Yuuki-cha

I’ve spent the past week and a half drinking black teas, so this was a nice change of pace for me. The first infusion was brewed extremely carefully, using water that was barely steaming and steeped for only two minutes. The flavor was reminiscent of sweet vegetables, with only the barest hint of grass. I also had a very large amount of tea dust and small leaf pieces floating around in the tea, which was a bit odd, but didn’t detract from the rest of the experience.
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The second infusion was brewed even lower, 140 degrees at most, and was steeped for only 45 seconds. I find that a flash infusion for the second and third infusion of sencha tastes the best, but that is a bit of a personal preference. Anyway, this was sweeter than the first, and the grassy flavors were completely gone. A very enjoyable cup.

The third (and final) infusion was steeped at an unknown temperature for a minute and a half. It was pretty much the same as the second infusion, and not particularly noteworthy.

Just moved back into my dorm, and I’m in need of some caffeine. I accidentally oversteeped the first infusion while getting my laptop set up again, but everything turned out alright. I was using relatively cold water (65 degrees centigrade), so it didn’t turn out too astringent. The aroma reminds me of freshly cut grass and asparagus. The taste of the tea was also superb, with delightfully sweet grass and vegetables being very prominent.

The second infusion was done as a flash steeping, which has previously resulted in very good tea. This was no exception, as the tea had a delightful light green color and a sweet, yet subdued, grassy aroma. The Tea was a bit milder in that the grassy flavor has become subdued, yet the sweet vegetable flavors still remain.

The third infusion was steeped for 45 seconds to try and get some more flavor out of it. The resulting tea was the same color as the previous infusion, but the aroma had faded further. The taste of the tea was very mild, bordering on generic. Sure, it retained its sweetness, but the vegetable flavors were starting to become indistinct. It’s still a very good tea, and is well above average as far as senchas go, but I think that I will only get one more infusion out of these leaves.

I only ended up having one infusion of this tea due to all of the spur-of-the-moment events that happened, so see my previous note. The only thing that I changed was how I brewed it, and this in no way changed the flavors present.

I got this tea for Christmas after it finally cleared customs, and I am happy to report that it was worth the wait. This is a fukamushi sencha, which means that it is steamed for a longer period of time, and it’s the first one I have gotten to try, so I was very excited.

I brewed it at a rather low temperature, and for a relatively short amount of time because I’ve found that Japanese greens can be very unforgiving if you aren’t careful. The first infusion had a very pleasing aroma of grass and vegetation, but it was not overwhelming. The taste of the first infusion was superb, with just the right amount of sweetness. The tea is also a very vibrant green color, with a good deal of tea dust floating in the tea. The only other tea I have that looks like this is my Mellow Monk Top Leaf, but that tea tastes very different in it’s first infusion.

The second and third infusions exhibited a very rapid decrease in the grassiness of the tea, leaving behind a balanced and sweet tea. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very good, but it borders on being generic.

The forth infusion was mostly notable for being sweet, but having very little flavor. Regardless, this tea is still fantastic, and truly deserves a high rating.

I went a little nuts this year with shincha pre-ordering. I had never ordered from Yuuki-cha and they have a fair number of interesting teas – black, oolong and pan-fried Japanese teas. I did try to rein myself in a bit but with so many different and unusual teas, I pretty much blew my shincha budget on the one order and not even all of it on shincha. This one, though, was one of the new-crop teas I picked up.

Honestly, it’s a pretty wild tea. It’s just so flavorful! It’s got notes that I recognize from sencha, but also Chinese green notes. It smells like a thick, green, vegetal honey. And the taste is amazing – it’s sweet. Very sweet. It’s almost fruity in a way that makes me think of slightly unripened mango. It’s a very bright and vibrant taste. The first sip of this tea always surprises me because it’s so sparkly and shiny!

After that surprising first taste of sweet fruit, the tea transitions into this thick, heavy pungency that borders on bitterness but isn’t. It’s a little drying and prickly but not unpleasant, almost like the brine note I get from most Chinese greens, but not quite. The longer I hold the tea in my mouth, the more the thick, textured pungency develops and then it glides down smoothly when I swallow, leaving behind a feeling that gives a post-red wine feeling.

Slurping brings out a new flavor, a heavy, dark grassy flavor that is really delicious. It’s almost dessert-like, if there was such a thing as a desert grass. Continued slurping brings out a muscat-y flavor underneath that, tying in with the unripened mango and red wine notes. As it cools the pungency increases, giving it a heavier mouthfeel and the taste that comes out in slurping pokes out a bit in a sweet dried hay note.

Lots of flavors! I keep finding this tea kind of shocking. It’s so interesting and it transitions through so many different flavors, like a multi-flavored gobstopper but of different tea flavors. It doesn’t seem like the flavors and textures – mango, grass, thickness, wine-like ending – should go together but it does. It’s fascinating to me. I want to keep drinking it because it keeps surprising me, making the last sip as interesting as the first sip. And that’s not something I can say about a lot of teas!

