Yunomi

Basic sencha in my opinion. Easy to drink. Well balanced. Nice light green/yellow color. Nothing special or spectacular though. A very good average, but it also doesn’t surprise you or offer anything special. Seems like a great everyday tea though.

Drinking down the last 5g of this this morning. I was so tempted to dip into a new gyokuro or houjicha or something, but I figured I should drink my open and other smaller green samples first, plus this let me drink a larger amount at a warmer temperature.

Due to the lack or sorting and whatnot, it is a bit of a hassle to prepare this one because of the dust and fannings. I enjoy the grassy, beany, faint chestnut and light astringency, but it doesn’t stand out enough for me to necessarily crave it in the future. I also find this tea to be harsh on an empty stomach in the way that matcha is for me. All in all, though, being able to have the opportunity to try unrefined tea from a single field is quite a special thing, and it helps me to better appreciate every tea that I drink, and all of the work that goes into achieving the final flavor profiles that teas end up with.

I was so busy trying to make sure that I got through the bigger packages of green teas I had open that I haven’t had a chance to try some of the Yunomi samples I got. Went for this one since it calls for 240 ml of water, so I’d be able to sip it for a while.

The dry leaves are a blend of dark leafy matter, light colored stems and dust, with some brown bits here and there. It floats atop the water while steeping and puts up a fight as I try to strain it. Until now, I’ve been preparing my Japanese greens in a gaiwan and using the lid to strain, but this yields too large an amount for that and it quickly clogged up my strainer.

The resulting liquor is a light, cloudy yellow green that has a very light taste. It’s very smooth with a bit of a creamy texture and a beany, vegetal taste similar to edamame, and the faintest hint of chestnut in there and some umami trying to push through. The fact that this is aracha becomes increasingly apparent the longer I drink, as the flavor profile is less defined and bold than what one would experience in a fully processed tea.

I think that is what ends up making aracha unique. Since the leaves don’t go through sorting and further processing, there is less input from the human element to guide the experience of the drinker at the other end of the process. The end result is an affordable easy drinker that can be enjoyed by anyone who can appreciate its subtle complexities.

I see that someone has actually prepped this gongfu style, so perhaps I’ll try that with what remains of my sample.

This was a pretty decent sencha – I enjoyed the irony of drinking it as some of the season’s first snow was falling today. I liked this one best with a longer/cooler (2m at 140F) first steep. That steep was nice and bitter, but mouth-wateringly so, rather than mouth-drying. It had a nice milky flavor and texture to go along with the grassiness. Decently vibrant in its grassy notes. I was able to get 3-4 steeps from this one, all of which were tasty. A solid, if not spectacular, sencha. Doesn’t stack up with some of the other Obubu sencha I drank earlier, though that may be unfair, as this one isn’t as fresh at this point.

This tea is much darker than I remember! It’s sharp too – a bitterness that is very coffee-esque. This would definitely slap me awake in the morning. Very woodsy scent in the dry leaf, very smoky in the warmed kyusu, and a “burnt toast” smell in the wet leaf.

Full bodied. Left a nice mouth feel. Not sure if the lingering sweetness is from this or the sencha I drank earlier. I wish I had more to experiment with, but I don’t. I don’t think I’d order more Amber, but I would definitely drink more if it was offered to me.

Bought this a while ago from Yunomi and am just getting around to drinking it now. It is tasty with a sweet and sour flavor going on. Not really an unpleasant sour taste. Overall it is quite good. They are now sold out of this but I suppose they will get it in again. I forget what I paid for this but I don’t think it was too much.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker with 3 tsp leaf and 200 degree water for 3 minutes.

I really enjoyed this sencha from NaturaliTea. It was well balanced and provided both notes of astringency and sweetness.

I began with 5g of tea steeped at 160 degrees for one minute. The initial infusion was quite sweet, while still not being overpowering. There were also flavors of green beans, veggies, and sweet wheat grass. It was both sweet, astringent, and balanced. Akin to a nice sweet and tart apple. Both flavor categories working well together.

The second infusion was steeped at the same temperature for about a minute again. It was slightly less sweet with an almost smokey astringency in the back of my throat. Overall, however, it maintained the flavor profile of the first infusion. Quite well balanced while tipping towards the sweet side.

I’m glad I only had a sample size of this tea. It’s okay but not a favourite sencha. It’s a bit difficult to brew. First infusion was at 70C and it had a bit too much bitterness and astringency in it. It was very grassy but the slight bitterness and astringency took away from it. I was hoping for the 2nd infusion at 80C for 10 sec it would be sweeter and not bitter. It still had a slight bitterness & astrincency. Less grassy flavour and not very sweet.

