Tama Ryokucha

Special thanks to Amy for this delicious tea.

My first opinion smelling the leaves was spinach, creamy (buttery?), and very sweet smelling. The aroma made my mouth water…….seriously. I guess if I’d call a green tea buttery, this would be it. I warmed my tea press so the warm water clinging to the glass intensified the aroma. The steeping info below is what I prefer when brewing most Japanese greens, but the water got too hot (about 185-190 D). So my first cup was spinacy, but way too astringent at 1.5 minutes…….my bad. ://. Wet leaf aroma was so vegetal and sweet and creamy. Second cup per info was much better. Steeped around 165 for one minute, the sweet, creamy, spinach brew was delicious—the best cup. :)) My last cup was more grassy in nature, with less of the aromas, sweetness and spinach, but still very good. (180 D @ 3 min.)

I continued on another night more closely following the steeping info, and the results were much better. Same wonderful sweet…O.K. buttery….spinach brew, with all the aromas. My first cup was very good. Like Amy, I did notice the brothy nature of this tea. I love it when I get this quality with Japanese greens. It totally adds another dimension to the tea. The brothy nature continued into the second cup (165 at 1 min.). This was my favorite cup once again (& usually is), from the wet leaf aroma to the flavors in the cup. The sweet, cre….er, buttery qualitites were awesome! The spinach notes were peaking, and the brothy nature of the cup popped in my mouth! POP POP!! My palate was happy! :)) The last cup was less vegetal and sweet with more of a grassy nature on my tongue. Still a very good cup (195 for 3 min).

I finished the sample on a third night using more leaf than the previous nights, so I was able to get a forth cup! First two cups were steeped at 160-165 for 1 min. Without being too redundant, the aromas and flavors were very consistent with my second nights brews. Spinachy, buttery, sweet, brothy, and my favorite of the four cups! The short steeps allowed for enough of Sencha’s astringency, but not too much….very well balanced. The third cup (185 at 1.5 min), was less sweet and vegetal with that grassy tone I get coming into the picture. Even my fourth cup was good. More grassy and astringent (212 at 3.5 min), it was still pretty good. I drank it with a meal so the astringency wasn’t too much for me at all!

My three favorite things about this tea was the creamy, brothy, astringency in the cup and on my palate. The creamy, butteriness surprised me the most, and the brothy nature is a bonus prize for me! I must admit I do like managed astringency in this tea, and in Senha teas.

Oh! There is one more favorite thing about this tea. It was a free sample from generous, kind Amy. Thanks agaain Amy! :))

Cupped: Thursday, Monday, & Tuesday, February 16, 20, & 28, 2012.

Reviewed: Saturday, March 3, 2012.

This came as part of a Teavana Japanese tea gift set I got for Christmas. Naturally since I love Japanese green tea I was very excited to get this!

As part of the description of this tea I read: it is steamed and molded into comma shaped leaves. When it is brewed, Tama Ryokucha has a mild taste with tones of citrus and berries.

I brewed about 1 tsp or so of leaf in the gaiwan with water I believed to be around 170 or so. I am got a very thick brothy tea which tastes very strongly of spinach, kelp and almonds. Slightly buttery. I did steep my leaves 3 times. The last steep was very short, around 30 seconds or so. I am not picking up on the fruit flavors but the tea is a tiny bit astringent in the finish. I might try making this again using even less leaf. Enjoyable and delicious.

This one is a bit better, the first steep at 15 secs was enjoyable while the second at 30 secs is more astringent. Me thinks this could be age. I’m not getting fruit or citrus, mostly vegetal with a bit of nuttiness and slightly creamy. Can anyone with experience with high quality green tea shed some light, are the leaves usually fine and short? The few that I have had always seem choppy and get mushy real quick. I wonder if this contributed to astringency in the same way cut tear curl black teas are prone to getting bitter. I have also heard that some Japanese green tea aficionados like their greens strong and bitter. Perhaps I just prefer Chinese, though I do enjoy Gyokuro from time to time.