Yunomi

Bought this from Yunomi a few months ago, was basically buying a bunch of Gyokuro samples. This one is a little different – it’s a Kukicha (Stem tea). I don’t know if it’s all stems, or if there’s some stems with leaves mixed in, or what. This one was certainly good, but didn’t have quite the same depth as some of the finer gyokuro I’ve tasted recently. The dry leaf had an earthy, petrichor aroma with green and umami tendencies.

I started with a 2 minute steep at 140F, followed by steeps of 20s, 30s, and 1m at 175F. The first steep was just slightly bitter, very deep and thick with nice umami. The next steep was more noticeably a sweet vegetal taste, without as much of that depth/umami. The third steep was still vegetal, but I described it in my notes as being more “fibrous,” so like the stalk of a vegetable maybe. The final steep was pretty weak, with just some lingering green sweetness and not a particularly notable body. This was a pretty good tea, and an affordable price as far as gyokuro is concerned.

I used my points in my Yunomi account to purchase 200g of this tea. It’s simple, nutrient-dense, consistent, and has a long aftertaste. In some ways, this tea reminds me of a kabuse-cha more than a sencha. The dry leaves include long dark leaves with stems that are less chopped and have a scent of roasted seaweed and faint sweet seagrass.

I brewed this in a unglazed kyusu but using Chinese gongfu-style with 2 – 5 sec steeps, hotter water (85 to 90 C), and 6 – 7 grams of leaves.

It yields more steeps (about 6 or so depending on how much leaf used), as the leaves release their flavors more gradually since they’re not chopped, than regular sencha. The result is less up front astringency and leaves that yield more gentle and savory notes of baked grains and a faint nuttiness in the first steep. Later steeps gave roasted zucchini and asparagus along with some of that savory roasted nori in the aftertaste. Wonderful morning pick-me-up!

Konnichi wa ocha no yūjin!

Or if that made no sense:

Hello tea friends!

Japan is a country that inspires me to the point of being in awe. The culture, the technology, the religions, their traditions, and especially their tea. I thought I had experienced everything a few years ago that had to do with tea, until I went into the world of Japanese tea. There is nothing like it! If you have never tried Japanese tea for yourself then I highly recommend trying it. Part of this reason is because Japanese tea contains umami which is the fifth taste which translates to ‘pleasant savoury taste’. It may sound strange for a tea to taste savoury but I tend to liken it to a soup broth, completely unique and bursting with flavours. This is why I am so taken with Japanese tea in general.

I am happy and excited to be drinking some First Flush Midori Shincha by NaturaliTea as sold by Yunomi. No idea what Midori or Shincha is? Let me break it down: Midori means green and Shincha translates to ‘new tea’ which refers to when it was picked. Basically a Shincha is the first harvest of Sencha leaves which is also known as Ichibancha ‘ the first picked tea’. Besides the fresh aroma of the young leaves, Shincha is characterised by its relatively low content of bitter catechin and caffeine, and relatively high content of amino acid. This makes the Shincha harvested limited in size of the batch and also the time it is picked. And to finish off for Japanese tea newbies Sencha is a ryokucha or green tea cultivar that is indigenous to Japan, so much so that Sencha is Japans most commonly consumed tea with Sencha production being 80% of all tea produced in Japan.

Now it’s time for the tea itself. Opening the sample pack reveals bright, glossy green leaf shards that are loosely broken. They bare a gorgeous sweet grass and mineral scent.

Steeping a Japanese tea is rather different than steeping a general green tea, the water temperature and steeping length can either enhance the umami or bypass it. A lot of it comes down to experimentation and preference; I like a nice umami which often comes through in low temperature water and short steeps. So I will be trying to find the umami goodness. Another thing you often find is the change of temperature, an example being the first steep at 80C, the second at 40 C and third at 70C. Again that would be because it enhances the umami quality.

