Kukicha

This was my 1st order from Rishi and only my 2nd tea that I know of that was Rishi. I’ve had their matcha prepared at a cafe once. But I could have well tried a sample of something at my local tea shop (they have 7 per day) that was indeed Rishi.

While I absolutely loved Rishi’s daily sales they had last month, I wasn’t going to cave because I have neither the money or the storage space. Til I saw this one. The tea itself didn’t really grab me, it’s the recipe for sole they have on the info page that suckered me in. I’m also also determined to learn to be able to define exactly what umami is, specifically in teas so I want to try every umami tea I can get my hands on. When it comes to trying a recipe for the 1st time I’m very anal about making it verbatum, yes even down to the brand of tea.

As I said before, I have very little experience w/ Rishi’s products and even less experience w/ dealing w/ their company directly but my 1st experience wasn’t a very positive one. I learned a very important lesson: when trying a new company, especially if your purchase will be a small one, investigate shipping. My purchase consisted of just this 50g (1oz is ~28g) pouch of tea which I got for only $3.75 (regularly priced $10) which costed $8 to ship an entire 90 miles. What’s worse, it was supposed to take 4 days to get here (quite long in my book), but ended up taking 9! I can order something from Adagio all the way in NJ, only pay $3.75 for shipping, and get it in a week.

Not only was this my 1st experience ordering from Rishi, it was also my first Kukicha. I opened the pouch and was quite surprised to see 2 different kinds of leaves- tiny, dark green grass clipping like leaves and longer, yellowish green blades. And the smell… Now I’m normally very good about not letting the smell of the raw leaves affect my perspective (I am a huge fan of Adagio’s white cucumber after all lol), but this is… how do I even discribe this? Putrid. That’s it. It smells like wet, moldy hay. Yuck. Oh well. I’ll give it a shot.

The steeping instructions suggest 1TB in 8oz of water heated to 185 degrees for 3-4min. Except for the amount of leaf (which seems like a lot), this seems awfully suspicious of the general steeping times for all greens, including Japanese, that most companies suggest so I went to Den’s Tea’s website to see what they suggest because I know their steeping parameters are unique to each type of tea. Yep. I was right. Den’s suggests 1tsp of leaf steeped in 6oz of water heated to 180 degrees for only 45 sec. Well, I’ll try Rishi’s steeping parameters 1st then try Den’s and compare them.

The discription of this says the liquor is emerald, but that isn’t true. It’s more “the person that used the bathroom before me didn’t flush and I can tell they have a urinary tract infection.” Thank God the aroma is virtually nothing like the raw leaves. There is an extremely faint hay like taste but that is easily covered by the bitter sweet (but definitely more sweet) flavor that they said I should expect. I’m also not getting the creamy mouth feel they discribe.

Conclusions: Surprisingly good tea even using their steeping parameters, but I wish they’d have more unique steeping parameters. I can’t wait to make the sole recipe. I’ll try different brands to compare both flavor and price, but if I decide that this is indeed the Kukicha for me, I’ll be buying it my local tea shop for $5.75/oz (and for every $100 spent I get $5 off). I also have 2 pu erh recommendations that are Rishi. I’m absolutely terrified of pu erh and I don’t want to waste money on something I don’t like so I’ll be buying those locally as well. My tea shop has an awesome return policy. The shipping is just absolutely not worth it, even if the products are.

I’ve been using such short steep times for Japanese greens lately that Rishi’s recommended three to four minutes steep time seems absurdly long. But for my first try of this one, I’ll go by their rules… And based on how this turned out, I’ll only be going by their rules this once. Next time I’ll shorten the steep time because this is bordering on bitter for me.

The flavors – vegetal, thick, pungent with hints of freshness – have a lot of promise, reminding me a lot of O-cha’s Yutaka Midori shincha. Now, I know that YM and kukicha are two different types of tea, but the flavor profiles are very similar. This one, though, doesn’t have the same… well, perfection is the only word I can think of. The flavors are a little muddy and don’t really stand out. Yutaka Midori is crisp and citrusy. This has a fresh hint of citrus but it’s only a hint and a lot of that freshness is covered by too much tartness.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve been spoiled by Yutaka Midori. But it’s good to be reminded how truly awesome that tea is and why I love it so. On the other hand, this tea will probably taste pretty darn good mid-winter when I have no more green tea and am trying to hold out until shincha comes around again.
^6.1g/12oz

I think this may be my favourite Japanese green that I own… :)

Bought some at the bulk section of Central Market. I was intrigued by the beautiful parakeet yellow-green stems and the description of a creamy, low astringency, umami brew. It smells like… God, does anyone remember the crackers ’Munch’Ems’? They were delicious, thin, salty, buttery, savory crackers I loved as a kid. The leaves smell like Munch’Ems mixed with onigiri wrapped in a big sheet of nori. The tea itself is light, creamy, and no astringency to speak of. Not something I am in the mood for every day, but when I want it, it hits just the right spot. P.S. Rishi’s instructions are 1 tbsp for 3-4 minutes, but I used only a teaspoon for 1.5 minutes the first brew, and 2.5 minutes the second time.

I’m back been busy but I’m back
BACKLOG: I saw this at whole foods and loved the color bought a bag.
Very creamy and grassy with some sea-spray essence to it :)

Tried the 2010 Shincha version of this. Quite enjoyable, displays a rounded flavour profile with some nutty elements. Fairly simple but nicely refreshing.

Price: $9USD for 50grams
Buy again: Maybe

This is the first Japanese green tea that I have had. I had no expectations going into the sitting besides to have a different experience.

I rather enjoyed this tea. The taste of this green tea is much different than greener oolongs. The tea was savory with flavors of bean and grass, very mouth-watering. The texture was also very smooth and creamy. Very mellow and approachable. I infused it in a porcelain gaiwan, using enough tea to cover the bottom and then some. It lasted maybe 3-4 infusions before drifting into a light and sweet grassy water.

I’m not sure where Rishi Tea site within the pantheon of Japanese green tea providers, but their kukicha provides quite an enjoyable afternoon drink, if a little short.

I like this one quite a bit. Been steeping it every evening for the past week. Finishes my day off nicely. A very pleasant tea.

I needed the savory today! Satisfied. Now onto something a little more vegetal.

Rishi Tea bills this kukicha as having a creamy mouthfeel, and indeed it does. Unfortunately that is not quite what I am looking for in a green tea. The woody-ness added in this tea from the twigs makes this tea a hearty brew. 1 tablespoon per 8oz of water at 185 F for 3.5 minutes, per Rishi Tea’s directions.