Tamayokucha (Extremely Green Tea)

A typical green tea. Got it at a restaurant and was happy enough that they gave me “real” tea. It’s pretty standard – not really bitter or astringent.

A little disclosure: I have only ever tried this tea when served to me in restaurants. So, I have no idea what temperature the water was, how long the water sat out before they brought it to my table, whether or not the tea bag was stale…basically, there are a lot of variables going on.
Every time I have tried this tea, it was weak and bland. I have steeped it for 2 minutes, I have let it steep for the entire time we were eating, and nothing improved the watery taste. The liquor stayed a gutless pale yellow and the taste, as I said, was flat.
Again, I have no idea if this is an issue with the tea itself or with water temperature or brewing time, but I have been underwhelmed every time.

Another packaged tea that I like more than I expected. Good balance between the vegetal and nutty tones. I prefer loose teas, but would recommend this to someone who prefers to stick with bagged tea.

Got this organic Tamayokucha in a 100 gram loose leaf container labeled “Organic Sencha Green Tea.” I dropped Two Leaves and a Bud an email and they quickly verified it was the same thing.

The first steeping does have a unique bite to it, but the second and third are smoother. I liked it.

This was my first go-round with Two Leaves and a Bud, and I have to say I was slightly disappointed. All the reviews below are correct, and it has a fine flavor, but with a name like “Extremely Green Tea”, I was expecting Green Tea flavor that knocked me upside the head.

Very light in nature, delicate flavors. Nearly no aroma. Grassy. Subtly sweet. I really enjoyed it. For a ‘bagged’ tea I was thoroughly pleased with the appearance of the post-infusion leaves — you just never see that in a tea bag. Amazing colour to the liquor too — bright yellow, almost like a white tea. Gave this a 3/5 for value and flavor (however light) in my teal cupping journal.

I’ve been wanting to do a steep-off of this Organic Tamayokucha from Two Leaves with the Imperial Tamaryokucha from Les Palais des Thés, but my remaining sachet of the Two Leaves was MIA. Happily, I just found it. However, I just noticed that the names of these two teas are actually different “Tamayokucha” versus “Tamaryokucha”. Could be a type-o, I suppose. Or are these really and different teas? The way to find out for sure will be to do a steep-off chez sherapop!

Both the diaphanous sachet from Tea Leaves and the cotton muslin sachet from Le Palais des Thés brew up golden with a green tint. Le Palais des Thés brews up slightly lighter and slightly more green. I noticed that these cotton muslin sachets contain quite a bit less tea than the see-through sachets of most every other company. The size appears to be determined by the same template as the one used by Kusmi—smaller and more rectangular in shape, rather than a pyramid or tetrahedron.

The tea in this sachet reminds me of Mighty Leaf Organic Green Dragon—more of a robust China blend than a single-origin Japanese tea… It’s good, but I would never have guessed that it came from Japan.

Originally published at The Nice Drinks In Life: http://thenicedrinksinlife.blogspot.com/2013/01/organic-tamayokucha.html

Origin: China
Type: Tamayokucha
Purveyor: Two Leaves and a Bud
Preparation: One bag steeped in about eight ounces of boiling water for 3:00 (as recommended), sipped plain

Here is an interesting specimen: Chinese-grown leaves prepared in a traditional Japanese style. Tamayokucha (also known as tamaryokucha, which altered syllable one would think would alter the entire word) can be processed either via pan-firing or via steaming, and Two Leaves and a Bud made a good choice in the latter. Pan-firing brings out a more vegetal essence in the tea, and while this example certainly has some of those characteristics, it also, because of the steaming, was able to keep plenty of space for sweetness, tannins, and just plain roominess.

The color of the brewed tea is light yellow, rich, translucent, and full of character, not unlike a pigment that might be used in a stained glass window. The aroma is sweet – not honey-like, nor sugary, nor fruity, but sweet. There is also an undertone to the aroma, more of a texture than a scent, really, which gives it a sort of earthy feel, in the same way that one can feel the air in a woodland before and after a rain differently than one can feel it in other settings. (This is surely magnified many times over in pan-fired varieties.) Perhaps the best approximation – and it is only that – of this unique combination of sweetness and texture in the aroma is a steaming-hot mug of green tea ice cream.

This tamayokucha tastes delicate, light, flavorful, pure, with a touch of briskness (surprisingly), and nice tannins (which are at optimal levels). Sweetness is there but not overpowering. The fine-tuned combination of all of those factors yields a delicious brew that really tastes like green tea ought to taste; truly an excellent example of the category.

As per its dynamic character, this tea can serve equally well as a morning get-me-going potion, an object around which to unwind in the afternoon, or (for those unaffected by caffeine) something to make one cozy of an evening. Enjoy.

This is one of my favorite green teas. Not as astringent as most others, nice and clean taste. Very calming.

A good tea if steeped a little short. But it gets a little “phlegmy” at the end. (too gross?)