1282 Tasting Notes
I’m not enthused about trying this tea. I do not like mixing citrus with green tea. But for the sake of adding to my tasting repertoire… Here we go.
The moment you open the bag, you are hit with citrus notes. It is a bit medicinal but not entirely unpleasant. When the ginko leaves fall off trees, they are quite pungent—almost repulsive—but thankfully, they kept it light in this one. The infusing aroma is lovely. Like citrus on a passionate tropical breeze. There are no steeping instructions on this bag. At one minute the citrus flavor is strongest. As expected. I am curious as to what citrus. Clearly, they used a mix but which ones? Perhaps a smidge of yuzu mixed with a bit of bergamot and key lime rounded off nicely with a whisp of lemon. This would make a nice lemonade. But it is not something I would purchase on the regular.
Michio Nakai comes from humble beginnings and creates amazing tea. Please go read his story. https://www.nakaiorganicteagarden.com/about-us
The dry leaf is incredibly well rolled. After participating in a hand-rolling class in Japan at Obubu Tea I can tell you it is not easy. All the leaves are uniform in color. A beautiful, shiny dark green, tightly rolled. It has the aroma of a gyokuro. A mix of rain, umami, and frozen parmesan cheese. It has an incredibly soft mouth feel. Very filling. The flavor is exactly what one would expect of a tea rolled on a temomi table. Really high in umami with a punch you in the face veggie note.
Dry leaf: medium sized leaf and twigs. Not quite ctc like a tea bag but no full leaf either. A fair amount of Lavender buds sprinkled amongst the tea.
Initial aroma: calming Lavender mixed in the dark woods
The first taste is full of Lavender. And the next and the next. It is too sparkling and fully of Lavender for the base to really have any say. In fact, the base is kind of tasteless. Or at least it was when the liquid was fairly hot. As it cools down the woody flavors start to come out more but the Lavender is still the main character. Almost to the point of being a bully.
We had a rare chance to spend two weeks on the Big Island this year (2024) with both sets of grandparents. We were also able to visit two tea farms. If you ever get to the Big Island be sure to go to the tea farms.
Dry Aroma: A pleasant soft woody note swirled with deep forest berries.
Dry appearance: The bag is lined with golden trichomes. The leaf is twisted tightly. A mix of dark chocolate and light, golden brown.
Initial aroma: Apples. Wood. Cream.
Flavor: Woody with fruity tones. Bits of apple mixed with bits of Nordic berries. The longer it steeps the more it reminds me of a Ceylon with a bit of an astringent punch. Though it is good sipped English style in a mug, I find that it truly shines when it is steeped gong fu style.
Liquor Color: Translucent golden amber.
Wet Leaf Aroma: Bready aroma, and caramel bits with planks of fresh cut cedar.
The mouth feel of this tea is incredible. Firstly, it is silky. Think the finest silk comforter you have ever touched. Second, the way it blankets the tongue. It is very filling.
Smoked and slightly charred sweet potato. Or maybe acorn squash would be closer to what I am tasting. While it has the main attributes of a hojicha, roasty and toasty, it also has a bit of leather, a tad of mahogany, and a bit of roasted nuts.
The dry aroma is a wonderful and fascinating mix of green and roasty 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.