My Steeping Parameters: 200ml Yunomi (Japanese cup), 360ml Futanashi Tokoname (lidless teapot used to enhance freshness and scent), 10g loose leaf.

I want another note: my teapot is larger than my yunomi but I will only be using my teapot to 200ml. Also this is a sizeable yunomi that needed to be adjusted for. Otherwise I would recommend 3g of leaf to 60ml water.

Also, Yunomi bared this note: Our recommend steeping method is to use water cooled to about 40˚C/105˚F steeped for 2-3 minutes for the best balance between sweetness and umami (savory) flavors.

For that reason my first steep will be 2 minutes at 40C. (Room temperature is usually around 20C).

Once steeped the resulting tea liquid is cloudy, golden yellow colour that bares a vegetable (broccoli) and sweet grass scent. Not dissimilar to it’s raw state.

The first sips reveals a strong, broth like flavour packed with sweet grass, spinach, kale and mixed flowers with a pleasant, bitter aftertaste that lightens and becomes sweeter. That was the first sip, as you can see it packs a lot of different flavours and information in it. The after taste is lingering for very long in my mouth. I say broth because it reminds me of a strong, hearty, soup broth full of green vegetables.

The umami is very strong, so much so that I feel like I’ve jumped into an ice cold bath with every punching sip I take. But I can’t stop myself from sipping. The umami washes over me with warmth and wide eyed energy. A few sips more lighten the tea while my tongue adjusts to this unique flavour. It detects sweet honey and salty seaweed notes among the ever growing broth blend.

Second Steep – 80C for 45 seconds (see the jump in temperature?)

So the shorter steep at hotter temperature is mostly because I want to test the body of the green tea. Umami comes out in the first steep but it gets weaker over time, that is why I Umami the first steep and green tea the rest of it.

Yes, the umami is less than half of what it was. The punch that it packed is now a shadow of it’s former self; that being said it’s still a strong steep. It still has strong sweet grass and vegetal tones, and it’s also a little bitter; but it is lacking as much depth and oomph as the first steep. This is a good example of how much water temperature and steeping time can change a Japanese tea.

The sweetness is less so it’s not honeyed in this steep but it is hay like and grassy. In terms of broth this is mid level, like the vegetables are in a pan with water and steeping for a while, enough to have flavoured the water, but there is still more flavour left to go.

Third Steep – 60C for 30 seconds (another temperature change)

Why the change? I want a lower temperature to increase any remaining umami that is left, whilst lessening the steeping time a little to try and reduce the bitterness. This is another example of why I said it’s best to experiment with Japanese teas, it’s all down to personal preference. Some people will read this and think I had it too strong or perhaps don’t agree with my parameters at all. I didn’t plan on the times for my second or third steep but I read what I wanted from the tea and it’s potential.

Was it a good decision to change? Yes. This steep is very light in taste but some umami can be found admidst the sweet, bitterness. This cup is more raw cabbage like than broccoli. It bares the same mineral, green sort of taste. While it’s immensely weaker in strength I feel if it was warmer it would have been too bitter to appreciate the remaining umami. As such just before the bitterness kicks in and the powerful sweetness I can taste the broth.

Final Thoughts

This was a nice Shincha that packed an incredible umami punch. Sweet yet savoury, vegetal yet bitter, it was a delicious combination in one tea. I would recommend it to umami lovers or those looking to experience it for the first time. If you are then stick with short steeps and 70-80C temp until you find it at your desired level. Don’t be put off if you dislike it the first time around, it may take time to get it to your personal taste. And once you do it will grow on you! Plus not forgetting that this is Organic I can tell the clarity of the flavours once prepared. There is nothing in this tea that tastes chemical or unnatural.

If you haven’t experienced many Japanese teas before then I hope I have given you insight.

