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For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

Excellent value, nice balance of flavors and impressive complexity for price. Lots of tannins but balanced by rich flavor and caramel-thick mouthfeel. 回甘 (sweet finish) is very persistent. $0.10 USD / g.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

A great everyday pu’er, has mellowed out nicely since I purchased it (was too bitter to drink back in spring 2015). The on palate flavor is okay, not incredibly smooth but not too tannic either. The 回甘 (sweet finish) is something else though – it just continues to develop and lasts a good hour! Apricot jam, dragonfruit, oranges, vanilla. Yum!

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

Gyokuro Premium from Hibiki-An is great as an introduction to gyokuro teas. While it is not the highest quality gyokuro offered by the company, it is (like all their teas) a great value, providing the classic rich flavors of good gyokuro at a fraction of the typical cost. The tea does retain some bitterness, but this is counteracted by the inherent cream and vegetal notes. It is best brewed following the instructions on the bag, changing only brew time which should be 1 minute maximum rather than the suggested 1.5 / 2.

Gyokuro means “jade dew” and – disregarding matcha, which should be considered in a different category – is known as the highest class of Japanese green tea. It is distinguished from other Japanese teas such as sencha, hojicha, etc. by a shading period just before picking. The tea plants are blocked from direct sunlight for 20 days, forcing them to compensate for the lack of light by producing more chlorophyll (the chemical responsible for carrying out photosynthesis, and also what gives plants their green color). This enhances the sweetness of the tea and hence gives gyokuro its singular taste.

For reference, Hibiki-An offers four levels of quality for their teas, which – from lowest to highest – are: “superior”, “premium”, “super premium”, and “pinnacle”. They occasionally offer a fifth grade that is even better than “pinnacle” called “competition-grade pinnacle.”

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This Formosan oolong, from the highest peak of Taiwan’s Li Mountan (梨山), is a great representation or standard for the Formosan (Taiwanese) Oolong category. There is an incredible complexity and clarity in the layering of flavor notes. It is also more powerful or fragrant than other lower grade Taiwanese oolongs, and as such one could probably get great results with 3-4 grams rather than the standard 5. I’m not wild about the herbaceous eucalyptus notes strongly present in this one, but it is certainly a unique flavor and balanced by incredibly clear notes of sugarcane, mango, and cream. Red Blossom also sells a delicious Lishan Taiwan Oolong (picked from a slightly lower elevation tea garden on the same mountain), but the differences between it and the superior Fu Shou Shan are remarkable.

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A very interesting green tea. All the characteristic flavor notes of the category (nutty, vegetal, etc.) plus a hint of smoke and bright citrus, and lacking the harsh tannins of Dragonwell which makes for a very round mouthfeel. Yum!

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This was the first Korean tea I ever tasted, and I was pleasantly surprised. It shares many of the flavor characteristics of a Chinese Dragonwell, but with a very pleasant head note of sweet corn.

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Firstly, it is important to remember that this is a “house” matcha, or rather a lower-end, budget matcha intended for daily consumption. That said, Hibiki-an’s House Matcha is an incredible value. Priced at a very reasonable $24 / 80g ($0.40 per bowl if prepared in the proper method) or at a bulk price of $60 / 240g ($0.33 per bowl), this house matcha has no shortage of flavor, and does not taste dull, or stale in any way. It is perhaps slightly more bitter and tannic than higher quality matchas, but you will not find a better daily matcha on the market. Great value, impressive taste for the price. Also great as a cooking matcha for use in frosting, cake, lattes, etc.