Hibiki-an

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This is the first time I’ve consciously had Gyokuro Konacha. From some casual reading, I understand that it is sometimes served at sushi restaurants.

So far I’ve tried it two ways–first, an eyeball amount of Konacha (probably a tablespoon), and about 16oz of hot water (probably around 170(f)). This proved to be overwhelmingly strong, and unfortunately reminded me of a typical grocery store bagged green tea (the saw dust stuff) that might make you queasy from tannic bitterness and seemingly oxidized from a complete surface area air exposure (because the tea granularity is so small).

Having feared I bungled it, I followed Hibiki-an’s directions precisely. I added 7g of Konacha to 200mL of 149 degree(f) water. Then steeped for precisely 45 seconds. The result was thick and strong. I suppose I had no idea how little 200mL was. It’s less than 8oz(1 cup). I am not used to drinking tea this way.

After two methods that did not work out well, I may try a more diluted solution in cooler water. I tasted the leaves, and they are actually quite fresh and delicious, kind of a smooth, woody and chlorophyllic (the way good standard gyokuru often tastes).

I recommend this tea because it is educationally interesting how a “fine dust” version of gyokuro can be so temperamental and, if harshly prepared, can be so unforgiving. Also, I’ve tried two other Hibiki-an teas, and they are absolutely without a doubt some of the best quality and value teas that I have ever had. If you haven’t tried their Karigane, it is amazing and honestly a super great value.

Flavors: Grass, Iodine, Pine, Plant Stems, Tannin, Wood

Preparation
150 °F / 65 °C 0 min, 45 sec 7 g 7 OZ / 200 ML

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70
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
141 tasting notes

Great Canadian Travelling Tea Box (pt.1)
I had this tea Feb 3rd

Dry leaf: The leaves are brown and have a very nice and grassy scent.
Steeped: The water is a clear brown color and has a grassy scent. The taste of the tea is sooth, and has extremely subtle hints of lingering spice.

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96
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
639 tasting notes

Sipdown #28

I saved the best for last. :) I have had my eye on this tea for a while, like around 6 months I think. Houjicha is one of my favorite teas, so I’m really looking forward to trying this one from a new-to-me tea company. This is grown right in Japan! It doesn’t get any better than that. Thank you to Sil for sharing this sample!

Ohhhh, yes! The brewed tea aroma is intoxicating and instantly made my mouth water. The taste is a perfect roasted green tea flavor. It’s roasty toasty and delicious! I’ve had several different types of houjicha, and this one is particularly buttery. I don’t think I’ve encountered a buttery houjicha before. It’s really interesting and complements the roasted notes nicer than I would have thought.

I love the description of this tea: “Houjicha is a source of health for farmers, and Japanese farmers are well-known for their good health.” LOL! I didn’t know that! :P If you’ve never tried houjicha before, this is an excellent one to try. Its buttery notes are unique, but it still maintains the prefect roasted flavor that I would expect.

Houjicha is nothing like unroasted green tea (sencha, matcha, gunpowder, dragonwell, etc). It’s not grassy at all and instead can be quite nutty. I think this particular tea is less nutty because of the added buttery notes. Nevertheless, it’s a great representation of what roasted green tea has to offer: a tasty warming cuppa!

This is truly a delicious and special tea. I’m savoring every sip. Mmmm, yum! And now I know that Hibiki-an offers excellent quality teas. I’ll have to check them out further, and I’ll probably pick up more of this while I’m at it. ;) Thanks again, Sil!!!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Sil

Awesome! Well you can thank halieod for sending me such a. Large quantity :) I had plenty to try and im glad you loved it.

CHAroma

Definitely, thank you to Hallieod too! This really is so delicious. :)

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95

I am pretty new to genmaicha. Have only had one other one, which was tasty but not organic. I’m very interested in the organic teas now, after learning about so many pesticides on conventional grown ones. Anyway, I just opened my packet of tea, that I received a week after ordering (pretty good from Japan!), brewed it up according to Hibikis directions. It is a beautiful green with a lovely fragrance. I can smell the tea and the rice. The flavor is outstanding, I am drinking it as I write this. I am becoming quite addicted to gemaicha and love being able to order it direct from the farm.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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75
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
15006 tasting notes

this was sent to me by Halieod a long while ago and it appears as though i haven’t had a chance to log it until now. I’ve had a number of cups of this, though its not always the first thing i reach for. What i like about this is that it’s a roasty taste, without being an oolong ;) I’m glad that i’ve had this one to try! Thanks Halieod!

