Tezumi

This sat on my shelf for 9 months before opening so understandably it’s lost some of its oomph. Note to self: next time, freeze unopened matcha until ready to drink.

It smells very creamy and sweet but on it’s own, is a bit chalky and savory. Not as sweet as the aroma. Still, whisks up easily to a nice green color and makes amazing lattes with a little splash of milk and sugar.

Bought a sample of this 2023 asamushi sencha with my order from Tezumi. I am definitely more satisfied with this one, although I don’t think I like either better than their Matsuba Sencha. This one has more flavor, complexity, and sweetness with less harsh notes than the Ao-Sora.

Harvest: May, 2023.
Cultivar: Okumidori
Location: Wazuka, Kyoto

Dry leaf: Vegetal.
Wet leaf: Same.
Flavor: Vegetal, grassy, sweet, bitter, umami.

I feel pretty let down by this sencha. Even for an asamushi, it is too light in flavor for me at 60 degrees C. At 70 C, it was too bitter (more than they claim on the website). Sweetness isn’t really there nor is there any astringency.

I don’t mind light flavor in my tea. And the flavor that is there is pretty nice. However, it is nowhere near as good as I’d hope for a $0.44/g tea.

Apparently this Taiwanese cultivar is also the one used to make Dongfang Meiren (Oriental Beauty), which is pretty interesting.

Harvest: May 12, 2022.
Cultivar: Chin Hsin Da Pa
Location: Honyama, Shizouka (100 m elevation)

Dry leaf: Umami, vegetal.
Wet leaf: Same.
Flavors: Umami, vegetal, bitter, grassy, nutty.

As I finish off the last teaspoon and prepare to say goodbye to this tea, I can’t help but wonder whether I tapped into its full potential. It usually takes a while to dial in Japanese greens. That tends to happen when I’m halfway through a 100g bag. For whatever reason, it didn’t happen here.

The tea has an intensely sweet forestry and floral aroma. Beautiful, bright green color typical of deep steamed sencha. The first sip is brothy then wet grass and umami as it cools. Upon resteep, the color deepens and the tea becomes cleaner and more buttery. Fairly enjoyable but nothing showstopping. This is when the tea was at its best. Other times it tasted bland, sulfuric, or a little salty.

Overall this was a respectable fukamushi with fleeting glimpses of brilliance however I just couldn’t get in the cup what I smelled. Can’t tell if I’m to blame here or the tea.

Not the best kamairicha I’ve ever had. This is a very light bodied tea with a simple flavor profile. Corn silk with light accents of fruit and grass. Easy to drink but overly simple flavor that tastes like half spent leaves of a better green tea.

This sencha is a real treat. Having brewed it in my unglazed Tokoname kyusu several times, I can safely report that it is uncommonly rich and sweet, even for fukamushicha.

The first steep blankets the whole mouth in thick, buttery-sweet goodness. The aroma of the hot tea is indulgently umami-forward and superbly nutty. The color is deep green, and, as is typical with fukamushi sencha, numerous flavorful tea particles permeate the cup in every steep. The second infusion is more delicate, with more prominent fresh, floral notes. The third infusion is light and refreshing, thinner, and well-balanced with a subtle apple flavor. Nutty, buttery flavors persist throughout the brewing span of the tea. A solid fourth infusion is sometimes possible with a gentler approach to the first three (chiefly through shorter steep times).

This tea is distinctive ambrosia. It will be one for me to remember and purchase again and again.

Asamushi senchas are sometimes too light and flavorless for my taste. This one, however, showed that light steamed teas can be subtle and yet still full of flavor.

This tea is fresh, fragrant, and very clean tasting. There’s a gentle sweetness of fresh green vegetables along with just the right amount of grassiness and umami to balance things out. Notes of citrus, pear, and green peas.

All of the teas I’ve sampled from Tezumi so far have been excellent. Glad I gave them a try as my usual go-tos, O-Cha and Yuuki-Cha, have been underwhelming as of late.

Spring 2023 harvest.

I’ve been craving this tea ever since I sampled it last year so I jumped at the chance to buy a 100g bag. This year’s harvest is nearly as good as the previous one.

This is an elegant tea with a taste somewhere between sencha and gyokuro, leaning a bit more towards the latter. The umami is there but restrained and accented with sweet seagrass, chlorophyll, and spinach. I’ve enjoyed having this as a cold brew this summer. Super fresh and clean tasting and doesn’t get bitter even when its sat for a while in the fridge.

Unlike many greens, it seems to improve with age. The leaves are more aromatic and the flavor has more depth since opening the bag.

This was an unexpectedly beautiful tea. I’ve never been so floored by kabusecha before. Kabusecha is supposed to straddle the middle ground between gyokuro and sencha but this one feels like it belongs in its own category. It’s neither grassy like sencha nor umami heavy like gyokuro. Best way to describe is it tastes like you’re drinking the sea. Buttery with matcha-like freshness and oceanic flavors that remind me of sashimi. Perfect balance of sweetness, umami, and sea tones.

It was my first time ordering from Tezumi so I only got a sample. Really wish I had picked up an entire bag as this is easily the best kabusecha I’ve ever had.

Sipdown! (36 | 310)

I’ve been trying to drink more matcha, because I have some aging tins of it that I should really be sipping down. So I’ve been having an iced matcha latte every day, and sometimes a matcha lemonade as well. I find I just haven’t been in the mood for plain, traditional matcha lately, and I’m not going to force it.

So this was a sample pouch that was kindly included in one of my Tezumi teaware orders, they had just started offering tea at the time. I’ve only had this as an iced oat milk latte, so I can’t really review it thoroughly. But I made this last latte a bit stronger since I wanted to use up the last of the matcha, and it’s very delicious. I can taste the matcha well, and it adds such a nice creamy vegetal and almost roasted nutty flavor with hints of umami and very little bitterness. Rich and scrumptious!

Sipdown! (13 | 229)

This was a 10g pouch that Tezumi included as a free sample with one of my teaware orders.

It’s nice. This hojicha is made from a spring sencha instead of the usual bancha. It has a bit more bitterness to it than a standard hojicha to me, but also more complexity. Lots of layers of roastiness with deep wood and mineral smoke, crisp autumn leaves, and rich nuts. Sweetness blooms at the end of the sip and the finish is long and mellow. Tasty!