O-cha.com is still probably my go-to place for shincha orders because they have my ultimate favorite Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori and, as I discovered this year when I tried to limit myself to just one shincha order, I can’t do without that tea. But an offering like this? Pretty much makes it a given that I’ll be ordering from Yuuki-cha again.

I saw this tea on Yuuki-cha’s website earlier in the year when I was deciding what shincha to preorder. I love trying new and interesting teas and a Japanese black tea? Totally qualifies. I picked up this one and the Yabukita varietal. I’m almost out of both of them but I think the Saemidori is my favorite.

When I first started drinking teas, I ended up with a fair number of Darjeelings. (I think it was because I liked the Twinning’s bagged Darjeeling with sugar and milk so I thought Darjeeling = good.) There were aspects of Darjeeling tea that I really liked (the muscat note and the brightness in particular) but so often it seemed that they had bitter and/or astringent end notes that killed the pleasure for me. And once I discovered Chinese black teas and their can’t-make-it-bitter end note, any Indian tea that had that potential for bitterness? Migrated out of my pantry and never came back. (In fact, even today I have only three Indian teas in my pantry, all Assams, out of over 80 different teas.)

This tea is basically everything I like about Darjeeling and none of the things I don’t. It’s like a sweet, summer-fruit-tart Darjeeling was raised in China where it learned to give a heavy, silky mouthfeel and a floral and non-bitter end note.

The dry leaf smells of sweet hay but the brewed tea smell is just shocking because it has none of that hay note. Instead, it is all plums and cherries (the bright red tart kind, not black). It’s crazy to compare the smell of the leaf to that of the tea. The two smells don’t seem to match at all.

The taste is surprising. It is very much like a Darjeeling (as I mentioned) but without the astringency. The cherries and plums from the smell come through on the taste – tart summer fruits that taste like the first of the season, not the ones that have been ripening on the tree for a while. It also has the smoothest, silkiest mouthfeel and end note ever. It feels so heavy on my tongue!

As it cools, the taste smoothes out even more and becomes softer and more floral. Maybe a faint note of roses though not as perfumed. (My lack of knowledge of flower scents is really showing here… think of a dark smelling, not overly sweet rose.) Every so often I start to get a note of the hay-like sweet smell in the taste but it is rare. It’s a sort of softly woody/dry grass note that lays underneath the summer fruit and floral notes.

The strength of the flavor is really powerful. I tend to go for smooth, mellow black teas that make me think of cuddles. But this? It’s vibrant and powerful and bright. Delicious, but energetic. And as good as it tastes, one cup is usually enough for me for a while. I mean, imagine the pungency of a good sencha and carry it over to a black tea because that’s how the taste is. Pungent but in a tart, fruity, floral way. And with a really long aftertaste. I’m talking easily five minutes after my last sip I can still taste the floral tart-sweet on my tongue. Delightful! It’s also nicely caffeinated. Of course, that could have something to do with the 3g/5oz/2min steeping suggesting but just like sencha can get my hands shaking, so can this. So yeah, one cup can totally take care of me for a while!

Yuuki-cha no longer has this one their website. They went out of stock on it pretty quickly and I guess they don’t have the ability (or intention?) of caring it again until hopefully next year when the new crop rolls around. I can’t say this is my normal style tea – it’s actually pretty opposite – but it is such a different, surprising and tasty tea, I could see myself buying it again.

I adore this tea. I love to drink oolong tea in the evenings after a long day at work, and I love this oolong as much as I love Wuyi oolong. It has a great full mouth-feel and a nice earthy, sweet, and slightly floral taste. After the first tasting, I ordered more and stocked up since it’s a limited edition.

Another set of infusions, and what is most interesting this time is how much it reminds me of the ‘white oolong’ from Norbu that I have recently been enjoying: I think the common denominator is a very light oxidation and absence of any roasted taste. This is as close as you can get to a green tea with it still being clearly oolong.

The leaves are curly green twists, with a rich sweet scent, and hints of chocolate

2.3 grams of tea in a small porcelain gaiwan with about 70 mL water, filtered tap water at about 195 degrees

first infusion, 30 seconds
pale yellow liquor, sweet, rich, warm summer meadow, grass just turning golden with caramel sweetness, with just a hint of a more astringent vegetal grassiness that adds interest without being at all unpleasant

2nd infusion, 20 seconds
this time the vegetal/grassy flavors are stronger, a bit in front of the golden meadow.

3rd infusion, 45-60 seconds (lost track of time a bit)
this is the moment the tea should bite back with bitterness if it were so inclined, but it is only a little sharper and more insistently green-like, yet still that clearly oolong backdrop that is so surprising in this Japanese tea.

