night, I wanted something really light because it was getting a bit late, so I opted to reach for this one. I also resteeped the leaves in the morning when I rolled out of bed. This is a nice, reliable houjicha, but I normally prefer something a little roastier.

I needed more of a gentle wake up tea this morning, so I went for this houjicha. I was also very groggy, so I knew that this tea would not be as finicky to steep. I overleafed a little and it was roastier than usual, but I liked that.

I wanted to have something a little less caffeinated for the afternoon since I’ve been having some sleeping issues lately. This nice, roasty houjicha fit the bill! It has a slightly fishy taste like dried anchovies or dried seaweed, but I like that. I prefer the dark roast (which I recently ordered a ton of) because this one does not have as strong of a roasted taste, but I’m enjoying what I have left of this!

I’m rapidly falling in love with Japanese green teas and hojicha in particular. This hojicha had a lighter color than the others that I’ve tried. It also had a slightly less roasty taste and was closer to other Japanese greens in my opinion. I drank this while eating something spicy and a little sweet, so the roasted, savory taste went well with the food. I’m starting to realize that all the Japanese green teas I’ve tried so far have been good for drinking while eating food.

Sipdown (120)! I used up the last of this leaf in a cold brew since I don’t really drink too much hot tea these days. I left it in the fridge for about 9-10 hours, which in hindsight was probably too long because there was a bit of bitterness to it that I feel could have been avoided. The tea was grassy and savory, much like the hot version of the tea. I think I actually prefer it hot, but it was nice to try out as a cold brew.

I really enjoy drinking Japanese greens while eating dinner. Particularly when I’m eating spicy foods. This gyokuro is a nice balance of grassy and savory with a thick mouthfeel. I probably mentioned that in previous notes, so I’ll be brief this time. Just wanted to say that I’m bumping up the rating on this one!

Had this tea with dinner, which was heavy on beef. The meal really brought out the grassiness of the tea, and I did not notice the savory aspect as much until I was sipping on it afterward. Not my favorite Japanese green tea, but I will enjoy the sample while I have it.

I’ve kind of been a tea making disaster lately. Today, I didn’t realize the bottom of this free sample packet had a hole in it, so I opened it from the top. Cue tea falling out of both ends and me frantically scooping it into my infuser. Not to mention that this tea is on the fine side, so it would fall through the strainer. Sigh. The point is that the steeping and measurement was not so accurate this time around.

Anyway, this tea interestingly smells savory yet tastes more grassy to me. The texture is also thicker, which is nice to have on a windy day like today. I’m terrible at identifying and describing tastes, but I think this one may be a little too umami for me. At least that’s what I think it is. I am still enjoying the cup, though!

Edit: On the second steep, that intense umami-ness went away, and it has a cleaner taste now. The problem now is that it’s a little bland to me. I’ll have to experiment with the other half of the sample to hit that right medium. I also tried some of the tea leaves and it was surprisingly mild. It had a seaweed texture with a green tea taste. Might be yummy to mix it into some rice or something next time.

Sipdown! Excited because I have too much tea, but sad because I really enjoyed this tea. It was pretty savory for a sencha. The problem I had with it was that the tea leaves were very fine and fell through the strainer. Since I took a long time to drink my tea, it ended up being pretty bitter.

This is one of the two free samples I got from Yunomi and the first of their teas that I’ve tried. The dry leaf had a slight fishy smell to me, kind of like dried anchovies. The tea itself was pretty savory and less grassy/vegetal than other Japanese green teas that I’ve had. I drank this on its own, but I think it would be a great tea to have with a meal, maybe with some spicy foods. I really enjoyed this!

Backlog:

This is my last backlog for this evening … I’m gonna try to do a little bit every night and hopefully I’ll get caught up eventually!

This was a very interesting Houjicha … I could still taste the vegetative tones of the Sencha in this tea, as well as some of the floral tones of the Sencha … usually, it’s been my experience that with the roasting process, the houjicha becomes an entirely new flavor but here, I taste notes of the Sencha still … I like that though!

The vegetative notes taste a bit like roasted vegetables … and I like this unique taste. There is a slight creamy tone to this cup too … it’s a little bit nutty, a little bit toasty and warm, a little bit vegetative and savory, and a little bit sweet and creamy! A really nice cuppa.

I got some lovely samples from Yunomi yesterday. decided to celebrate by first week of work at new job with a Shiboridashi of gyokuro.
The first infusion I did at 120* F for 30 seconds, It was light flavorless and only slightly green.
The second infusion I did around 140* for 30 seconds to a minute. This one reminded me of the Fuka sae midori from o-cha.
Third infusion was around 140-150* and i think I did 1 minute. Tasted like a kabusecha but grassier, and no strong cucumber peel flavor. Very well rounded. super green in color.
Fourth infusion probably 140-150* very green in color. and very sweet like powdered sugar.
I got 5 and 6th infusions but they were more sweet and weak green flavored.

I still have some left and will try another round of brewing. I probably made some mistakes with this first round, but all in all it is good and the flavor changes were both surprising and lovely.

In general most of the infusions were very sweet, no astringency.
Later note: I took the used tea leaves and tried to eat one. the flavor was over powering. Next time I will use the leftover infused leaves to make fridge green tea. or maybe mix with rice.

As my tea drinking day starts drawing to a close, I thought a cup of this tasty gyokuro that I kept from the HHTTB would be nice. Sweet & vegetal, it’s almost like a thin spring greens soup.

Another tea from the Here’s Hoping TTB.
It’s been awhile since I had a Gyokuro. I do enjoy them. It’s a very pale infusion, a very sweet spring green color. The tea is like a thin Matcha, very green & delicious.