Green Kukicha

I’ve been on a really big kukicha kick lately, so when I got some of this from Micah in a tea swap it was one of the ones I decided to try first.

First off, I want to say that I think that kukicha is really pretty. I think it’s something about all those linear strips of varied, yet tonally cohesive greens. It makes me want to pull the colors into a room with some warm medium wood tones and fresh cream fabrics. […Am I bleeding HGTV yet?]

This particular tea, while pretty, unfortunately couldn’t run with the refreshing aesthetic it inspires [at least in my head]. It wasn’t nearly as buttery as the kukicha I’ve been inhaling [Samovar’s] and while it had grassy and nutty tones to it, it was missing a lot of that sun-kissed sweetness that makes grassy teas enjoyable to me.

In a way, the taste almost reminded me of the pith of an orange, but without the citrus taste and residual tartness. It rested somewhere in limbo between bland and bitter, in a way that wasn’t completely off-putting, but also wasn’t enjoyable.

Fortunately, some sweetness eventually began to arrive on the aftertaste and grew in volume on my breath, but it wasn’t enough to make it good. I’m going to take the water temperature down into the 160’s on the next go round, maybe steep it a bit longer, and see if I can get this tea to bloom.

_{Backlogging and based on a few notes and on memory}

Experience buying from Den’s Tea http://steepster.com/places/2923-dens-tea-online-torrance-california

I bought two ounces of this at the end-of-2011/beginning-of-2012 and brewed it up at least once not long after I bought it.

I have very scant notes, but here they are: “Love the leaves/stems (I think because of how green they looked). 1st: 180F Bright lime-green, frothy! Smells vegetal, roasted,& coconut? Taste: OK. Decent. vegetal, somewhat mild.” I remember not being very impressed with the flavor, but I bought this because it is supposed to have lots of theanine, so I think of it as a tea to brew up if I feel I need an extra dose of tea to help with mindful relaxation.

My first Green Kukicha, so no rating.

Very sweet, with quite a nice roasty aroma. Certainly not a roasty aroma like houjicha, but enough to make it smell deliciously sweet.
The dry leaf gives off more aroma (that I can detect at least) than most teas, and the wet aroma follows suit.
There is a hint of grassy, but for the most part it is sweet.

I have very little experience with kukicha; just this and Rishi’s fukamushi kukicha (which is also a different varietal, gokou). This isn’t as good as Rishi’s but I still like it.
It seems like Den’s tea needs to add another kind of green kukicha, perhaps one from a high quality tea like gyokuro or tencha stems.

Thanks to oOTeaOo for the large sample of this! It’s definitely an enjoyable one.

Kukicha is always so pretty. That’s something you can’t really say about most gloppy-when-wet Japanese greens. But from a color variation standpoint, I do love to look at it.

I remember when I used to sip this stuff alongside some grilled brown onigiri. Too bad it takes like two hours to cook brown rice and by then I would need to leave for work.

Still, it’s nice and woody, fragrant and comforting. Not a blow-you-out-of-the-water tea, but a nice way to start the day, not to mention stave off a scratchy throat.

My last of the Den’s tea samples – and I have to say, my least favorite.
It tasted fine, it just wasn’t anything different than other Kukicha teas that I’ve had. I think the Sencha was my favorite, and I will likely be re-ordering that soon!

I’ve always been a fan of kukicha. This is delicious and buttery. The color is a neon yellow – green! The taste is vegetal and green and fresh. Very good but pretty mild compared to other kukichas I’ve tried in the past. Good everyday green!

Months later, am still congratulating myself on my incredible foresight, giving tea pots and tea cups as gifts to my closest friends. heh-heh. pats back To be honest, the tea itself is alright but not spectacular. A good everyday green. But I had the best session of this tea today with a friend, after lunch at his house. Most probably because I didn’t brew it myself. :)

My first try of Kukicha! I got my huge Den’s delivery yesterday and wanted to see what their second best seller was all about. I was amazed at the appearance of the leaf, so many little pieces of stem…looks just like the picture. Hit three teaspons with about 8-10 ounces of 180F water (my Zojirushi has a 175 setting and Den’s calls for 180 normally I just call it even and hit it with 175, but if it is just coming down from its dechlorination boil I can catch it). Smells like a Sencha, but the taste is surprising. Absolutely none of the bitter afterkick you often get with senchas. Nutty (I am guessing from the roasting), vegetable mix, but without the bite you often get with a sencha. Definitely a re-order, in fact I like it better than their best-seller, Fuka-midori, and am sorry I only ordered 2 ounces. Steeped it a second time at boiling like the directions say – this is where I would say the tea has one drawback – it has very little of the original flavor with the second steep. Watery —maybe the twigs are to blame? :)

Currently my favorite tea. Den’s Kukicha is like a sweet, nutty tasting sencha. Relatively easy to brew and affordable.

I got this as a sample last month and just got around to trying it. Yum! I wouldn’t call it earthy, but it was very light with a lemony kind of taste, especially in the second infusion. Reminds me of nice spring days. :)

This is one of my favorite every day green teas. It doesn’t get bitter if you over brew and stands up well for multiple brewing.