Yuuki-cha

This may be my absolute favorite black tea.

It reminds me of a Darjeeling, but deeper in flavor. It is rich, has heaps of chaqi, flavors of plum and hints of astringency. There is a subtle deep floral element that is intoxicating.

I found best results using 4g of tea for 150mL water at 160F for first two steeps, then 165 for the last two, with steep times of 1m, 30s, 45s, 90s. First two steeps were the best, with a noticeable drop off for the third. Flavors are mostly of the sweet vegetal variety, like peas, with some toasted grass notes as well. Every once in a while I taste something that might be described as fruity, but not consistently. Final steeps are a little more just wet-grassy.

Sip down and officially one of my favorite green teas. This is the best balance of seaweed greens with fruity pear and apple tones. I’m going into a phase where I have to budget tea spending soon. This might show up on the list for daily drinker-but my real aim is the best milk oolong I can keep. After I get my last two expensive orders. Soon…

Given that your review is on here, and the description from the website fits what I taste, thank you Lucky me for this tea.

I was actually surprised how similar this tea was to the Eco-Cha oolongs. It was definitely vegetal and near a snap pea in its fresh greenness, but unlike most green tea, it had a really strong fruity taste that I’d call apple like. Very crisp, very fresh, very yielding in steeps, and very good. I could also see myself getting this for a daily green drinker. My mom actually loved it too because it was floral enough to remind her of jasmine. That could be her approximating the taste, but there was at least a floral stem or floral grassy quality.

If I didn’t have so much tea already, I’d get some of this tea to have on my own. I’ve gotten to the point where I know what I’ll stick with: green oolongs, yunnan blacks, creamy whites, good Earl Greys, and fruity green teas.

I really needed this tea today. Thankfully, I received this in a recent swap with CWarren…

With that said, I’ve always liked Genmaicha. There’s that rice crackers wrapped in seaweed flavor—which was a treat often shared by my Japanese friend who’d bring them over to the States when she visited—therefore, drinking this is nostalgic (https://www.snackinn.com/jfc-nori-maki-arare-rice-crackers-seaweed?gclid=CjwKEAjwgbG5BRDp3oW3qdPiuCwSJAAQmoSD4Zq_Zdr9PyeSqnjngkzJpVQ8N4bPcCF66E7eadd49BoCA5_w_wcB). I enjoy the heaviness of the rice in this, where the sweet rice/nutty flavors jump out; however, the base really is alive in this blend, too. I guess this is the type of tea where I’d opt for this versus eating heavy salted foods.

When I worked at Teavana a while ago, I’d grab Genmaicha before I’d head into the food court. Unfortunately, after drinking Genmaicha, that I felt was “okay,” I grew tired of drinking it. Now this, I could drink often. Perhaps it’s the Matcha that gives it the robust greenness to the tea, or perhaps it’s the large quantity of rice added; whatever it may be, I like it. I could make this a daily drinker, and will consider buying more in the future.

PS. I had a total of 5 steeps with this. I felt that it could’ve gone 6-ish, but I don’t like pushing green tea any further than that. That’s when I have a tendency in burning the leaf.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFEtELmg-08/?taken-by=s.g_sanders1&hl=en

I’m still playing around with steeping times and dry leaf amount for hojichas. This one I made ‘western’ style.

This one is quite stemmy: looks to be about 60-40 stem to leaf ratio.
pleasant roasted aromas of seaweed, nuts and grains. the seaweed and grainy aspect standing out more than the nuttiness.

very smooth medium bodied and more roasted grain when tasting

Spring 2020 harvest.

This kamairicha was the last of my spring 2020 shinchas. So I’ve had this one before and I really liked it then. But this time I didn’t find it nearly as enjoyable as last time. Incidentally, this was also the case for many of the Japanese greens I bought last year. Past favorites turned out to be rather “meh.” More reasons why 2020 was such a lousy year.

Anyway, this picking was nuttier and a little less fruity. Heavy body with an oat-like starchiness. Notes of soymilk, aloe, celery, and corn silk. There’s a slight chalkiness that’s left behind in the aftertaste and overall, the flavors feel a bit muddled.

I blew through my green tea stash faster than expected this winter and picked up this tea to hold me over until the spring greens arrived. I’ve never had a pan-fired Japanese green before and was intrigued when I heard about this rare tea.

