Yunomi

Opening the packet reveals a dark brown leaf that is loosely broken and bares a super strong pine smoke scent. Like a smack in the face sort of smokiness. Perhaps on par with Lapsang Souchong.

Steeping Parameters: 5g leaf, 90C water, 200ml

4 minutes

The resulting tea is dark brown/black in colour and bares a smoky pine wood scent similar to it’s raw scent.

Flavour is wooden and dry with strong a strong smokiness that quickly dissipates. It’s only medium strength considering it’s strong scent, perhaps a longer steeping time would change that.

The smoke has a clinical taste which I believe must be the pine. There is some astringency but it’s easy to drink. The smokiness lingers in the after taste but not as much as the dryness.

Overall: It was a pleasant enough smoked black tea, though it has to be said the smoke was perhaps a little too strong for my usual taste. The clinical almost medicinal taste was unusual but interesting. Again I would have to be in the mood to drink this tea.

https://kittylovestea.com/2018/01/25/fukubukuro-2018-with-yunomi/

I haven’t tried that many flavoured Japanese teas before so this is something of a novelty. All the same I like peach and I’m partial to a Japanese black tea so what could go wrong?

Opening the packaging (which is plain but re-sealable) I am met with a super sweet and fruity peach scent. It sent a smile to my face instantly as it fulled my nostrils. It’s so strong and sweet and juicy it’s hard not to want to devour it all on the spot.

Steeping Parameters: 5g leaf, 90C water in 200ml Kyusu.

3 minutes

Once steeped the resulting tea is brown/red in colour and bares a sweet, peach scent with a wooden under tone.

Slurping the first few sips (as you do) reveals medium strength wooden base which lightens and becomes sweet with fresh peach notes in the after taste. It’s balanced wonderfully, it’s not too strong and you can taste both elements equally. The after taste is sweet but also with some dryness. Considering it’s a black tea this is pretty smooth, there is only a hint of astringency.

The peach flavour itself tastes natural but the sweetness isn’t, so I believe it must have had something added to it to be so sweet. I can’t say if that is natural or not, it could be stevia for example. Either way it’s sweeter than an actual peach.

Rating: It’s a nice flavoured tea. The balance is good, flavours good and my overall drinking experience good. It is perhaps a tad too sweet for my usual liking if I was to be critical. I actually think this would be amazing iced, which is probably how I will steep the rest of this.

https://kittylovestea.com/2018/01/25/fukubukuro-2018-with-yunomi/

Opening this bright green packet reveals a loosely broken mixed green leaf that bares a dry, herbal, toasted grass scent.

Steeping Parameters: 5g leaf, 80C water, 200ml Kyusu

2 minutes

Once steeped the resulting tea is a deep, cloudy, yellow/green in colour and bares a light yet toasted sweet grass scent.

The first sips reveal a toasted, grass flavour (matching of it’s scent) with a touch of astringency and dryness. Good umami notes, sweet and floral with a lingering aftertaste. Only medium strength, not as strong as I had expected considering it’s intense colour.

It has a wooden, herbal sort of taste. Similar to the toasted rice in a genmaicha.

Overall: Honestly this is not one of my favourites, it’s a little dark and oddly herby for my liking. I prefer tencha in matcha form than in original form. It’s also rather dry. But again this was just a basic grade so I didn’t expect much from it. It’s drinkable by any means but it would not be one I would pick if given the choice.

https://kittylovestea.com/2018/01/25/fukubukuro-2018-with-yunomi/

Beautiful colours on the packaging, that’s the plus side to many Japanese teas. Opening the packet reveals a a sweet, fresh, grassy scent full of vegetal notes. So beautiful, like cut grass on a beautiful Spring day.

The tea itself is quite dark green (with a few stems present) and loosely broken into quite fine pieces. The pieces look and feel glossy.

Steeping Parameters: 5g leaf in 70C water. Vessel: 200ml Kyusu

40 seconds

Once steeped the resulting tea bares a gorgeous, cloudy green glow and smells of toasted sweet grass with a hint of fresh spinach.

In flavour this is of medium strength with real mouth feel. One sip coats my entire mouth with flavour. Grass and spinach mixed with vegetal dark green cabbage notes and a lingering umami that becomes slightly dry in the after taste. Yet it’s fresh and very easy to drink. There is some sweetness mixed with a touch of bitterness but they are quite evenly paired.

Re-steep – 55C for 40 seconds and only 100ml (lower temperature to try to draw out more umami)

More flavour and with a touch more bitterness though it’s not bitter by any real means. The sweet umami once again fills my mouth with it’s savoury notes. Still dark green cabbage like but also toasted seaweed. Very mineral and ‘green’ tasting. Beautiful all the same.