4th infusion, 1 minute
Ok, a teeny bit of astringent bite-back. Teeny. Bit. But still the vegetal/golden warm meadow is stronger in the overall impression, with some astringent aftertaste.

Several more warm delicious infusions, astringency fading again.

I’m now on the 8th or 9th infusion, and out to 4 minutes, and we’re at sweet water. But that was a lot of tea from just a few leaves.

I got a sample of this for a tasting through the egullet.org tea forum, along with a sample of the Sakimidori Kamairicha:

Both Kamairichas in small gaiwans with about 75mL water, 2 grams of tea.

The teas are curly, very different from the needle-like bits of senchas, but a nice deep green appropriate to sencha. The leaves smell sweet and rich.

First infusions about 30 seconds because I checked the water temp just after I poured it, and it was hotter than expected—150 degrees. They’re both warm, roasty, toasty, vegetal, peas and corn and asparagus, but also a little lightly floral. Delicate yellow-green liquors.

2nd infusions about 30 seconds, temp about 150 degrees. A little more astringency in the Sakimidori, a little smoother in the Okumidori.

3rd infusion, 45 seconds, 155 degrees: still seeing that same difference, more sharpness in the Sakimidori, more smoothness in the Okumidori. I wasn’t sure at the 2nd infusion if the infusion times were a little off, but the differences were consistent through the next infusion.

4th infusion, 1 minute, 160 degrees: these are really, really nice teas. They are not senchas, but feel closer to a sencha in flavor than to a pan-fired chinese green tea.

5th infusion, 160 degrees, 90 seconds: the differences are lessened again. Still both are sweet and vegetal.

6th infusion, still 160 degrees—forgot to up the temp; time about 2 minutes (more carelessness); still entirely delicious, and just the most subtle difference between them.

7th infusion: spilled the Sakimidori. Enjoying the 170 degree, 2 minute infusion of the Okumidori a lot. Would have liked to try for another infusion, but the spill got the teakettle base and I want to let it try before I use it again. Sigh.

The leaves remain bright grassy green at the end of the infusions, obviously broken pieces but a bit larger on average than leaves of typical senchas.

I got a sample of this for a tasting through the egullet.org tea forum, along with a sample of the Okumidori Kamairicha:

Both Kamairichas in small gaiwans with about 75mL water, 2 grams of tea.

The teas are curly, very different from the needle-like bits of senchas, but a nice deep green appropriate to sencha. The leaves smell sweet and rich.

First infusions about 30 seconds because I checked the water temp just after I poured it, and it was hotter than expected—150 degrees. They’re both warm, roasty, toasty, vegetal, peas and corn and asparagus, but also a little lightly floral. Delicate yellow-green liquors.

2nd infusions about 30 seconds, temp about 150 degrees. A little more astringency in the Sakimidori, a little smoother in the Okumidori.

3rd infusion, 45 seconds, 155 degrees: still seeing that same difference, more sharpness in the Sakimidori, more smoothness in the Okumidori. I wasn’t sure at the 2nd infusion if the infusion times were a little off, but the differences were consistent through the next infusion.

4th infusion, 1 minute, 160 degrees: these are really, really nice teas. They are not senchas, but feel closer to a sencha in flavor than to a pan-fired chinese green tea.

5th infusion, 160 degrees, 90 seconds: the differences are lessened again. Still both are sweet and vegetal.

6th infusion, still 160 degrees—forgot to up the temp; time about 2 minutes (more carelessness); still entirely delicious, and just the most subtle difference between them.

7th infusion: spilled the Sakimidori. Enjoying the 170 degree, 2 minute infusion of the Okumidori a lot. Would have liked to try for another infusion, but the spill got the teakettle base and I want to let it try before I use it again. Sigh.

The leaves remain bright grassy green at the end of the infusions, obviously broken pieces but a bit larger on average than leaves of typical senchas.

The taste was good, but it seems quite strong. I noticed that if I drink it too fast (three cups in an hour) it makes me very anxious. I’ve never had tea do that before.

I was only able to get four 30 second steepings out of it, with most Sencha’s I’ve been able to five 30 second steepings.

This is a delicious, rich, sweet sencha, with a depth of flavor that makes me think of deep evergreen forest, still retaining a lightness that I associate with light-steamed asamushi sencha (vs the deep-steamed, more umami-heavy fukamushi). Surprised to see I don’t have a tasting note for it yet—must have put one in a long time ago under another listing name—perhaps the shincha version last year?—and forgot to put one in for this version.

I routinely do this one 5 grams of tea in a 5 oz kyusu, preheat kyusu, start with water between 150 and 160 (depends on my mood), first infusion 30", then 20", and gradually increase time/temp until I get to 2-3 minutes at 180 degrees, and usually that’s at 6 or 7 steeps. Makes a nice sweet morning tea, grassy and ‘evergreen-y’ and delicious.

