1277 Tasting Notes
Dry aroma. Slightly fruity. A bit of umami. For some reason, some of these higher-class Japanese green teas also remind me of frozen parmesan. A bit of marine in the undertones too.
Powder Appearance: Vibrant green. Smooth to the touch. Spread nicely under the finger.
The froth is not as good as I was hoping but that could also be due to my lack of skills and letting the water sit for too long while I was smelling the matcha.
Mouthfeel: Smooth. I thought with my lack of skills and forgetting to sieve it that the siltiness would be bad but this is very nice!
Flavor: Umami. Veggies. Starts with slight marine notes but ends quite high.
Not far from the middle of Uji is the Kyoto Prefectural Tea Industry Laboratory. Here they conduct research on camellia sinensis. The institute has a three-way focus. First is innovative research. We toured the facility thanks to the Global Japanese Tea Association and we were able to see some new and innovative machines that are exciting for the tea industry. Second is developing new cultivars, which they have two new ones so far. Third is the creation of new tea farmers. They do this in two different ways: 1. They educate the children of tea farmers in a one-year program. 2. An entrepreneurial two-year program.
I’m not sure if this place is open to the public as there is a lot going on there that is hush hush and honestly if it were me working there I wouldn’t want to deal with the public while researching… Anyway… call before going.
When I first opened the bag I was blown away by the aroma. It is calming down now. Just really goes to show you how fragile Japanese green tea is. But I mean that in a good way. Kind of like you wouldn’t leave ice cream in your car in the summer, these teas are to be appreciated sooner and in the correct way. Mine is forming small caffeine crystals as well. ^^;
Water is set to about 140 F. First, we will pour water into our cup and then into the kyusu. The aroma is divine. Umami, vegetal, and bits of marine notes. IT says to wait three minutes but at one minute it is so silky smooth and full of umami and veggie notes. No astringency. A slight hint of astringency but nothing face-kicking as it hits the 3-minute mark. A lot more umami and the mouthfeel is still incredibly soft and filling.
If you ever visit Uji be sure to visit his shop. I was blown away. I am a big fan.
https://en.nihonchaseikatsu.com/introduce/yamamotojinjirou/
During the Global Japanese Tea Association Master course we had two days off (Sat & Sun) to do our own things. So I stuff in as many tea shops as my feet could manage. Some I had known I wanted to go to but this one was completely random. Please make sure to put this one on your list. They are incredibly kind. They have you sit down and they serve you tea and then you tell them what you want to buy. All I ended up buying was this sencha but now I’m kicking myself for not getting more. Granted my bag was already a bit heavy and I had another week left sweatdrop. You can view what the shop looks like here: https://en.nihonchaseikatsu.com/introduce/ryuouenchaho/
Dry Leaf: You would think it was gyokuro. The leaf is so dark, glossy, and pine needle-thin.
Dry Aroma: Divine. Hints of seaweed and freshly dried grass. Mouth watering.
Mouth feel: Soft. (I have a canker sore so I know it’s a bit off on feeling and taste right now… story of my life… ugh)
Flavor: Sweetgrass. Slight marine notes of seaweed and fresh cut grass. As you drink it you can definitely tell it is not gyokuro because it doesn’t have that special umami ping that gyokuro does. Granted it’s not completely devoid of it, just not as strong.
Wet Aroma: brings me back to Obubu’s tea processing facility at Obubu. Lovely. Slightly creamy and hints of grass.
When I say this is one of the best that I’ve ever had I am saying a lot. I drink mine plain. And I’ve tried a ton of matcha from many different companies. Mandarcha is an amazing company. If you are ever in Kyoto make sure to put it on your Must Do List. It is there that I discovered this matcha. I fell in love with the incredible aroma. Something I can’t quite put into words but after visiting a matcha milling facility in Nara I’ve realized that matcha literally smells like matcha. Sure you could say creamy, a bit vegetal, with some unique marine hints but this is just the smell of high-quality, fresh matcha. And the coloring is divine. A gorgeous green. I feel so melancholy seeing the last of the powder going into my chawan. T_T. It’s available online but just not the same as purchasing it in-store. Oh, so creamy. The texture is absolutely amazing. The powder stays suspended fabulously. This pairs well with Ghibli’s music.