Overall: This was a beautiful green tea that was incredibly easy to drink and very fresh. It was not as umami rich as some other teas but it was pleasing and would be a great tea if you’re interested in introducing yourself to Japanese greens. I have a feeling this would be nice iced.

https://kittylovestea.com/2018/01/25/fukubukuro-2018-with-yunomi/

I love the mouthfeel of this tea, but I am not overly fond of the strong bready aspect. It’s still a very good choice for when I want something savoury and complex, but I think I will be searching for a different Gyokuro next time.

5g of tea

1st steep, 45°C, 60 sec, 100 ml: The mouthfeel is incredible, so silky. The colour of the first steep is actually very light compared to the latter ones and not cloudy at all. The taste is quite salty even for a gyokuro, but the umami is not super strong. The finish is bready and the aftertaste has honey sweetness.

2nd steep, 55°C, 15 sec, 100 ml: Again, great viscosity, but with a very strong green colour that could almost compete with some matchas. I like the taste more than the first steep, it is a bit more complex with grassy notes and some bitterness appearing. Otherwise not too dissimilar from the previous steep.

3rd steep, 60°C, 30 sec, 100 ml: The colour is still holding up, only slightly weaker now. The taste is vegetal and a little bit spicy, hints of courgette, black pepper and pattypan squash. The savoury tastes are still present, but much more modest, allowing for a yet more complex flavour. There is also a slight astringency kicking in and the taste is a bit more buttery overall with hints of citrus fruits.

4th steep, 70°C, 45 sec, 100 ml: Finally, the viscosity drops to standard levels. The taste is not too complex, but fairly balanced and enjoyable. The astringency is naturally a bit stronger but not overbearing at all.

5th steep, 80°C, 120 sec, 100 ml: I was feeling the tea is already giving up a little bit so I tried to get as much out of it for the 5th infusion, hoping that the bitterness and astringency won’t be too strong. And it isn’t, the tea holds up well even with longer steeps (with respect to how small the leaf bits are). There is a noticeable caffeine bitterness, but it is not too strong.

This tea has a great balanced flavour, which develops nicely over different steeps. A nice little surprise are the hidden woody flavours which are rarely found in green teas. I suppose these might originate from the use of harder twigs as well as stems.

1st steep, 68°C, 60 sec: Umami and sweet notes dominate.

2nd steep, 72°C, 30 sec: Umami and sweetness still present, but the soup is more clouded and viscous with vegetal notes coming to the fore. Very nice mouthfeel.

3rd steep, 78 °C, 60 sec: Astringent and citrus notes appear, but do not dominate.

4th steep, 85 °C, 120 sec: The taste profile is the flattest with surprisingly mild astringency. Citrus notes seem to be the most present, especially in the aftertaste.

Overall, I am impressed.

(Out of curiosity, I also went for 5th steep, 90 °C, 240 sec. As expected, the tea doesn’t have much to offer there. This last brew is somewhat bitter and grassy, but not particularly enjoyable.)

Second time trying this tea and it came out better. Still not very complex, but possesses a good balance of flavours, which was probably intended by mixing various types of tea. There is not a huge difference between various steeps, but naturally umami gradually dies out while astringency appears around 3rd and especially 4th steep. The last, fifth, steep is lacking in many respect with respect to the previous ones, so I didn’t push it any further.

6 g of tea
1st steep, 70°C, 60 sec, 60 ml
2nd steep, 75°C, 30 sec, 100 ml
3rd steep, 80°C, 60 sec, 100 ml
4th steep, 80°C, 100 sec, 100 ml
5th steep, 90°C, 150 sec, 100 ml

Level: Delicous.

To my surprise, this tea was not a blend of senchas, but rather a blend of karigane, sencha and bancha. Overall, it’s not bad, but not quite what I expected. The flavour profile is flatter and less complex than that of higher grade senchas, but with the vegetal notes still on the forefront.

Very light tea with virtually no astringency and a vibrant balance of the nutty flavours of toasted rice, the sweetness of kukicha and vegetal notes of bancha.

Harvest: Spring 2016
Cultivar: Blended
Region: Uji, Kyoto

Okay to start with I normally dont drink tea bags, but this was interesting enough that I decided to make an exception and Im very glad I did. I brewed it exactly according to instructions with 200 water for 2.5 minutes. I got sweet, vegetal green liquor with a hunt of nuttiness. Its not as intensely nutty or popcorn as genmaicha, its much more subtle. There is almost a wheat like flavor in this as well. It also mellows the green flavors of the tea as well, leading to a nice mellow tea, that I highly recommend for afternoons.

