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First time with gyokuro here folks, so proceed with caution!

The long-and-short of this review is buy some of this tea. Absolutely delicious. Great balance of sweet and savory, and its complexity blew me away. Amazing development with an incredible range of flavors.

It certainly didn’t blow my head off with umami, although that could be easily achieved with a bit more leaf and slightly higher temps. It arrived as a delicious nori and herbal arrival that transformed into vegetal and corn sweet savoriness. Then, beginning with the finish, the notes become fresh, fruity, and sweet. A joy to drink all-around.

Also, given the regular cost of gyokuro, this is an absolute steal. Of course, I can’t speak to how it compares with more expensive options, but you certainly can’t go wrong with this offering by O-Cha.
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Dry leaf – butter cream frosting, sweet corn, pineapple, coconut, honeydew melon, grilled corn

Smell – buttercream, buttered greens, pineapple, spice cake

Taste – nori arrival, dried parsley/cilantro, spinach, edamame, sweet corn development, chlorophyll and fresh parslely and sweet corn in finish; raw almond, watermelon rind, pineapple rind in aftertaste. Mint in long aftertaste

I jumped the gun and pre-ordered this as a shincha. I wanted to get slapped in the face by fresh spring grass, and this didn’t disappoint. When I first brewed it, I was actually a bit taken back by the grassiness, but it was because I eyeballed the proportions and took my best guess on the temperature.
The second time around, I followed the instructions, and the flavor was much more subdued and sweet.

However, the more the I drank it, the more I kept pushing the brewing parameters by increasing leaf and even using slightly hotter water because I found myself wanting more grassiness and umami. The tea responded incredibly well. I was really happy with how much I could manipulate the experience to my liking – more sweetness sometimes, more umami other times, etc.

Overall, the tea has a nice pineapple and coconut sweetness followed by fresh parsley that lingers as parsley and minty aftertaste. In the background (which you can bring out more with stronger brewing parameters), there is a backbone of steamed spinach, edamame, and marine umami.
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Dry leaf – grass, honeydew melon, pineapple juice, roasted corn

Smell – roasted corn, cooked spinach, melon sweetness

Taste – spinach, roasted corn, pineapple rind, coconut, salted melon, fresh grass, chlorophyll savory sweetness, fresh parsley

This backlogged tasting note is long overdue considering I’ve had this for a year now. I’ll preface this by saying that I don’t really like straight matcha but love it in food and drink. I bought this specifically for making matcha lattes. It’s O-Cha’s lowest priced matcha and strikes a happy medium between the expensive ceremonial grade and culinary grade stuff.

The matcha powder I received had a date stamped that was almost 3 years old which irked me with a little. Harvest date is important for green tea and a tea that old has lost some of its freshness. Nevertheless, at $10.68 for 30g I wasn’t going to complain. I use 3-4 scoops with about 4 oz of 165 F water and whisk everything up in my chawan. The matcha froths nicely producing a brilliant green color. Tasting it straight, it’s vegetal and somewhat chalky. However with a splash of milk it transforms into a delicious matcha latte that still has an assertive green tea flavor.

By itself, there’s nothing remarkable about this tea but it suits my need for a green tea that can hold up well to milk and a little sweetener. I portioned it out and refrigerated it which helped preserve its freshness and flavor.

Just an absolutely amazing tea—easily my favorite fukamushi. Steeps and re steeps well with a delicate vegetal buttery deliciousness.

Brewed right this matcha has a strong buttery, grass, with hints of vanilla delicious taste. Absolutely excellent.

First time doing this, so pardon my messiness. If you have tips or advice for me, please message me them.

Side note: I didn’t rinse this tea.

Visual
Dry Leaf: Dark green leaves mixed with pale/golden green stems and leaves. Pink flakes resembling dried petals.
Wet Leaf: The dark green leaves darkened and became extremely flexible. The pink flakes has lost a lot of the pink coloring and puffed up a bit. The stems look paler.
Liquid: Pale golden greeny, cloudy

Smell
Dry Leaf: Grassy, slight floral, cherries
Wet Leaf: Wet Grass, slight bitterness, floral undertones

Tasting
Steep #1: Brewed for a minute.
Light grassiness, asparagus after taste with delicate floral notes, smooth liquid, faint cherry tartness, light-neutral astringency. Over all the flavors are rather light which makes it refreshing. There’s no overpowering notes.

