Ko-kei Cha (TJ30)

This is pretty good, but no substitute for a good sencha IMO

This being a Japanese tea, I really wanted to brew it in my tokoname-yaki Kyusu. The tiny noodle-like pieces of tea however, I was worried they’d get stuck in the fine ceramic strainer so I’m using a small thin-walled porcelain gaiwan instead.

This is a really unique tea in many ways. The shape is odd. These pieces of tea are a byproduct of matcha. The tea is ground into a paste and pushed through a mesh to create these little green tea noodles. The infusion is a deep, murky yellow. The flavor is unlike any green tea I’ve had. It starts with the slight woody fruity quality of dried goji berries or wolf berries. In fact, you’ll find that brewing goji/wolf berries as a tisane will produce a very similar smelling and tasting infusion to this kokeicha. The difference is in the finish. Where the berries produce a sweet and sugary finish, the kokeicha produces a tangy, sour finish that tastes like tart citrus fruit. There’s no bitterness and the mouthfeel is fine. It isn’t particularly smooth and neither is it dry. The front end of the taste also reminds me of Chinese gunpowder tea in its slight leather and earthy qualities.

On the second infusion, which I only did at half the length of the first, the flavor is less woody and earthy and almost all tangy and sour. It tastes like very tart cherries and even has a bit of cherry flavor in the finish.

On the third infusion, I’m getting more of the cherry flavor, still quite tart, still quite flavorful. I decided to dilute this infusion after a taste to see what it would be like had I used less leaf. It takes the tartness away and it begins to taste much more like a low-grade gunpowder green tea kind of thing. I think brewing it stronger is the way to go with this tea, as I find the tart, mouth-watering flavors really interesting, while I don’t really get much flavor after adding just a bit of extra water to it.

My score for this tea is difficult. I think I would rate it higher based on uniqueness, but on taste quality alone I don’t think I can push it much higher than it’s at. It’s really an interesting tea to try and I feel happy to have tried it. I doubt I’d ever purchase any for myself.

Very grassy smell and taste. When I got to the bottom of the cup, the taste was bitter, maybe because small particles had leaked out of my tea ball and settled to the bottom. Either way, not a big fan of this tea.