Ippodo

Thank you Cameron for this sample!

I am still brand new to Hojicha. This one was pleasant but I found the flavor profile a bit mild for my taste. The warmth roast quality comes through and makes it a relaxing, peaceful cup. I like how earthy and soothing it is, but I’m looking for a little more oomph in flavor with my weaker taste buds to be a higher rating. People should enjoy this one, however.

Another sample courtesy of Cameron. Made a yummy iced matcha latte with this today. I started by whisking a heaping teaspoon of the matcha powder with a little room temperature water in a mason jar. The slightly yellow tinged powder dissolved easily and turned into a thick, green sludge. Sweetened with a little simple syrup, added ice cubes, and topped off with oat milk before giving everything a good shake.

The result was a rich and creamy matcha, more vegetal than grassy and a touch floral. There’s a nuttiness that I thought was from the oat milk, but upon tasting the matcha on its own, it does indeed have an almondy edge to it. Felt energized, not wired, all morning after I drank this. Really nice and tasted like a better version of my powdered kamairicha.

Sipdown! (19 | 92)

I made a lazy hot latte with the rest of this today. And by lazy, I mean pouring oat milk into my milk frother and then adding the matcha in once it starts swirling. I generally make matcha lattes by preparing the matcha by hand with a small amount of warm water and then adding frothed milk separately. But in this case I was using oat milk, so I just put the matcha right in since plant milk is always more watery than dairy milk. I added a drizzle of vanilla syrup as well.

It’s really yummy! I like the flavor of oat milk with matcha, and since this matcha is a bit nutty it really brings out those notes well. I can still taste the yummy vegetal notes as well as some grassiness.

Yum yum. I only have one more package of plain matcha, and once that’s gone I think Ippodo will be the source for my next restock.

Matcha Monday!

I’m almost out of flavored matcha to sip down, so I figured I would break into the straight matcha this morning! I bought this one at Ippodo in Kyoto in November of 2019. So it’s a bit older, and I won’t judge it too harshly…

It has a beautiful vibrant dark green color and bright green foam. The taste is very powerful, with an emphasis on sharp grassiness and deep green seaweed-like umami notes. Up front is a strong and slightly bitter greens/grass note, which then transitions to an umami-filled marine flavor, followed by a gentle sweetness and nuttiness and, in the aftertaste, a light floral note and clear fruitiness that reminds me of green grapes or starfruit. Maybe a bit of green apple as well?

Definitely still has plenty of flavor left! Whether this is the original flavor, who knows? I enjoyed my cup and was very impressed by how long the matcha remained suspended, even though I was distracted by a work call and pugs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ6V21eg4W8/

I really don’t drink enough Japanese teas. And I feel bad about it, because I get a lovely package of fresh teas from Obubu every quarter, and I’m just not in the habit of drinking them. So once I’m done with advent teas in a couple of days, I’d really like to try to drink a Japanese tea every day, or at least a few times a week. So I chose this hojicha as my last tea of the night in the spirit of that idea! I also bought this particular tea in Kyoto, and had a lovely cuppa in their little tea room. So it brings back nice memories as well.

Going with lazy Western-style in a mug since I’m not going to drag out the kyūsu at 11 PM… I sort of winged the parameters, and the result is delicious. This has a fairly dark color, both in the leaf and the steeped tea, but a surprisingly mellow flavor. Very smooth with notes of light roast coffee and toast, and plenty of the usual autumn leaf and wet wood. Because it’s mellow there’s just a little hint of soft smoke in the background. But my favorite thing about this tea is the lingering clear sweetness that appears at the end of the sip…

Such a perfect tea for a cozy evening, and I slurped down every last drop… :D

Tea profile is grassy, reminiscent of a freshly moved lawn. There is slightly astringent notes that help to fill out the tea’s grassy body. The nose is herbaceous and misty while the tail is clean and clear with no aftertaste and a emerald green liqueur.

A note about this tea, it is a green although unlike typical green teas, which are brewed between shrimp eye and crab eye, this is brewed to dragon water. As such, the tea should be flash steeped. Any longer and the liqueur will quickly brown, the tea will overstep and the umami will be lost.

Lastly, if you can try to brew it over binchoutan or lump charcoal. If you are unable to, then try alchohol and if that is not possible an infrared element. The charcoal brings the most flavor out of tea in general and penetrates the leaves more thoroughly than any other fuel method.

As much as I love matcha, I’m pretty much a novice. I’m trying to get a little more of an understanding of what I like, and this quarantine seems like a great time to do so. This matcha is awesome! So smooth and creamy, and absolutely no bitterness. It’s a vibrant shade of green- absolutely beautiful! I tried it straight, but added a bit of almond milk because I like the creaminess (I’m sure matcha purists would scoff). Such a beautiful bowl of matcha, that I thoroughly enjoyed this morning.

First three steeps are truly amazing. Lingering umami taste. Thick and brothy. Buttery sweet corn, with a hint of creamy milk. Fourth and fifth steeps remind me of the sweetness that comes with that of Long Jing. A delectable tea!

First and second steeping are sweet, with a somewhat prominent umami taste. Delightful. Third to fifth steeping begin to lack the umami and reveal a subtle bitterness. Great while it lasts.

This seasonal matcha isn’t as great as the Nodoka Spring seasonal match.

A delicious Usucha Tea

dry leafs smells very powerful of marine notes like seaweed, mussels, seafoam, also salty olives and wet freshly cut grass. when brewed the salty olives and seaweed persist on the nose, the taste is very full bodied with a heavy dose of umami bringing it almost in Gyukuro territory. Very grassy , and there is asparagus and raw cabbage as well. It is very sensitive to temperature and steeping time, and dosage, every time i brew it comes out a bit differently. Now it has been open for four weeks and i definately note that flavor is more muted than the first times i brewed it which is a shame. Very nice allround Sencha on the full-bodied side but use if up within the first 3 weeks if possible