Steep #2: Brewed for 30 seconds.
No changes in the color of the leaves or liquid as well as the smell. The flavors are ever so slightly toned down but still noticeable. Seems more floral this time. The astringency is still the same as the first steeping. The smoothness of the liquid seems a bit more watered down. More cherry notes are coming out in the after taste.

Steep #3: Brewed for 2 minutes.
No changes in the color of the leaves or liquid as well as the smell. Like with the second steeping, the flavors seem even more tone downed. There’s a slight tarty floral with cherries taste to it. The astringency is still as strong as the first steeping. The grassy notes have moved to to the after taste now. Making it seem to dry my mouth more. The liquid seems to gain some the smoothness back as it thickened up a bit.

I have steeped this tea more than three times in the past but it get so watered down after the third one that it’s not worth it, in my opinion.

Saw this tea discussed on Tea Chat when the 2016 batch was first released in limited quantities. Wanting to experience it myself I purchased 100 g and brew the tea in my Mini Shudei Tokoname teapot, 140ml.
I have limited experience with Sencha but can say this Yutaka Midori is everything the reviewers here describe. An exceptional tea.

Excellent quality price ratio. Overall a very nice tea. Bright green powder, with a fresh smooth smell. Prepared it as usucha (2,5-3 g), 60 ml, 75-85 C. Always got a creamy cup, with dense body and smooth taste. In general did not notice any astringency, or it was not disagreeable. However I missed some of the umami and sweetness of higher grade matchas.

Pretty good, but I wish it were a tad greener tasting. It’s got a strong toasty flavor and murky liquor. Less spectacular than the same tea from Yuuki-Cha. Matcha washes away after the first steep and then it tastes like a regular genmaicha. Not my favorite genmaicha but it does the job and is better than the bagged stuff.

I’m down to my last serving of this tea and still am not sure how I feel about it. This tea gives me fits because it’s so finnicky. More often than not I miss the optimal steep window. But occasionally when I hit the target, the tea is amazing. Intensely grassy with a zesty vegetal flavor and a fresh ocean breeze aroma. There’s some umami, mineral notes, and even occasional hints of floral. It hits almost every flavor note I like.

However resteeps are less spectacular. Harsh sulphur-like bitterness mixed with a cooked broccoli aftertaste. Brewing in a clay teapot helps remove some of the bitterness and rounds out the taste.

My first O-Cha order in a long time. O-Cha used to be my go-to online tea shop back in the day when I started drinking tea. As other tea stores sprang up, I eventually moved on. Still I have an affinity towards them and wanted to see how they stack up against Yunomi and Yuuki-Cha, my current favorite stores for Japanese tea.

When I opened the bag, I was surprised at the amount of broken and crushed leaves which resembled matcha more than sencha. It also meant more sediment in the cup than usual. The tea leaves in a warm gaiwan were fragrant with a deep, enticing aroma of fresh cut grass and spinach.

First steep was for 1 minute at 165 F. Pale green liquor. The flavor was buttery, slightly vegetal, and grassy. Pretty standard sencha taste.

Second steep was 30s at around 170 F. Grassy with a bit of astringency.

3rd and 4th steeps were 1:15 and 1:45 respectively using 175 F water. Flavor mostly faded, harsh bitterness.

I found this to be a very average tasting green tea. There’s some grassiness to it and that’s about it. It doesn’t have the depth and character of high grade senchas. It also doesn’t resteep well. The second infusion was ok, and the ones that followed were pretty terrible.

Opening the bag you’ll encounter very intense but at the same time pleasing grassy aroma of the leaves which happen to be light green in colour. Here and there you’ll notice stems which are lighter in colour and give this tea more natural look while you inspect it. Tea itself is mildly sweet and has a pleasing flavor. Using recommended brewing parameters, I encountered decent but not overwhelming astringent punch. Umami “runs away” quickly but it’s there. It’s light (green) in colour as well as in taste (almost like asamushi) but it has decent roundness. I prefered brewing it at the slightly higher tempereatures and for shorter periods of time to extract the most out of it and I was not dissapointed. Very nice organic green tea with floral aroma and subtle but “sincere” flavor. I like drinking it especially after my workouts- combining already elevated levels of endorphins with theanine and catehins from green tea is the way to go.

