A review of Kukicha (Twig) Tea by Haiku
To prepare hot, add 1 teabag per cup or 4 teabags per 4 cups (a teapot) to cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for 3-5 minutes. Remove the teabags and serve.
As this is Iced tea month, I am brewing myself jugs of tea to consume throughout the day. I never realized how making a jug of tea is so much time consuming than getting up each time to fix a cup of tea.
I love the aroma of this tea when brewing several tea bags in one big pot. I use five tea bags and very fresh coldly drawn water and let this boil for a good five minutes and after having come to a rolling boil.
I let it cool for at least ½ hour and pour content unto a jug. Well in this case it is a small pot. For my cup I add some crush iced to the bottom of the glass and pour the tea.
I love the dark amber color of the tea. It is so very black and rich of smoke (twigs burning).
I sip this tea and think immediately of the outdoors and camping since this sometimes entails a fire burning made of wood and twigs.
This tea is so rich in flavor and the caffeine is next to none because it is made mainly of twigs and so this tea can be enjoyed through the day.
I am heady and happily enjoying my roasted cup of twig tea and more of it to follow (a potful)of it.
A review of Kukicha (Twig Tea) by Haiku
I like the roast smelling of twigs making me think of being outdoors by the burning of woods. I decided to brew this tea using two tea bags placed in cup and adding boiling water for a few minutes. I was not disappointed. Tea color was very dark amber and the smell of the twigs was very prevalent.
I enjoyed sipping this tea through out the day since having made a whole pot of it. I know that each varietals was to have been roasted separately in order to bring out its rich flavor and this I am noting in the taste. It is of a smoky aroma and I think smokers would like this tea since it does make on think of smoking and of burning of woods.
The caffeine level is more concentrated in the leaves and twig tea is to be very mild, yet having drunk this tea throughout the day, I did find myself feeling restless at times and not quite able to relax as I normally would. Perhaps it is not the tea, just my fragile state of being lately.
Overall, tea has fullness with a very smoky aroma; a fragrance that is very inviting to those liking the smelling of smoke, smokers or specifically those who have given up smoking may enjoy this inhaling this tea for its aroma. I like that this tea makes me think of burning wood, a roasting fire even and something that men has been enjoying for centuries.
A review: Kukicha (Twig Tea) by Haiku
Tea farmers turn to the harvest of tea twigs for kukicha, the “peasant drink”, so-called because farmers drank it after selling the leaves to sophisticated urbanites as a cash crop.
Kukicha is described as twig tea, which is a Japanese blend of green tea. Tea farmers carefully select 40% of medium twigs aged 3 years, 40% thick twigs aged 10 years, and 20% thin twigs and leaves aged 1 year; they then roast each variety separately to bring out its rich flavor. Over all tea has a nutty, slightly creamy flavor.
The water is bought to full boil and adding some to a cup with two tea bags, I allow for it to simmer for five minutes. I like tea’s aroma straight away: smelling of burnt wood from a roasting fire. It is a very nice smoky smell; those liking tobacco would favor this type of aroma.
Tea’s color is a dark red, or a very dark amber because it is more brown than red. As I sip this tea I am reminded of the other time I have tried twig tea, it was last year and I did like then as well. It was loose-leaf tea; and this Haiku Kukicha (Twig Tea) is tea bag. Tea is mildly astringent and has a nutty grainy texture to it as it reached the back of the throat.
Signature attributes of this tea are that it is nutty, with a slight creamy flavor. And I think I can understand, appreciate why it is described as “peasant drink”, not affording tea leaves and wanting something hot similarly to tea; this twig tea could suffice.
I remember using such words to describe the kukicha I had last year: ‘a large oven baked cookie slightly on the burnt side; and with longer steep and two tea bags as opposed to one makes for a nuttier taste, bringing about the smokiness in the aroma and adding sugar brings about the burnt sweetness of the cookie; were it to be that.
I am saying it is good tea to be played with and to enjoy discovering its many folds.