Glad I only had a sample size of this tea. It’s gone now.

First steep 5g at 130 degrees for 1 min. Very vegetal. Sweet. Strong umami. First steep is almost reminiscent of a gyokuro.

Second steep. 15 seconds at 175 degrees. Still quite vegetal. Green bean flavor. Slight bite but not too much. Very little if any astringency, however there is still a strong veggie taste.

I was a little bit worried about this genmaicha because it has something of a burnt smell to it, but none of that translated once I had steeped the tea. It’s a nice blend – toasty and nutty, rounded out by a subtle little astringency from the green tea. It also brews up to a very green liquor; much greener than any other green tea I own. There’s just something so comforting about a good genmaicha.

This sencha has a good grassy taste and just a bit astringent on the first brew at 65 – 1 min. . The second brew was 10 sec at 80C and it became a bit too astringent at that temperature. It was lacking sweetness which I enjoy in some of my senchas and the deep grassy flavour had faded away on the 2nd steep. Perhaps it’s a matter of just getting the right steeping parameters , but this was only a sample and the last of this tea. I wasn’t overly impressed with it, there being plenty of other senchas that will outshine this one.

Went to bed waaaaay too late last night and I was drowsier driving this morning than I remember in a while. I don’t usually drink matcha two days in a row, but I knew it would be necessary this morning.

The more back in practice I get with preparing it, the more I am able to appreciate this matcha. I can get a pretty substantial layer of froth on top and the right amount of water cuts the intensity of any bitterness while maintaining a fresh, rich flavor. Definitely a good value!

So I decided to make this again this morning, and used a bit more water than I believe I did yesterday. The first sip is mostly bitter, and a couple sips later the creamy texture manifests as a bit of a creamy aftertaste. I try to take several small sips I take in a row, which prevents the bitterness from standing out, in hopes of getting a better sense of the other flavors, but I don’t really succeed. I feel like there are some distinct vegetal notes hiding under the bitterness, something in addition to generic “matcha” taste, but I can’t really pull them out.

Made this today to give myself some energy, and made it properly this time, so I guess I just needed to warm back up to the process. Nice smooth taste with some bitterness, which may partially be because I also was eating a pretty sweet persimmon and neri youkan to make sure I didn’t get nauseous. I will try to make it with a cleaner palate soon so I can appreciate and evaluate the taste more, but I got the energy boost I needed, so I’m satisfied!

Had this for the first time this morning. It’s my first time having and making matcha since leaving Japan. I think having it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach without having had it in a while was not the best idea, as I am feeling a bit of the nausea one can experience. Going to eat a persimmon in hopes to calm that down.

Anyhow, to the tea. I bought this when Yunomi advertised it for 50% off on reddit. It mixes up to a nice green. I made it a bit thinner than what I would like, as I was using a new chawan and was out of practice, so I didn’t get the best sense of the taste right off the bat. I can tell it’s green and vegetal, though, and it doesn’t seem particularly bitter or astringent. I also got a hint of creaminess that I’m sure will come out more when I get it to the right thickness.

All-in-all, this was a good deal, perfect for getting back into practice, and I look forward to drinking it again. I will select flavors for it when I’ve prepared it better.

Tasted like raw oyster juice with a finish of grass. I suppose if you were drinking this while eating oysters, it’d be alright but any other time, no thanks. second and third steepings were still quite fishy.

I had admired this shiboridashi for awhile but it was pricey and I wondered if it would really work like I wanted it to? Then I read TeaNecromancer’s review and thought “I HAVE to buy this!” but it was still pricey so I thought I would wait for sale. The next day I got an email from Yunomi that they were having a 35% off sale when you purchased $50.00 and over. So I bought it right then.

Now I’ve bought a Japanese teapot in the past and it didn’t meet all my requirements for what is a perfect vessel to brew my Japanese tea in.

1) It needs lots of room to allow the leaves to expand so an infusier that pulls out is not a good option.
2) It needs to have a capacity for one person only. I rarely have Japanese teas with someone else.
3) It has to pour quickly and allow the water through easily when the leaves expand. Every second it pours slowly bitterness creeps in.
4) It must be easy to clean.
5) When the tea pours, it must pour out clean without any leaf. Most of the others I used, I had to pour with an extra filter.
6) It must be pleasing to eye.

Well this shiboridashi meets all those requirements and more. Especially in the last one (6). It is cute, easy to handle when pouring. Love the little red knob . Love the crackels. And here’s an extra bonus: When I poured the water in to do the first infusion, I noticed part of it turned a blush pink inside. I also noticed a bit pink on the lid when I was brewing the tea. I wonder if that is only the ones with a red knob on them?