Excellent tea! view less

I know it’s only genmaicha but I really love this one. I had previously bought genmaicha dusted with matcha, but the matcha added extra caffeine that I didn’t need at night and made the liquor murky. This is a high quality genmaicha that’s just regular sencha mixed with puffed brown rice and these popcorn looking pieces. Taste is very smooth and clean. Liquor is a clear, yellowish-green color. Good balance of toasty and grass flavors. It gives several tasty infusions and can easily be blended with matcha or plain sencha for some oomph.

This can be a hard hitting tea at first but as your steeps go on it really changes character and goes from a lot of astringency into floral and grassy tones. The aftertaste of ocean air is always around and it leaves your mouth feeling a bit dry.

Note: Lowering the temperature and/or a shorter steep time can fight off the astringency some if its not your thing. However it will always be around.

1st Steep: A large astringency hits me and leaves my mouth feeling dry and am left with the light aftertaste of ocean air.

2nd Steep: The 2nd steep brings out some grassy flavor and strengthens the taste of ocean air a lot which lingers long after the sip. The astringency is much toned down.

3rd Steep: The faint taste of flowers arrive and mix with the ocean air beautifully. This is where I feel the tea really comes alive. The astringency all but disappears, however your mouth will still feel a bit on the dry side.

4th Steep and Beyond: You’ll get floral and grassy notes as the flavor tapers off.

Overall I really enjoy this and recommend it for those who want something flavorful and with drastic changes over the steeps.

I’m only a beginner at this point about getting serious in the hobby. I found this to be among my favorites. I found I liked it brewed at 185F rather then the recommended 194F. This tones down the bitterness a lot and brings out a much more floral flavor particularly in the first steep. The 2nd and 3rd build on the spiciness more and gradually tapers off into more bitter territory after that.

Brewed this tea following package directions by steeping it like gyokuro style at low temperatures for the first steep and then like Sencha at higher temperature. First steeping tasted like kabusecha, earthy raw grass taste but mellower and without any umami. The next 3 steeps were citrusy with notes of wheat grass, kale, and yuzu.

This tea falls into the earthy category which I find hard to get into. It’s not terrible, but lacks the freshness and sweet grassy flavor of a good sencha.

Thanks to Yunomi for this sample. Up today we have ceremonial grad G1 matcha from Yunomi. According to the little sheet that came with it, the leaves come from Wazuka, Kyoto.

I started by prepping the matcha bowl but I did not heat it. I find I prefer to use slightly hotter water and then let it cool quickly in order to dissolve the powder without burning it. Pouring in a small amount of 175 water, I started to whisk quickly to get a good froth going. I was pleasantly surprised that it was easy to get a rich froth on the top of this tea.

After preparing the tea, I poured it into my tasting cup, and got a very thick dark green liqour with a light head of lighter green froth. The flavor is incredibly umami with strong grass, vegetal notes as well. Its also slightly sweet with only a very very tiny bit of bitterness on the end, in other words just right. I do adore a good balanced tea. I did prepare this tea a bit on a strong side since I wanted to get a full flavor profile, but matcha is very adjustable to taste.

Now one of the things I did to really put this tea through its paces, is let the last couple sips sit for a few minutes because sometimes that brings out the bitterness, and it didnt. It stayed rich, creamy and umami with that same hint of bitterness at the end.

Highly recommended if you enjoy dark green tea or matcha.

Thanks to Yunomi for this sample. Looking at the leaves they are incredibly dark green and long and very fine. I get a bit of aroma of grass and green leaf vegetables from the dry leaf. Not at all unusual aroma’s for a deep steamed sencha. Heating the water to 175 I poured around the edge of the pot to not burn the leaf.

Brewing it up I get a very intense vegetal and grass aroma from the steeped liquor, it is also a medium green and slightly cloudy. Tasting it, I get umami, grass, green vegetables and a bit of butteryness. There is a slight bit of bitterness on the finish. I would recommend this tea for early afternoon as it seems to be rather energetic. The tea broth is very smooth, and refreshing which gets me curious how this would be iced.

This is the first time I’ve gotten to try an aged sencha, even though it only has about a year of age on it. Im actually curious what this would taste like if it was given more time. I have heard about aging sencha, but this is the first time Ive gotten to try it.

Recommended.