Until next time, Happy Steeping!

http://www.yunomi.life/products/naturalitea-01-handpicked-midori-first-flush?variant=18231417861

A rather different seeming gyokuro. Leaf buds and tips are smaller than the leaf usually used for this kind of tea. Taking that in mind, I didn’t brew it as long as I normally do for gyokuro, and I’m glad I didn’t. First steep was 1 minute at 140F – this steep was thick, with umami and grassy flavors, along with a nutty or bready finish that I really wasn’t a huge fan of. Next, I did steeps of 15s, 30s, and 1m with 175F water. The umami was basically gone after the first steep, as was the nutty/bready business that was going on. The grassiness took a more prominent place for the rest of the session, and the tea developed a pretty nice asparagus vegetal note as well.

This is a tasty, serviceable Japanese green tea with a lighter flavor than regular sencha. There’s less grassiness here and more of a smooth vegetal flavor. The color of the tea liquor is a pale yellowish green and the tea leaves are large and flat.

I like more greenness in my sencha so I steeped it a tad longer and at slightly higher temperatures. I usually steep sencha around 160 F but I got better results at 175 F with steep times of 1:10, 0:30, and 1:30. This produced a richer tea and boosted the umami and chlorophyll content in the taste.

Sadly, this tea didn’t survive fridge storage and developed an unpleasant vegetal bitterness forcing me to chuck my entire stash.

While good, this tea and most of what I’ve tried from Yunomi seems to lack the oomph of other Japanese greens. I suspect the lack of vacuum packaging causes some loss of freshness.

My second tea tasting from Yunomi. I really enjoyed this tea, although not as much as the one I tasted yesterday. This sencha was very mellow, yet full at the same time. There was a grassy sweetness with a slight seaweed aftertaste. Overall a very good well-rounded sencha.

The description for this tea claims it is simple and mild in flavor due to the lack of fertilizer in the growing process. Regardless of why, I do concur that this tea is rather simple. That isn’t a knock against it in any way. It’s an easy one to drink. Crisp and tasty notes of grass and spinach. Also some astringency balancing out the sweeter flavors mentioned above. Even when I gave it a longer first steep, it didn’t get the depth that some other Japanese greens will have, but it also didn’t get unpleasantly astringent or bitter. A nice offering from Yunomi and Ogose…simple, to the point, easy to drink and understand. The tea I’m drinking along with the football game tonight (yaay football’s back!)

This was a great pleasure to receive from Yunomi as part of their samples for review program. I have not really developed my Japanese tea palate yet, so forgive me for not being as descriptive or accurate as I usually am with my Chinese tea reviews.

I steeped this tea western style with 5 grams of tea in about 8 ounces of water per the packet’s instructions. Upon initial infusion the aroma was sweet and fresh. The taste was very full and thick. It was like fresh cut grass and hay with possible notes of seaweed. There was a definite bite in the back of the mouth, but nothing too off-setting. It was enjoyable.

The second and third infusions were sweeter, less full-bodied, and more balanced. Notes of wheat grass and a hint of honey came out. Overall though, the flavor was still very savory.

This tea’s description confuses the crap out of me. It says it’s Gyokuro, but in the description, it says it’s a “gyokuro-like fukamushicha.” So it’s shaded in some way I guess. This was good, but not as good as the other Gyokuro I have tried recently. Pretty simple with just some grassiness and a bit of spinach. Slightly creamy but not to an impressive degree.

BACKLOG but a GOODIE…

This review will be one of the my lengthiest reviews to date here are Sororitea Sisters and it’s because of Kashima: Monoucha Genmaicha ‘Tsukihime’, Ishinomaki Brown Rice Tea From Kashima Tea Garden/Yunomi.us & Kumamoto Earthquake Tea Fund Announcement. Yes! It serves a duel purpose.