The dark curled leaf resemble a bi luo chun more than sencha, understandable as this is processed similar to Chinese tea. Wet leaf though is broken and a deep verdant green, like a typical Japanese green. The first steep is mostly nutty, like toasted grains. There’s a bit of grassiness to it as well. Second steep brings out more of the grassiness and a vegetal body as the nuttiness softens. The liquor is bright green like sencha. I would characterize the flavor as a hybrid of steamed and pan fired tea. Third steep is smooth and vegetal. Unlike steamed tea, this has no astringency even at higher temps and longer steeps. It works well grandpa steeped too.

Cold steeped though is where this tea really impresses me. It brings out the best balance of flavors – sweet vegetal with a hint of floral and umami. While I still prefer a good sencha to this, I appreciate its fresh clean flavor. At $12 and some change for 100g, it’s a pretty exceptional value and a great daily drinker.

If I had to describe this tea in one word, it would be broccoli. That’s literally what it tastes and smells like. It’s very strange, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever encountered a tea with such a strong vegetal flavor before. I’ve experimented with temperature and strength, but no matter what it always ends up tasting like a cup of boiled broccoli. What makes it all the more unusual is this is Yuuki-Cha’s highest grade of matcha yet tastes very different than their other less expensive matchas which are actually pretty good.

Despite the flavor, all is not lost because this still works in matcha lattes. It has a vibrant green color and whisks up thick and frothy. There’s none of the bitterness that you find in low quality matcha either. It’s just not something I can drink straight.

I am really enjoying this green tea this morning. It’s not like a Sencha but does have some notes the deep greens sencha’s have. It reminds me a bit of my Rizhao green (when it was fresh- my Rizhao is getting old now). It even looks like Rizhao green with the dry tea. It’s a dark green curly leaf. There’s a sweet nutty and green pea flavour that Chinese greens have along with the grassy, green flavour from the Japanese teas. Also picking up a bit of fruitiness. Just like so many Japanese teas, it is so fresh. Just love how fresh it tastes.

The price is excellent on this tea too. I only paid $12.32 US for 100g. That’s amazing. I got a Japanese tea tin too and it’s so beautiful. Only paid $4.40 US for that. Overall, with the shipping which was reasonable too I only paid $22.00. I placed my order at the end of February and it arrived from Japan yesterday. How good is that? I am very impressed. I know the exchange rate to Cdn is crappy right now but overall very happy with my first order from this company. I will definitely order again in the future.
Here’s my picture of the tin and tea:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCq8gpJtDBH/?taken-by=ubacat

I was telling Hubby how proud I am of myself for only ordering one tea. He just rolled his eyes but I know everyone on Steepster understands. How often have I gone to place an order for one or two teas and it blooms into 10 or more? Too often! Yes, I know my cupboard is full but this one tea is a real treat.

Thanks for this one, LuckyMe! I’m drinking this at 8 PM and hoping I won’t regret it—I usually don’t drink 1st steeps this late. LuckyMe’s review on this was spot on. It’s like a roasty (slightly burnt) buttery popcorn. It makes me want to hit up a movie.

I should note that this is my first genmaicha and was excited to try it. It exceded my expectations. Great tea!

I’ve never been a fan of genmaicha but then this tea came along and changed everything. This is a warm and toasty tea with a smooth buttery body that reminds me of popcorn. The liqueur is a beautiful emerald green thanks to the matcha. It’s not burnt or bitter tasting, a problem I’ve had with genmaicha in the past. Changing the way I steep is part of the reason why I’ve come to enjoy it more now.

Most directions tell you to brew genmaicha at hotter temperature than usual for green tea, around 185 F. Personally, I find genmaicha bitter if steeped higher than 175. The best results with this tea came when I steeped it unlidded at 170 for 1 minute. This results in a pleasant nuttiness without the harsh roasted taste and no astringency. I feel the matcha helps take the edge off the roast and gives it a fuller body.

This is a comforting tea to drink for those cold winter days and makes a fabulous iced tea in the summer.

I thought I would carry on my habit lately of drinking some greens – so i’m trying this gift from Haveteawilltravel in the oolong group buy. Thanks!

OK. Lots of broken twigs! grandpa-style minefield – unless you like twigs going up your nose :D I followed others recommendations of just under 80c. I did also hear you can hit it with boiling and get a really wonderful chocolate hit but as this was a sampler I didnt want to mess it up.

