Temomi Shincha

How appropriate that this would be my 100th tasting note.
I’ve been looking forward to trying this tea since I got it in May, but the right opportunity never presented itself.

I’ve giving this 100; but this really is higher than any other 100 I’ve given. The award-winning Gyokuro that I got came close, but this was even better. If I could give 110 to this, I would. It is worth every penny at $1.50/gram (though, I wouldn’t want to buy more than what I did, a packet of 10g).

Anyway, this had all the best flavors of Japanese green tea, and none of the things that people don’t like when they avoid it. No bitterness whatsoever, not even a hint. No astringency. No nuclear green-ness. No overpowering vegginess.
I like bitterness and astringency in the right proportions and in the right tea; and I like the fresh vegetable flavor that comes with Japanese greens. No other teas are like them.
But this was the kind of tea even a non-green-tea-drinking individual could love. Or at the very least, appreciate.

The dry leaf was long, full leaves, and smelled sweet and marine/seaweed like. It was rich and intense. Just like the picture above.

The brewed leaf opened up to reveal whole leaves with the a small amount of stem. The color of the liquor was a beautiful, almost bluish-clear-green.
The taste was similar to the award-winning gyokuro, but less intense and marine/seaweed-like, and a lot sweeter. It wasn’t sugary sweet, but sweet in that calming, refreshing, delicious way that Japanese greens are.
And it went for 7 steeps and still had lovely flavor through each. I probably could have kept going.

I heard about hand-rolled Japanese green tea, but it didn’t look like you could find it online here in the U.S. No one carried it – even specialists like Den’s, or Maeda-en, etc. It’s just their ‘Traditional Tea’ that they make and drink for the enjoyment.
I did find it on a Japanese site (Kaburagien) later, but …. I found it!
Sugimoto America offered it for a short time in late April/early May. You can read more about Temomi cha on their blog (Google Sugimoto blogspot). This is the way Japanese green tea used to be made, and this is the way it is supposed to taste!

For any green tea lover, especially Japanese greens, I definitely recommend watching for it next year. You will probably be able to pre-order in April again from Sugimoto. :-)

The best analogy for this tea that I can give is this:
There are fruits and vegetables that you buy at the grocery store; ok they’re good. Then there are the vegetables that you buy organic or high quality from some place like Whole Foods, pretty good, sometimes you can tell the difference.
Then there are those times when you’re at your grandparent’s house and they bring in from their garden fresh _____ (insert favorite fruit or vegetable here). Or maybe you have your own garden. The difference in the taste between food you eat from a garden, and that which you find mass-produced in the grocery store is really significant.
I remember tasting green beans from my grandfather’s garden and thinking, ‘Wow! So sweet, so delicious! I don’t believe I’ve ever REALLY had green beans before until now.’

That’s exactly what this tea is like. It’s like they brought it from their garden to you. The way all tea was meant to be made. Everything else you can get is the mass-produced stuff in the grocery store for everyday living. Or at best maybe a Farmer’s Market.

I imagine that one day, in Heaven, on the New Earth, I’m going to have the privilege of being able to work in a tea garden and learn from some expert how to roll my own temomi-cha and drink the tea I learned to make. Organic, pure, grown in conditions not possible here. I’m so looking forward to it!

Backlog:

I got some of this year’s harvest of this tea (it’s now sold out.) What an incredible tea it is. Definitely one of the very best green teas I’ve yet to taste.

The dry leaf resembles slender, long, green needles. Beautiful. These have been hand-rolled. Amazing, the craftsmanship that goes into this tea. This tea requires a very low temperature (just 100°F) and I steeped the leaves for 3 minutes. The tea is very pale but very, very flavorful. Sweet and a thick texture.

This tea is really, really awesome!

Rich, buttery, grassy, creamy. I infused the leaves three times and the third infusion was my favorite. After that, I even ate the leaves after dressing them lightly with sesame seed oil and a squeeze of fresh orange.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/05/25/temomi-shin-cha-green-tea-from-sugimoto-america/