FULL and Lengthy Review HERE
http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/04/30/monoucha-genmaicha-kashima-tea-gardenyunomi-us-kumamoto-earthquake-tea-fund-announcement/

So, yesterday my phone went missing, which was very unsettling. It was, as I suspected, with Ben, and will be for a few days now. His phone died a miserable death (it was a piece of garbage anyway) and he needs one for work, so I said he could borrow mine until his new one arrives. I am only regretting this decision a little, mostly because my day feels like it hasn’t started. When I develop a routine and it gets interrupted I tend to become very disoriented, so starting my day has been super hard.

Today I am looking at Yunomi’s Ogose #08: Naturally Grown Wakoucha, Shizuoka Black Tea, and let it be said, I have a serious fascination with Wakoucha. This is more than my usual obsession for the darker teas, I just love teas that are not necessarily ‘normal’ for the region it is produced by. When most people think of Japanese teas they picture the vibrant greens, they produce a ton of other teas but the greens are iconic, so you know I go all ‘gimme gimme’ at the black teas! The leaves are delicate and slightly curly, with aroma notes of malt, lychee, yuzu, distant flowers and a bit of a brisk woodiness. It is not a very aromatic tea, it is light and sweet with a very crisp quality.

Into my shibo the leaves went, at this point I had far too much fun watching the floating stems. The aroma of the wet leaves is malty and woody, with notes of peanuts, toasted soy beans, a bit of honey, and distant crisp citrus. The liquid is sweet and malty, with light notes of honey and mochi, giving it a starchy quality. At the very end is a distant citrus quality like a fresh peel of yuzu.

Ah, that is a mild tea! It is very smooth while also being crisp, not at all bitter or brisk, the crispness coming through like biting into a citrus of some sort, it is more texture than taste. The flavor starts with a sweet lychee and smooth malty start, it then moves into a roasted soybean and mochi (specifically the mochi not the filled sweet) for a sweet yet starchy middle. The real surprise was at the finish where the tea picks up a coconut and sage leaf quality giving it an almost savory tinge. Sadly this tea only really had a single steep in it, the second was very mild and almost ghostly, so I thought to myself, why not cold steep the rest of my sample?

Cold steeping was a good idea! This really brings out the lychee sweetness and crisp citrus notes for one of the most refreshing cups of a chilled black tea I have had in ages. I was amazed at how sweet it was, really it was like someone took black tea and squeezed a bunch of lychees into it. The tea is enjoyable hot but I definitely recommend trying it cold steeped as well.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/08/yunomi-ogose-08-naturally-grown.html

Best Gyokuro I’ve had yet. I did steeps of 2m at 140F, 10s, 20s at 175F, 25 at 185F, and 30s at 200F. The dry leaf is a beautiful dark green color, and once steeped, become a bright and vibrant green. Gorgeous to look at.

First steep was extremely sweet and umami (is umami an adjective – like should I say the tea was umami, like I would say it’s sweet? Or should I say it has umami?), with beany and grassy flavors and a buttery thickness. Soo good. Feels very deep.

Next steep was buttery, grassy and sweet. I would even describe it as milky in texture and flavor. There was a very slight astringency in the finish of this one now.

Third steep was slightly more astringent, and the grassy taste was a bit more prominent and nasal in quality. There is a bit less depth and thickness to this steep.

Steep number four was a little weaker, with astringency developing into a slight bitterness, complimenting a slight grassy sweet taste remaining as well.

The last steep was just a light grassy sweetness. I probably could have gotten one more alright steep, or this last one could have been better if I’d done it for a minute or so instead of 30s. The steeped out leaves also taste pretty good, with a bit of bitterness followed by grassy sweet-ish taste.

This is from a sample I bought from Yunomi. I followed their brewing instructions on the package.

1st brew – 60C at 60 sec. This was so sweet and grassy. A good umami taste to it with no astringency.

