Having a Kindle Fire is probably the most awesome thing I have experienced in a while, combine that with a free trial to Kindle Unlimited, and I am pretty sure my ‘books read’ count this year is going to sky-rocket past 100, easily. If I am lucky I can afford to keep the Kindle Unlimited thing after my free trial, because $10 for a mountain of books is just awesome. I love being able to carry all those books around with me without being crushed under their weight, a common problem when I travel around, I need my books! Having a book has always been a security blanket for me, I never leave the house without one.
Today’s tea comes from Yunomi, they recently gave their website a re-do, it caught me off guard, but it looks quite snazzy. From Kurihara Tea #12 Shira-Ore Stem Tea with Matcha will be the tea that gets to take a soak in my Kyusu today. Usually called Kukicha, stem tea in the Yame Region of Southern Japan is called Shira-Ore. It takes the stems separated out during the production of Sencha and mixes them with a bit of leaves to balance out the flavor and some Matcha to add in some richness. The aroma of the dry leaves is so green! There are notes of cut grass, fresh spinach, and an underlying sweet nuttiness, the aroma reminds me of the smell of summer when everything is in full growth.
Ah, the aroma of sweet, fresh, vegetation is a beautiful thing, especially to sniff when once is not in the best mood, it is like taking a walk through a lush field on a summer day, but without the worry of annoying bitey bugs. There are notes of fresh hay, cut grass, spinach, nuttiness, and a tiny hint of a green algae note. The liquid is sweet and green, there is a bit of grass and spinach with a sweet nutty quality and a tiny hint of umami filled kelp.
The first steep is delightfully mellow, not to be boring but the tea tastes pretty much exactly as it smells, no mysterious hidden notes that appear in the taste. Fresh green growth, cut grass, sweet fresh hay, and a nice nutty sweet finish. Very refreshing, especially if you, like me, are a lover of all things green. I should say that the Matcha taste is very mild, a lot of teas with added Matcha usually have a very distinct kick of of the stuff, this one is very light, so if you are one who is afraid of Matcha, this could be a good introduction to its taste.
I decided to go for a second steep (while I vigorously browse for new books for my kindle, that thing is going to be loaded with books for my train trip) the aroma is a warm grass green and sweet, mellow, Matcha. It reminds me of sun warmed green growth, where earlier it was a field in morning, this time it is late and lazy afternoon. The taste this time around has a more umami sea air and kelp tinge to it, with less sweetness and more green, there is a touch of cooked kale and fresh vegetation, with a finish of hay. An excellent example of stems being awesome.
For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/10/yunomi-kurihara-tea-12-shira-ore-stem.html
People who liked this
Comments
I feel the same way about my Kindle. I was very resistant to it, but my husband got tired of the books all over the place. He bought me one several years ago now. I could never go back.
I was the same way except Ben is a book hoarder too, so it was more not wanting to watch me agonize over what books to sell so I can get more books. I really feel my life is going to be a lot lighter now, or at the very least my purse is going to be!
I was going to mention Kindle Unlimited. I have that as well, and I use it quite a bit. But I am still buying books as well, because the list available on Unlimited doesn’t have everything I want. Most frustrating is when it will have part of a series I will read, but not all of the books. Ah well.
I feel the same way about my Kindle. I was very resistant to it, but my husband got tired of the books all over the place. He bought me one several years ago now. I could never go back.
I was the same way except Ben is a book hoarder too, so it was more not wanting to watch me agonize over what books to sell so I can get more books. I really feel my life is going to be a lot lighter now, or at the very least my purse is going to be!
I was going to mention Kindle Unlimited. I have that as well, and I use it quite a bit. But I am still buying books as well, because the list available on Unlimited doesn’t have everything I want. Most frustrating is when it will have part of a series I will read, but not all of the books. Ah well.