Located near the Uji River in Uji, Japan is the amazing tea shop of Baisa Nakamura. During the Global Japanese Association Master Course, we had the honor of seeing Nakamura-san use his mini-processing equipment to make tea for us. I don’t think I’ve ever called equipment cute but these chibi-sized gadgetry were amazing and cute. They also sell nitro brewed tea.
This tea is great when brewed US style in a mug but it’s even better in a kyusu.
Mug brewing: Grab your favorite mug and metal infuser. Be sure it is one that is never used by coffee if anyone else drinks coffee in the place you reside. It can ruin the tea. The amount you add depends on the mug but standard is usually about 1 tsp. More if you like it strong. You can brew anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes. This is a tea that is safe to forget about for the most part. The flavor is so nice. Full of squash and redwood notes.
Kyusu brewing: Japanese squash. Kabocha. With just a bit of roasting but also like you bit into a bit of a fresh one. I picked this one up in-store but unfortunately, I don’t see it listed online. Also a bit of chocolate but more so on the cacao side. I really enjoy the homeyness of the wet aroma. Like walking into a nice warm house on a blustery cold winter day. A slight hint of fire mixed with a squash stew on the stove.
This is a very unique tea. I admit I did not buy it for its taste but more so for its interesting ability to change color kind of like the butterfly pea flower. The flat leaf is a mix of glossy and matte leaves. All uniform in their darker green color. The dry aroma is not as strong as I was hoping. It’s slightly vegetal but mainly too muted for any enjoyment of anything.
On its own the flavor is nice, peas, buttered peas, and maybe asparagus. Probably the worst-looking tea color. Almost grey. Murky. Like a storm with its tint of green. The color change is super cool. From a murky weird brown color to pink when using lemon juice. The taste is peas with lemon. Weird. Nope. My daughter also agrees. It has an interesting flavor but this one is more for science than it is for taste so I’m not sure of where to rate it… Maybe rate for taste… Sorry. If you want to see the color change check it out here! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083808627473
The sample I have is from the Intermediate Japanese Global Tea Association class. However, there are very few companies that sell this tea and I didn’t see this company listed so I decided to make a steeper page for it since I was impressed with the amount of detail they used. The tea has been open and ready for me to use for a bit so the dry aroma is somewhat diminished but there are notes of pan-fried leaves. Some leaves are glossy, some dull. Twisting and curling. Went with a one-minute steep to start. The initial aroma coming off the leaves is lovely. Notes of pan-fried corn with a bit of butter and a bit of asparagus. Smooth mouthfeel with just a touch of astringency. I think I actually over-steeped this one. Round two fight. 30 second steep now. Much better. Good vegetal notes. My egg and rice breakfast with furikake sprinkled on it might have been a bit too strong for this one though. Better to sip on its own. Third steep. Even less time. Still vegetal notes. The furikake is just destroying the other flavors though. It’s all over my palate. Point taken with that one.
On a side note. I am looking to start nitro brewing teas at craft fairs. But the hurdles I am going to have to jump through to do it are a bit daunting. I broke down a bit yesterday but I am picking myself back up today and hoping for the best. Pray things will come together for me because I would love to see this work.
This smells more like a bancha with a hint of sencha. I started with a minute steep time but decided to begin the pouring at 55 seconds. It definitely has that metallic tint on the palate like a bancha. But the mouth feel is very smooth. It also probably wasn’t the best choice to consume after waffles. This is also called Summer Sencha on the packet so this one might have been produced a bit differently, at a different time during the summer, and or many other factors. This sample came from the Global Japanese Tea Association intermediate course.
Last tea from the rare tea class. Though the post-fermented teas were tasted last to keep them from spoiling the taste of the other teas. I shouldn’t say spoil. But ruin sounds worse. Change maybe? Yes, change. This is the first time I have seen a stem of this size in tea. It’s HUGE. Good amount of stems and twigs in this one. The aroma is very woody which makes sense considering what it contains. Dry wood and a mix of other woody aroma notes. The present leaves are all light brown and small. The wet leaves are also full of woody notes that have a slight pine note to them. I really want to revisit this one.