2nd brew – 80C at 15 sec – I messed this tea up a little bit. The tea leaves had swelled up in the tea pot and I had trouble pouring it quickly so it went way past the 15 sec. It was still sweet and grassy but had a good astringent bite on the tip of the tongue. That probably would not have been there if I could have poured the tea quickly

3rd brew – I changed up the teapot for a quick pouring gaiwan. I steeping it about 20 or 30 sec. Can’t remember now. The umami flavour of it was fading a bit in this one but it didn’t have that astringent bite the 2nd infusion had. Was still sweet and grassy but a little less.

I found this sencha to be a pretty good quality and would buy more of this.

A high quality sencha. I enjoyed it brewed with the warm water method Yunomi has on their site. Long first steep at low temp led to very deep and strong tasting first cup with succulent, sweet grassy notes and good umami as well. Subsequent steeps were grassy, with echoes of that umami that faded as I got more steeps from this tea. I was able to pull five decent steeps out of it – good longevity for a sencha in my experience.

This tea was alright. It didn’t work with a long first steep, got way too bitter and died really fast. I really need to start trying the parameters on the bag before trying weird stuff. Brewed a little more gently, it had a very thick texture with grassy flavor. Not particularly interesting throughout – just grassy really. Not bad though!

This one was pretty good, though it seemed a little finicky when it came to brewing. I got it pretty good the first time using the instructions on the bag, then changed them up a bit the second time and it wasn’t as good. I did steeps of 45s and 20s at 160F, followed by steeps of 30s and 1m at 175F. These are pretty low for what I normally do with sencha, but even with the 45s first steep, it was decently bitter.

The first steep was a pretty creamy grassy brew with, as I said, a healthy touch of astringency and a tad bit of fruitiness in the aftertaste, lasting about 15 seconds. The next steep had a crisp grassy taste with hints of the fruitiness mid-steep. After that, the last steeps were comparatively weaker, retaining a bit of a grassy taste, but without the good creamy texture I got earlier.

Starting with a longer first steep, even when I kept the temperature down at 160F for the duration of the session, led to an awkward dance with bitterness that kept creeping out of control.

Tried this with different, less drastic brewing parameters. 1st steep, 2m at 150F, then steeps of 20s, 40s, 75s at 175F. First steep was still quite tasty, and the subsequent steeps didn’t have that nearly overpowering astringency to them that made them a little tougher to drink. Made for a smoother overall session. Pretty good either way though.

I drank this one today using the recommended parameters on Yunomi – uncharacteristically specific ones. 2m steep at 140F, followed by steeps of 5s, 5s at 195F. They then said it might be wise to stop drinking, as this tea contains a lot of caffeine. I disregarded this, considering I had already had two other sencha sessions earlier…figured I’d be fine. So I did another couple steeps, still 195F at 20s then 45s I believe.

First steep was a tad bitter, just enough to provide good balance, with toasty cucumber or zucchini vegetal notes. The second steep was quite astringent – it made me shudder on the first sip. As it cooled, the astringency got a little less aggressive and I was able to make out some grassy and bright cucumber notes. The next steep had some lighter cucumber vegetal notes, and the next two steeps were wimpy, slightly bitter echoes of this tea’s previous self.

Another good one. I’ll give it a try with different parameters tomorrow. I’m finding that if I have 3+ Japanese green tea sessions in one day, there’s about a 50% chance I’ll start to feel ill lol. I ordered way too many 2016 samples, trying to drink them before they go bad. Gonna have to have my stomach pumped by the time I get through them all.

Fuckin worth it though.

Another nice sencha from Yunomi. I’m starting to think I should try all of my sencha with a long first steep (2m), because I almost always prefer the results with that long first steep. This tea had the classic buttery, nutty, grassy sencha aroma. The first steep was thick with buttery grassy notes and a deep umami flavor. In the next steep, that umami tended more towards bitterness, and I also picked up a bit of a vegetal flavor along with the grassiness. A couple subsequent steeps gave me thinner liquid but still decent grassy flavor. I’m finding it quite fun to pound through these sencha :)

Also, I got an instagram now!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIXzEkxBpP4/?taken-by=matuhg

Another 2016 Yunomi sample! I think this is the first time I’ve disagreed with Yunomi’s recommended brewing parameters. They recommended doing a 30s steep with 160F, followed by steeps of 10s and 40s at 175F. Doing it this way, the first steep was a bit light, while the next two steeps were very bitter! I found it better keeping the water temp low, and doing steeps of 1m, 30s, 1m, 2m all with 160F water.

