Good Morning Steepster-ites! It’s amazing what a good nights sleep, morning shower and 82 calorie juice breakfast can do to a gal. This day is officially the start of D Day, which is diet day for me and not about the Normandy Landings of WWII. Though honestly the beginning of a diet feels like a war, there will be hunger, pain and suffering after all.
This loose leaf looks heavily Kukicha or Stem tea, I can’t see the chamomile, St. John’s Wort or gingko amongst them easily at all. For those that are unfamiliar with Kukicha or Stem tea it is literally the stems of green tea leaves so they are thin, longish and consist of both green and yellow colours.
Whilst still raw it has a sweet and rich grassy scent with a dry herbal background.
Once steeped a darkish yellow liquid is produced that bares a sweet yet oddly savoury scent of grass, herbs and soup broth. Must be an umami appearance. Again if anyone is not familiar with umami it is the fifth taste which is often featured in Japanese teas, it’s savoury and soup like. Some wonderful light reading here if you’re interested in umami. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami
Flavour is sweet and thick with savoury umami tones that linger on the tongue, resembling grass, soup broth and flowers. Slightly dry in the after taste though forgiveable. It starts of savoury but sweetens and lightens gradually. For the most part it tastes like a standard Kukicha but there is a touch more herb and flower flavours present, though hard to define what they are without knowing. Also a little toasted, like toasted sweet grass, the more I drink the more this stands out.
It’s a nice blend, since I usually prefer unflavoured teas I find this particularly delightful. Plus I would like to point out the added bonus for both the Kukicha and chamomile being organic. I would say this is nice enough to even buy more of in the future, though as it’s mainly Kukicha tea it would so be a nice introduction to Japanese tea for anyone wishing to try umami.
Flavors: Drying, Herbs, Sweet, Warm Grass, Toasted
Sounds amazing. I love kukicha! :)
I’ve had that kind of experience many times where I think, “Hmm, this must be umami” but am not entirely sure I can only go by definitions and descriptions on the internets.