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90

This is a seasonal offering, so I assume it varies somewhat from year to year, and from what I gather, it’s best to grab it as soon as it comes available in the fall. So this review will only be truly accurate for the 2013 batch.

This particular tea is brewed with more leaves, and at a much lower temperature than most other teas. For a truly mellow cup, you can go as low as 130F. The suggested serving size is 1.5 TABLESPOONS (not teaspoons) for 200ml (about 6.5 oz) of water. Even though you can get three to four good steeps, that still makes for a very pricey cup. According to the tea’s producer, this tea will never get bitter no matter how long it is steeped, although the recommended time is 1.5-2 minutes at higher temperatures, and 2-2.5 minutes at lower temperatures.

For my cups, I chose a moderate 140F, for two minutes. As I have to pour the water from the kettle into a measuring container first, the actual steep temperature is probably closer to 135F. The first cup was strong enough to have a yellow, milky appearance. Despite that, it was not very fragrant. But what an umami punch! As promised, all that goodness dissipated with no bitter finish, only a silky smooth aftertaste.

The second cup was no longer translucent, but yellow and clear. Still only a mild aroma. The taste was definitely fuller, but less umami and more like a regular sencha. There was a slight hint of bitterness but it didn’t stay in the aftertaste. It was not unpleasant as it actually lent some body to the tea. The flavor lingered much longer from the second cup.

Third cup clear and just slightly paler, I noticed that it’s almost a yellow-green. There’s hardly any aroma. The flavor has definitely diminished from the first to the last, which is probably for the best, considering I’m practically having heart palpitations at this stage. I feel like I’ve been drinking matcha. Three steeps is all that is recommended unless you are brewing with the optional extra tea leaves, and I can see why. If I had brewed it at this strength initially, I could probably enjoy the subtle flavor, but after two mind-blowing cups, it tastes weak by comparison. There is still a mellow bite at the end which is rather nice. I feel like I’m cleansing my palate and easing my way slowly out of a tea frenzy.

That wasn’t a cuppa, that was a whole adventure.

Preparation
140 °F / 60 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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100

No notes yet. Add one?

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
2201 tasting notes

Sipdown, 142. Another Sil sample! I don’t know if I’ve ever had a houjicha, so I am interested to try this one. I ended up looking up some steeping parameters from Den’s and roughly following them: 1st steep, boiling for 30 seconds, second, boiling for 15 seconds, third, boiling for 30 seconds.

I was first hit by a roasty scent and a bit of spinachy aroma. This is an interesting tea… It’s roasty, but it’s vegetal. It’s not really like a roasty green oolong, which usually have a hint of floral notes. This isn’t totally my thing, for sure; I’m generally not much on roasty teas, and the intense bean/greens notes in this underneath the roast are also not hitting me right. I think if I wanted that combo of flavors I’d go with a traditional tieguanyin. But I’m glad I got to try this one out.

Sil

it’s an interesting tea for sure… not quite yet sure how i feel about it myself

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81
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
836 tasting notes

No notes yet. Add one?

Flavors: Bitter, Hay, Salty

Preparation
Iced

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81
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
836 tasting notes

This tea was able to withstand boiling but I think there is more flavour complexity when brewed at a lower temperature.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 13 OZ / 375 ML

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81
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
836 tasting notes

1 tablespoon for 375 ml

Matcha-like green tea flavour. Green bean note. Slight roasted flavour.

Thanks to Sil for sharing!

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Sil

miss you!!!

Sil

There is more of this at my place if you want more… i can’t finish the giant bag!

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drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
73 tasting notes

Nope, I won’t be able to make myself like this tea, so I’m offering it up to anyone who wants it. I’m fairly certain this is a “good” houjicha, though I have little enough experience with it. Smelling this and my Lapsang explained it all – that’s smoky, woodfire-ish, even peaty. This is acrid. Doesn’t taste as bad as it smells, but not my cuppa.