Thanks to Yunomi for this sample. Up today for tasting we have Hattori farm and this next part is a bit of a mouthful, Karigane Genmaicha Leaf Stem Brown Rice Tea. It’s a stem tea like kukicha it seems, with toasted rice. I started by bringing the kettle to 175 and getting the glass kyushu out.

Brewing it for 45 seconds as soon as I lifted the lid I got a very intense toasted rice and nutty aroma. The liquor is a pale olive green, probably due to the quite ample toasted rice in the tea and that stem tea is a paler color than leaf tea. Tasting it, I got brown toasted rice, nutty, vegetal and sweet grass flavors. Its very very smooth and easy to drink. This makes a perfect lunch or afternoon tea as its easily strong enough to hold up with food, and smooth enough to drink a nice mug of. It would also go well with a nice afternoon snack.

Recommended.

I have negligible experience with Japanese green tea, but after reading about the hype surrounding shincha for three years running, I decided to give it a try. Since I had no idea what I was doing, I bought Yunomi’s five-shincha sampler, plus a Bankoyaki mini kyusu for brewing, figuring that even if I’m not a shincha fan, it would come in handy for gyokuro.

This shincha gives off a grassy and marine aroma, without any other notes that I can pick up. The leaves range from long to fragmented and there’s some powder in the bag. I followed Yunomi’s instructions and steeped about three grams of tea at 158F for one minute, followed by three subsequent one-minute steeps at 176F.

Even at 158F, the astringency is quite noticeable, though not overpowering. Spinach, asparagus, and umami are also present and the tea is brothy and smooth. I’m glad I bought the smallest kyusu available because I suspect I wouldn’t want to drink such a strong tea in quantity.

Increasing the temperature made the tea taste like all the vegetables I assiduously avoided as a kid—kale, Brussels sprouts, and spinach again. The astringency and umami have gotten even more pronounced. This tea tastes healthy, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

The third steep has a bit less of a kick, but the same basic flavours. The fourth reverts to marine and grassy notes, though they’re much less distinct. This tea also seems to have a large amount of caffeine.

This shincha was a lot “greener” and more assertive than its Chinese counterparts. I might try it at a lower temperature to see if I can coax out some sweetness. It would also be much better as a morning pick-me-up than as an afternoon tea.

This is a mellow green tea with a touch of yuzu citrus. The dry leaves smell like citrus kitchen cleaner. After brewing, they have a lemon pepper and herbs like smell. The taste is crisp and clean. The yuzu is well balanced and doesn’t dominate the tea but simply adds a nice lemony accent.

This tea really shines when cold steeped. The citron flavor becomes brighter and it’s very refreshing on a hot day.

I’ve been trying to kick the coffee habit, and I’ve been looking for teas to replace it. I’ve had my fair share of “coffee flavored blacks”, but I prefer to keep my tea as pure as I can. With that said, someone suggested hojicha as an alternative. Hojicha is a little trickier to find in the US, but in Japan it’s pretty much the defacto tea served at meals. This hojicha is a little better than most. Nice and smooth. Some nutty and roasty notes but nothing too overpowering. This tea is actually really good cold too!

While hojicha is a green tea, it doesn’t taste anything like green tea. It doesn’t really taste like coffee either. I think this is a great gateway tea though, especially for those that think green tea is too vegetal. And it doesn’t really get a bitter which is a nice change of pace from most greens.

I learned about this tea a few months ago and I have become fascinated with it since I suffer from allergies a LOT, and I absolutely hate taking medicine for it. Normally I see it in powdered form but this was my first time seeing it in full leaf form. The tea is pretty normal tasting for a green tea, but it is quite expensive for what you get. I think I prefer the powder because I can control the amount and it’s easier to carry in my purse. I almost think it’s better to take the powder since you’d be ingesting the whole leaf, and isn’t that what you want to do if you want to fight allergies? Either way, this is a good alternative if you’re not a fan of powder or prefer loose leaf.

I can’t really comment on the allergy relief because it’s not really an instant thing. You have to take it several months ahead of time before hay fever season starts. I plan to do that next year to see if it helps. Apparently it’s a big thing in Japan.

Almost near the end of my sampler pouch and I’m kinda sorta beginning to like this tea. I start off with tepid water around 125 F for 2 minutes which produces a crisp, umami-sweet infusion. Then I up the temperature to 195 F for about 20s for the second steeping and maintain high temperatures for subsequent steeps. The flavor is a kale vegetal and it still has the earthy grassiness but it’s a little toned down.

This is pretty mellow and soothing tea. I don’t care for the earthiness but I like it for a change of pace from grassy senchas.