Taste-wise, its nice savoury – nuts, chocolate with just a hint of fruity aroma. At one point it reminded me of food, and I couldn’t work out what it was. Then I realised toasted rice, and so probably something related from the leaf or toasting method in Genmaicha had made me think of toasted rice in this.

Before this sencha & genmaicha were my only japanese teas ive tried. I enjoyed this, albeit being maybe a tad not to my tastes. Its certainly piqued my interest to try some more japanese greens at some point.

And thanks to LiquidProust for doing his organising of these group buys.

It’s nice to be back on Steepster again after a short layoff. Admittedly I’d gotten a little bored of this site and frustrated by all the spam and 503 errors. But news of the site’s sale has sparked my enthusiasm for Steepster once again. I know there are many questions surrounding Adagio’s takeover, but I, for one, welcome this small glimmer of hope after being stuck in a death spiral for so long.

Anyways, even though I’ve been away I’ve still been drinking tea and taking notes which I’ll be posting in the days to come. This was a tea I had raved about when I reviewed it on Steepster a few years ago. I remember it being incredibly fruity and sweet. This time though it wasn’t as impressive. It has the scent of fresh steamed spinach and a pleasant oceanic, grassy flavor that becomes murky and more savory on resteep. Enjoyable but lacks fullness and goes flat by the 3rd steep.

Instagram shot: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBiyIyygsPM/

Revisiting this tea after first trying it during my pre-gong fu “dark ages.” It definitely tastes different this time around. Part of it may be due to the variance in last year’s harvest, but ever since I adopted the gong fu approach – high leaf to water ratio and short steeps – my tea brewing has improved across the board. Japanese greens are no exception. I used to brew them the generic western style: a teaspoon per 8 oz of water for 1 minute or longer. But cutting steep times and doubling the leaf quantity really brings out their character.

This tea is very fragrant out of the bag. Wonderful sweet grass and fruity flavor. I begin by steeping 2g in a 150ml pot for 30s for the first infusion. This infusion packs a nice fruity punch. Reminds me of kamairicha but with warm grass in the background and umami. Texture in the mouth is like silk. The second infusion is a flash steep with water a tad cooler which produces a bright green liquor and deeper vegetal flavor as the fruitiness shifts to the background. Next 2 steeps are 40s and 55s at higher temperatures that give more of a standard sencha flavor with a good sweet/savory balance.

Teas like this are why Yuuki-Cha remains my favorite Japanese tea vendor. I really enjoyed the unique fruity-umami profile of this tea. It was a nice change of pace from the string of deep steamed senchas I’ve been drinking. Portioning out the 100g bag into foil zip pouches and refrigeration helped it retain a lot of freshness since I bought it over 4 months ago.

UPDATE – tried this today with almost double the quantity of leaf I normally use and lower water temperature. Got 4 great infusions out of it with no astringency. The first infusion straight up tasted like gyokuro, full of rich umami flavor. I steeped it at 155 F for 45s. The second steeping was a quick one, 30s at about 165 F. Much fuller, matcha like strong vegetal flavor. There is the slightest hint of bitterness as it goes down, but not unpleasantly so. The third steeping, 45s @ same temperature, was like regular sencha. Grassy and sweet. The tea went flat on the 4th steeping. It had a light, brothy character. Still good, but not as memorable as the earlier infusions.

Upping my rating as this tea continues to impress me and is a regular in my green tea rotation.

This year I’ve really expanded my tea horizons and dove head first into the world of oolongs and fine Chinese greens. It’s been an exciting journey but sadly in the process I’ve neglected my first tea love, Japanese green tea.

Seeking to rectify the situation, I recently ordered a few samples from Yunomi. The teas I got were decent but nothing to write home about. So I went back to Yuuki-cha, one of my favorite pre-Steepster tea companies. Unfortunately most of the teas I was interested in were sold out so I rolled the dice on this mid-range sencha.

I’m glad I took a chance on this one because this is one delicious tea. It brews up emerald green with a crisp and vibrant green flavor. The wet leaf aroma is reminiscent of fresh cut, damp grass. Unlike the Yunomi teas which tended towards a savory umami flavor, this one has a bright, grassy sweetness to it that coats the mouth a little.