If a few people would like to try, I’ll split it up, otherwise I’m happy to send it off around the world again. Please, someone(s), take me up on this offer! I got free shipping as it was part of a 3 packets of 100 g each deal, and the other two I love, so it’s all good.

Sil

if you want to set aside some of this for our swap that would be fine with me:) yours is on the way today by the way – was late getting to the post office on the weekend

Hallieod

Oh good, will do that! I saw you’d liked a houjicha, I think. Thank you again for the tea swap!

Sil

NP. as for houjicha, the one i tried seemed interesting enough that i’ll try a few more. It’s no black tea for sure but it wasn’t bad. And the girls here will happily take it off my hands if i drink a small cup and don’t enjoy it lol

CHAroma

I’ll take some off your hands too, if you still have any.

Sil

CHAroma – i’m pretty sure she sent the entire bag to me, though i did just dole out healthy amounts to Kittenna and Raritea. You and i can certainly do a swap at some time so i can send some your way. there’s no way i’ll finish off this bag soon :)

CHAroma

Okay cool, well let me know whenever you’re up for a swap. Thanks! :)

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93

I did my best to brew this one as described: 7g in 200ml for 1 min, 45 sec, then longer steeps with higher temps.
my friend quickly exclaimed that it tastes, oddly enough, like chicken soup.
It does indeed have a deep mineral salty aspect, and creaminess that suggest chicken soup – with wheatgrass.
smells like fresh grass- very vegetal as expected for a sencha.
after drinking several cups I fely very refreshed, cleansed, surprisingly keen and alert – as if my vision has become sharper and more focused.
very excellent re-set effect – like being reborn into the present moment. an excellent tea to restore yourself around 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. on a workday.
no negative ‘cold stomach’ low oxidized tea effects detected.

The distinguishing characteristics of this tea in comparison with other greens is the salty richness of it. gives the tea a deep, nourishing quality.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Sounds like you had a good l-theanine effect with this tea as well as a nice caffeine boost. Delicious tea for the afternoon!

Asaf Mazar

Good point. Theanine explains the chicken broth (umami) flavor as well. I am getting back into green teas now as a result of today’s session

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82
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
6105 tasting notes

My bag of this is pretty crunched (I don’t know what happened), but the tea isn’t too bad. The last cup might suffer though, with all the dust. Anyways, it’s a light, toasty, sweet cup. I love houjicha.

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82
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
6105 tasting notes

Ugh, headache. Anyways, brewed this up yesterday after reading someone’s note on houjicha, but didn’t end up finishing the cup as my tummy was waterlogged (tealogged?) Instead, I’ve ended up drinking it cold today. Loving the roastiness and bit of saline seaweed flavour, and the aftertaste is deliciously caramelly.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 14 OZ / 414 ML
dragondrool

Hope you’re feeling better today!

Kittenna

Thanks! I seem to be :) Possibly some large temperature fluctuations contributing to headachiness.

Lariel of Lórien

Don’t forget to drink lots of water (of the non-delicious leaf variety too.)

Kittenna

I’m bad with that, admittedly! I don’t get headaches all that often, but I think about half the time, they’re from dehydration.

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82
drank Organic Houjicha by Hibiki-an
6105 tasting notes

Sooooo…. I definitely have back to close to 850 teas again…. D:

Anyhow, this one’s from Hallieod via Sil!

Sweet, roasty, and delicious! And now they’re taking the computer away…..

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec
CHAroma

At least you’ll be set in the event of a zombie apocalypse. ;)

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90

I love Genmaicha, though I’ve no idea where I first came across it. I’ve never had it dusted with the Matcha before, and am not entirely sure I recognise the difference between this and a straight Genmaicha. Possibly it helps to diminish the slightly bitter Sencha taste. But whatever it is, it makes a delicious cup of green tea! Toasty rice is just the best smell/taste, and it goes so well with the tea base. I think it would be very nice cold in hot weather too – should we ever get such a thing here.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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