I originally bought this tea out of a mere curiosity of trying bancha and sampling tea from Yuuki-cha. I just placed an order for a kyusu and figured it would be a good idea to throw a tea in my cart, but not something seriously expensive (the kyusu had already put a huge dent in my wallet).

When I opened the bag I was very intrigued. The smell was oddly nostalgic, yet I couldn’t place my finger on it and I still can’t. It almost smells yeasty to me- oddly enough a smell I kinda like.

So on to the real test – the taste test… and it was a letdown, but only at first! I finally managed to brew this tea correctly yesterday and fell in love with it. I used the suggested upward amount of leaf (6 grams) and 4 oz. Today I’m enjoying a big 8 oz. glass with hopefully many infusions. I was able to get around four good cups of this one yesterday.

The taste is very mild and reminds me of the herbs I used to drink in abundance (I still do, but I drink more tea now), like horsetail and strawberry leaf. And yet, there’s something different and unique about this tea. The description refers to this tea as fitting for spring and I think they’re spot on. It’s as rejuvenating as stepping into a open field of spring flowers. After imbibing these sylvan elixirs, one is gently lifted and brought back into a renewed state of energy and life. After drinking four cups of this yesterday I cleaned like crazy for three hours!

I am writing this for a few reasons:
1) to celebrate that Steepster is now loading in a bearable amount of time for me (though I just lost my first bit of post as I’ve seen people mentioning)
2) to remind myself to take the term “intensive summer course” more seriously next time
3) to scold myself for not having finished last year’s shincha (and to be excited for the new shincha I have on its way soon)

That’s pretty much all. This is still quite nice. I chose wisely with the pan-fired one. It’s got some buttered veggies goodness going on, but very sweet.

Buttery but very light and refreshing. Some roastiness and subtly sweet. I like this one at night, and I cannot get over how bright the fresh leaves are!

My weekend, meant to be long and fun-filled, ended up being pretty rough. I became really sick at the wedding I was attending due to an uninvited guest: a kidney infection! Much pain and time spent in a cottage country ER, not enough tea!

After a few days without proper tea, I wanted something good and this afternoon I need something to help me mend. This was delayed in getting to me due to the postal strike but this was the perfect time to break into it. It makes such a bright, healthy-looking green liquor I don’t know how it can do anything but make me better! It’s deliciously sweet, has a nice body to it, and I can just pick up on the floral taste the description mentions in the aftertaste. Yum.

I drank this again last night and enjoyed it more, but it’s still not what I was looking for. I find it quite peppery.

Hmm, I expected to like this one more. Not bad, but very little body and a bit bitter today. Must try again soon.

Still trying to decide how I feel about this one. The leaves are small pieces, like a chinese keemun, and I think that contributes to astringency verging on bitterness. But there is also a fruitiness that is pleasant, and a toasty warm depth that is very nice. I’m not going to rate this one yet because I just don’t know where it is going to go, after 2 or 3 sessions.

Took longer than I expected to get back to this tea, and I went in a completely different direction: I was determined to get a mellow brewing, so used a small quantity of leaf and brewed up a whole thermos of tea with relatively cool water—185°F/85°C. This came out toasty, a little earthy, mellow and pleasant. I’ll work up from here now, to try to get more of those plummy fruity notes without reactivating the astringency that was off-putting the first time through.

A first trial of this one this evening was interesting. The catalog description noted chocolate and roasted notes, and those were certainly present in the finely broken up bits of dark toasted leaf and stem.

I used 3 grams of leaf to about 3 ounces of water, in a preheated kyusu, with water about 195 degrees. The first infusion at 30 seconds was lightly fruity but also toasty, and reminded me mostly of the Hwang Cha Korean ‘oolong’ from Hankook—in that mellow combination of earthy/toasty sweetness with fruity plummy highlights. The second infusion, also 30 seconds, was more reminiscent of a black tea, with stronger astringency coming to the fore. I had to dilute this infusion to enjoy it, with about 50% more water than originally infused, to drop the astringency to a tolerable level, but because I was eyeballing the water level in a measuring cup to try to get the right tea/water ratio, I might have simply added too little water.

I decided at that point to stop for the night, and to try again tomorrow with a little larger quantity of leaf, so that the infusions will fill my 5 oz kyusu, and I won’t have to guess on the water quantities.

Overall, my first impression is that this one might be of great interest to those who mostly drink black teas, as something less radically different than matcha or sencha, but still a quite unique japanese tea. I’m not sure whether a little tweaking will make this as much a favorite as the Hwang Cha, a tea that took a little while to grow on me, or not.

Delicious. Vibrant colour. Aromas are in the nutty spectrum. Has that fine balance between savory and sweet, finishing clean.

Price: $25.00 for 100g
Buy Again: Yes