The first steep was sweet and grassy, a bit buttery, with a very slight underlying bitterness. The aftertaste was a juicy sweet grassiness to me.

The second steep was much the same, with a slightly increased bitterness. The liquid from this steep was an amazingly vibrant green color.

The bitterness did not increase in the third or fourth steeps. The nice grassy flavors did get a little lighter, and I think on the third steep I encountered a bit of a vegetal spinach flavor as well.

Good tea, but I didn’t like it the way Yunomi recommended I brew it this time!

Oh yay! According to the Accuweather the heat is supposed to be easing up, no more mid to high 90s, low 90s and high 80s with some storms starting tomorrow. Still hotter than I would like, but it is so much more tolerable! I just hope my peeps on the east coast get a break soon, my poor mom is melting. I hope it is cool enough to go back to the zoo soon, I have a $5 coupon for taking a survey and I want a new trinket for my tea desk, specifically a new tea pet.

Today I am looking at Yunomi’s Onocha: Yamaguchi Shincha Green Tea, a 2015 Shincha from the Yamaguchi Prefecture. I goofed a bit, when I was ordering some samples of Shincha I accidentally got some of last years, so I was expecting it to be faded…but a good way to break in my new glorious Shiboridashi. Well, the aroma surprised me, the leaves smelled immensely fresh and crisp! Notes of edamame, fresh cut hat, sesame seeds, and fresh sea air. It balances sweetness from the nutty notes and savory really quite deliciously, I spent the entire time my kettle was heating up with my nose in the leaves.

Into my new shibo the leaves go, and yes that beauty will get its own blog post soon, The aroma of the steeped leaves green! Very green, strong notes of kelp, edamame, spinach, and freshly cut grass waft up with a crisp hay and a light broccoli note as well. If this tea smells so intense being a year old, I can only imagine the intensity of it fresh. The liquid is subtle, gentle notes of hay and cut grass blend with equally delicate notes of edamame and sea air. It smells crisp and refreshing, like a breeze off the coast on a hot day.

The first steep is wonderfully light while being full of flavor. It starts with a note of sweet snap peas and edamame, then moves to freshly cut grass and sweetgrass, with a touch of hay. The finish brings the umami with gentle kelp and sea air, with a subtle starchy rice aftertaste. This tea hit the spot on a hot day, it was so refreshing.

Ah, the second steep is a beautiful shade of rich green, with a sharp grassy, savory spinach, and subtly sweet snap pea note. It starts brisk and grassy, with an accompanying note of hay and spinach. It then gets a slight astringent quality in the middle reminiscent of Brussels sprouts and alfalfa sprouts, this fades pretty quickly to edamame and sesame seed with a kelp finish. It has the right amount of bite and the right amount of sweet making for a very balanced cup.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/yunomi-onocha-yamaguchi-shincha-green.html

Got this in a trade with JK7Ray a little way’s back. Pretty good stuff – had a flavor unlike most other sencha I’ve tried. I thought it was best with the method espoused on Yunomi’s site. The warm leaves had the classic sencha aroma with some green, grassy nuttiness. The flavor was grassy with an odd sweet note that I had trouble placing. It was an unusual earthy flavor. At first I thought it might be fruit, buuut decided it wasn’t. It was not sugar, honey, caramel, or anything like that. It was also slightly reminiscent of petrichor. Hard to place. When I did a longer first steep, it was almost too sweet – that weird flavor was kind of overpowering. A pretty decent sencha.