I am reviewing the 2016 version of this tea which I still would say is fairly fresh like the rest of my Shincha. I would say this one is my favorite is has a really nice balanced flavor, vegetal and grassy with a mouthwatering sweet finish. Along with some mellow umami flavors and a tad of astringency.

Out of all of the ones I tried I found this to be my favorite and most memorable tea, one that I will for sure be buying more of in the future.

A high quality gyokuro at a good price. Has a sweet flavor combined with a decent level of umami. Can become overwhelming if brewed too hot or for too long. Brewed using a houhin.

A great, grassy tea with an underlying sweetness. The best sencha I’ve tried to date. Brewed in a 230ml kyusu.

I am reviewing the 2016 Sencha Kaoru, I’ve had it around for a while but it still really fresh. Has a really nice sweet and grassy aroma and the leaves are quite small and broken up, which I find is normal for Fukamushi. Although I would say this one seems to be more steamed than the Yutaka Midori.

Dry leaf – GRASSY, VEGETAL, SWEET: dewy grass, cooked sweetcorn, pine nuts. In preheated vessel: vegetal aromas intensify – corn, sundried tomatoes; dried dill and parsley, hint of tangy tropical fruit.

Smell – GRASSY, VEGETAL: warm wet grass, tomato vine, corn, wilted spinach

Taste – GRASSY, VEGETAL, SWEET, MARINE: Arrival is new grass, sweetcorn. Develops into vegetal sweetness, cooked spinach, with notes of sweet butter and cooked pears. Finish is salty and marine, with the expected savory umami finish. Aftertaste has tart freshness of green apple and fresh mint.

Great tea. It’s like a little pouch of springtime. What I appreciate the most about it is its three distinct flavor profiles: thick, sweet grassy flavor that finishes in a mouth-coating marine brininess, which eventually transforms into a fresh and pleasant tartness.

In summation – the leaves look like green snuff, the brew achieves a glow-in-the-dark Ecto-Cooler green, and it tastes delicious. What’s not to love?

Dry leaf: SWEET and VEGETAL (sweetcorn, sweet tomato vine, sun-dried tomatoes, stone fruit, melon)

Smell: VEGETAL, GRASSY, SWEET (sweetcorn, edamame, sweet grass, cooked spinach, hints of peach and baking spices)

Taste: VEGETAL, GRASSY, FRUITY, and much MORE! (edamame, corn, spinach, tomato vine, nori, mulched grass, honeysuckle, fresh peach and apricot, cantaloupe and honeydew melon, hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, cherry wood, minerality, brine, vanilla extract, mint leaf, canned pineapple juice). Thick in mouth – flavors are long-lasting and develop considerably from arrival to finish to aftertaste.

This is the perfect tea with which to lie in ambush at work. As someone dunks a green tea bag into their mug, bust some of this stuff out and let its aromas and beautiful green leaves work their magic. Then, casually remark, “Oh – I like green tea too!” At this point, watch their dismay as they behold your radiant green tea wafting of melon and springtime as they take their mug of boiled sawdust back to their desk.

I’ve been out of school for the past couple weeks, hanging around Boston and now Santa Monica. Since it finally feels like summer, time to move into summer teas!

So this is the first shincha I’ve ever had, and I’m loving it! The color is this brilliant nuclear green, with little flecks of tender leaf. I’ve had little to no success brewing this in a gaiwan—instead,the best method I’ve found is 2g of leaf in 8 oz water, and 1 minute steeps.

Flavor wise, this tea tastes like eating buttered grass, it’s so smooth and sweet. Different sort of grassy than white tea, which tastes like tender grassroots. This is more like full grown, vegetal grass. Delicious!

Also, the other day I tried eating the steeped leaves with a little soy sauce, as per o-cha’s directions. It was surprisingly good! Sort of like spinach with sauce. I just got a few weird looks from my family…they don’t know what they’re missing.