Nicholas Hadler Send Message

I just received this tea in the mail from Sugimoto, my first time ordering from them. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten sencha–I really haven’t ordered any since pre-covid and O-Cha’s shipping prices were much more reasonable. Having heard good things about Sugimoto, I ordered their single-cultivar Sencha Fuushun which came out to $15/50g. They also included a sampler of their gyokuro and matcha, as well as some tea bags of their genmaicha.

My first steep was at 80c with 2.6 g of tea in my 150ml kyusu for 60s. This first steep was a golden yellow color and presented beautifully. Lots of immediate buttery hay on the palette with umami on the finish, with no notable bitterness. A touch astringent on the finish. The nose mirrors this identically. Very sweet.

My second steep was for 15s (more or less the time it took my stagg to finish pouring) at 80c. This gave stronger umami with the same milky, hay like sweetness. Almost tastes more like a kabusecha.

All together, a lovely tea and I would highly recommend buying it while it is still in stock.

I’ve just received the 2019 shincha of this tea in the mail and started my first brew. The initial opening on the bag gave waves of a deep and rich grassiness, nearing on unami-ness, and smells plesently grassy. The first steep has a rich taste with little to no astringency, with a savory grassiness. Not much butteriness versus other shinchas I’ve had and not very sweet. Mouthfeel is full and thick.

1st steep, 30s, 170f
2nd steep, flash, 173f
3rd steep, 1min, 173f

I got this tea from teavivre after want to sample some high grade black tea. As whole it seems like a great tea and I’m planning drinking it often.

10s wash
1st – (10s) A nice strong baked sweet potato aroma but then coats the mouth in a pleasant malty sweetness. Nice and strong.
2nd – (15s) Second steep shows more assertiveness and less of a coating sweet flavor. Subtle strawberry like sourness
3rd – (20s) Similar to the second
5th – (45s) Seeing a bit of astringency but still good.

Before this sample from teavivre I hadn’t had the chance to try duck shot oolong but after being amused by the name so many times I had it added on to an order at teavivre. Normally I prefer greener teas as a whole, less oxidized, etc but the warm honey and light hay notes I get from this oolong are excellent. It holds up to repetive steeps in my gaiwan and continues to deliver sweet warmness even later on. As I get into later steeps it become deeper and a little more pungent. I would whole heartedly recommend this tea.

When I first got this tea, I had to say I wasn’t a fan of it. It was punchy and in your face in a way that my greener oolongs really weren’t. I decided to bring this tea back out and WOW it has really improved. I enjoy the deep hay and syrupyness in the first couple of steeps. Practically a savoryness. Later on the roast looses its prominence and more fruit and sweetness appeared. I am really enjoying it and would solidly recommend.

This was my first foray into chumushi sencha and ordering from yuuki-cha for that matter. It’s a delcious unami filled tea, with the first infusion brewed at low temperature really brings it out. First steep has strong notes of unami and grassyness with bery slight astringgency. Later steeps become sweeter but a characteristic green tea taste and vegetalbleness. I’m not finding as much buttery and sweetness but all together I’ve really enjoyed this sencha and would order again.

1st – 160 for 1 minute
2nd – 170 flash
3rd – 175 for 45s
4th – 180 2 mins

I was really surprised trying this tea, I hadn’t had a TGY yet. It has a nice sourness compared to other oolongs and flavorful floralness. Very subtle notes of cream at the start.

I definitely enjoyed this puerh, really strong berry and pleasant acidity. Doing gongfu it rounds off nicely in later steeps.