1029 Tasting Notes
This tea has a great balanced flavour, which develops nicely over different steeps. A nice little surprise are the hidden woody flavours which are rarely found in green teas. I suppose these might originate from the use of harder twigs as well as stems.
1st steep, 68°C, 60 sec: Umami and sweet notes dominate.
2nd steep, 72°C, 30 sec: Umami and sweetness still present, but the soup is more clouded and viscous with vegetal notes coming to the fore. Very nice mouthfeel.
3rd steep, 78 °C, 60 sec: Astringent and citrus notes appear, but do not dominate.
4th steep, 85 °C, 120 sec: The taste profile is the flattest with surprisingly mild astringency. Citrus notes seem to be the most present, especially in the aftertaste.
Overall, I am impressed.
(Out of curiosity, I also went for 5th steep, 90 °C, 240 sec. As expected, the tea doesn’t have much to offer there. This last brew is somewhat bitter and grassy, but not particularly enjoyable.)
Flavors: Citrus, Grass, Umami, Vegetal, Wood
Preparation
Level: Delicous.
To my surprise, this tea was not a blend of senchas, but rather a blend of karigane, sencha and bancha. Overall, it’s not bad, but not quite what I expected. The flavour profile is flatter and less complex than that of higher grade senchas, but with the vegetal notes still on the forefront.
Flavors: Butter, Vegetal
Preparation
Very light tea with virtually no astringency and a vibrant balance of the nutty flavours of toasted rice, the sweetness of kukicha and vegetal notes of bancha.
Harvest: Spring 2016
Cultivar: Blended
Region: Uji, Kyoto
Flavors: Grass, Nutty, Sweet, Toasted Rice
Preparation
Very forgiving tea with respect to brewing time. The jasmine scent is subtle, but complements the mild flavours of the tea well. In later steeps, when the jasmine scent is mostly gone, the tea develops a noticeable apricot aroma and flavour, which is slightly sour.
Flavors: Apricot, Jasmine
A decent jasmine tea. It has a nice smell, which can be a bit overbearing though. Generally I found it a bit hard to find the right brewing method for this tea. It often turned out either too mellow or too bitter.
Preparation
Very light oolong, but I don’t particularly enjoy its taste, which is somewhat sour and flat. Later infusions are more mineral. It has a nice fruity smell, mostly apricots.
Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Astringent, Butter, Grass, Wet Rocks
Preparation
Spring 2017 harvest.
The only Gyokuro I have tasted so far, so I can’t say how it compares with others, but I love it. It has all the characteristics one would expect from a Gyokuro – strong umami, very vegetal, mid to high astringency and sweet aftertaste.
For brewing, I would usually use this method with shorter first brew of about 8 to 10 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_QY9Ben4Hg
Flavors: Almond, Astringent, Grass, Nuts, Sweet, Umami, Vegetal