I never had any problems cleaning this up like TeaNecromancer but I was brewing a sencha which has bigger leaves. I haven’t tried this yet with some of the finer leaf teas but it performed beautifully with my sencha. I can see this will easily become my favourite teapot for brewing Japanese greens.

I started this one out with 5g at 160 degrees for about 45 seconds with a small mugs worth of water (perhaps not the most exact form of measurement). The initial cup was very strong. Full of astringency and bitter grass. The color of the steeped tea was a magnificent green.

As I continued to steep the tea the flavor mellowed while still being very grassy. The astringency was simply more balanced. I upped the temperature to 175 which brought out a bit more bitterness at the end.

This was another sample sent from Yunomi. This is definitely one I will be purchasing again. A very sweet gyokuro with a blast of umami to start you off.

I steeped this with 5g of tea and started off at 140 degrees for about 60 seconds. The first cup was a blast of umami with a wonderful sweetness. The cup had a very full flavor and had deep grass undertones overshadowed only by the immense savoriness.

The second and additional cups were steeped at 160 degrees for 10, 30, and 60 seconds respectively. The next cups were sweet, light, with a slight taste of honey. There was also a hint of flavor that reminded me of a Chinese green tea for some reason. There was also a very enjoyable sweet finish at the end of each cup.

I am currently embroiled in a very heated competition, a cheesecake bake off! Granted I am really the only one counting it as a competition, my judges and competitor are all like ‘we all win’ and that is fair, but not as fun. Granted the reason I am so competitive with this particular culinary competition is the recipe is both very expensive and a real pain to make without a mixer. Spoon Fork Bacon’s Goat Cheese and Greek Yogurt Cheesecake is one of my favorite recipes ever and I seriously suggest giving it a try, just know that if you make without any form of electric mixer you are in for an arm workout!

It is a Wednesday, meaning Instagram is all a buzz with the #teawarewednesday hashtag, and for all my massive hoard of teaware I have not played along in a while, so today is celebrating the beauty of teaware! Specifically Yunomi’s Sawa Houzan: Shigaraki-yaki Shiboridashi, one of my greatest treasures. For Tanabata Yunomi had a mini contest, you wrote a wish on their website and a randomly picked winner would get a gift certificate, reminiscent of the tradition of writing wishes on strips of paper. I wished for a real Japanese Shiboridashi, made for the enjoyment of green tea, to heighten my enjoyment, and when my wish was randomly picked I immediately picked the shiboridashi that has been on my wishlist for literal years.

I love my other two shiboridashi, but they were not quite perfect for the finer grade of Japanese green tea, letting the tiny leaves slip through the grooves which were just a bit too big, causing me a bit of frustration and often a mouthful of leaves. I had debated getting a clamshell style clay one at one point, but really kept coming back to this specific shiboridashi, its coloring and graceful lines called to me. The cream and subtle salmon pinks remind me of snow reflecting the colors of sunset, and the shape reminded me of a calla lily. One of the more intriguing things about the design I gleamed from the photos was the crackling, I so love teaware that tells the store of use through the deepening dark crackles achieved over time.

It was in for a massive surprise though! This shibo crackled after its first use! A fine spiderweb of dark lines started to appear after my first session with a green tea, each session since adding deeper lines and at this point it is almost entirely covered in a webwork. This patterning matches the cracked glass decoration on the knob perfectly. Really everything about the aesthetics of this piece is perfection.

No matter how beautiful a piece of teaware is, it still needs to function or it is pointless, and no one wants that. Luckily this piece was crafted by a master potter so of course it functions beautifully! The pour is fast and even, no weird drips or messes when I am pouring. The grooves keep the majority of the leaves inside the shibo, a tiny crumb might escape but really it is immensely effective. It keeps the temperature of the leaves and water steeping even but does not hold heat too terribly well, this is great when I am drinking those delicate Japanese greens but on the few occasions I have used the shibo for other teas the tea was a little bit watery from heat loss. Honestly though complaining about that is like complaining when the screwdriver is really bad at hammering in nails, wrong tool for the job.

Since it wouldn’t be a teaware review by me if I didn’t find one thing to nitpick, this beautiful perfect treasure is a pain to clean. Specifically those grooves are a pain to clean, I feel like I need to get a specific scrub brush just to get the bits of leaves out from between them. And yes, it is somewhat hard to photograph, the bright color and crackles cause some havoc for my camera, but that is more a failing as a photographer than a failure in the teaware, it makes me sad though since it is so pretty and I want to show off how pretty it is!!

for blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/10/yunomi-sawa-houzan-shigaraki-yaki.html