My first try of Kukicha! I got my huge Den’s delivery yesterday and wanted to see what their second best seller was all about. I was amazed at the appearance of the leaf, so many little pieces of stem…looks just like the picture. Hit three teaspons with about 8-10 ounces of 180F water (my Zojirushi has a 175 setting and Den’s calls for 180 normally I just call it even and hit it with 175, but if it is just coming down from its dechlorination boil I can catch it). Smells like a Sencha, but the taste is surprising. Absolutely none of the bitter afterkick you often get with senchas. Nutty (I am guessing from the roasting), vegetable mix, but without the bite you often get with a sencha. Definitely a re-order, in fact I like it better than their best-seller, Fuka-midori, and am sorry I only ordered 2 ounces. Steeped it a second time at boiling like the directions say – this is where I would say the tea has one drawback – it has very little of the original flavor with the second steep. Watery —maybe the twigs are to blame? :)
180 °F / 82 °C
1 min, 0 sec