Overall a quality tea experience that’s revived my interest in Japanese green teas!

Rich, savory, sweet, and comforting. This tea has wonderful body and sweet aftertaste. I’ve put the cup down for 5 minutes yet I can still feel the complex flavors and velvety texture cover my tongue. I’m picking up notes of roasted brussel sprouts, sugar cane, nori, tannin, minerals, edamame, and a hint of menthol that creates a cooling effect.

The dried leaves have a rich sweet fragrance that is only amplified when wet. The leaves are nicely shaped (not overly processed) and have a deep green color. The tea soup is an opaque, vibrant light green. Its rich, velvety mouth-feel is almost luxurious. It’s also quite infuse-able, putting forth delicious flavors until the 5th steep, which is still tasty and refreshing.

Tip: Try Akira Hojo’s green tea brewing method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adxPErjUHvA. I know it might seem somewhat cumbersome, but just try it as an experiment. You’ll get way more out of your green teas with this method. For this tea, however, since it’s organic, I’ve combined the initial rinse with my first steep and it was delicious.

Thank you Liquid Proust for this sample!

COLD BREW
Absolutely delicious. I had just enough tea to cold brew this and I’m glad I did. Its smooth and has a light malt flavor. Refreshing on a hot day, but the aftertaste is very satisfying, reminiscent of drinking hot tea.

Oolongs being my favorite tea, I was very curious when I found out there are a few Japanese oolong teas :)
I actually bought the last of Yuuki Cha’s supply of this tea for my group order and it was the only one they even had left.

This is a treat though. I can’t even compare it to other oolongs, it just is its own thing. The aroma was not that strong but the taste was pure. Nice difference in taste between different brews :)

Ahhh this was amazing. I grabbed this because it was closest, and I wanted to try Japanese oolong. I had the perfect amount for a gong fu session. The dry leaf consists of small black, green, and slightly yellow curls. This resembles a baozhong but slightly darker. I placed these twirls inside my new warmed kyusu and gave em a shake. I’m going to be honest, the aroma wasn’t the most appeasing. It smelled like roasted wet tobacco. I washed the leaves once hoping to get a better scent, and it moved into wet charcoal. This is a delicate roasted oolong. I brewed it hot first and the brew was rough and bitter. I cooled my water just a bit (200F), and the real flavor rose up. This was an amazing and complex brew. It carried the taste of roast and char, yet it also had sweet and creamy tones of jade rolled oolongs. It was incredibly interesting to be bombarded with dark mineral roasty tones and then softened with a silky vegetal mouthfeel. I was able to pull about seven steeping out my kyusu. The brew grew more and more sweeter after each brew. The final steeping was thin and soft with nectar tones. This gave a strange almost novocain tongue feeling during the first three steepings which was a fascinating experience. I really enjoyed this tea, and I am so grateful to be able to try it!

https://instagram.com/p/26_gZpTGXH/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Ah, well this was an excellent choice by KittyLovesTea – she sent me a generous little bag of this tea in our recent swap! Opening the bag, I was greeted with that wonderfully familiar floral, sweet scent of Jade Oolongs and knew I was gonna love this!

I brewed it up in the same way I always do for green oolongs – around 3-4 g in my 100 ml gaiwan.

The first infusion was wonderful – so fragrant and perfumed! Lovely floral, fruity, sweet flavours, mingling with a gently vegetal background flavour! Successive infusions saw the floral notes become more dominant, alongside an increasing smoothness and butteriness! It lasted really well through 7 or 8 steepings – not the most I’ve ever gotten out of an oolong, but definitely nothing to turn your nose up at – this really was excellent tea! :D

This is a fabulous green oolong, easily on a par with most of the Chinese ones I’ve tried. I’ve got enough to do another session with it, which I’m eagerly looking forward to! :D

NOM! I left to be my last tea I would drink in my package YuukiCha. This is a perfect Asatsuyu Sencha. It’s thick bodied, savory, buttery, lush. Not much astringency. I’ve only drank it hot, but would excellent iced. I’ll probably cold brew my 3rd infusion to get every bit from this tea.

Another sipdown from Dag.

This oolong is of the greener variety, reminiscent of a spring TGY.
The floral initially brought to mind Irises. There’s also an underlying mix of sweetness, & a hint of longbean.