Leaf Type: Oolong
Produced By PT Harendong Green Farm
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
December’s Shipment from ITFA was unique in a couple of ways. First, it was teas from Indonesia, and I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to try teas from Indonesia prior to receiving this package. Second, it was unique because all three teas were from the same farm: PT Harendong Green Farm.
So far, I’ve reviewed for you two of the three teas I received from December’s Shipment: the Black Tea (aka Red Tea) and the Green Tea, and I enjoyed both of those quite a bit. Now, I’m reviewing the third and final tea in December’s Shipment: the Oolong!
And this is unlike any Oolong I have ever tasted. Dry, the tea looks very much like a Tie Guan Yin with its tightly wound, deep green pellets. But it doesn’t smell like a Tie Guan Yin. This one smells fruity and a little floral before steeping, and the brewed tea smells a bit vegetal, losing much of the fruit and flower notes that I noticed prior to infusing the leaves.
The flavor is also different. It has a smooth vegetative taste with sharp floral tones in the background. The contrast between these two flavors is quite compelling. The vegetative flavor is earthy and somewhat reminiscent of fresh herbs, and this herbaceous taste lingers in the aftertaste. The floral tones are sharp yet sweet. The finish is dry with strong astringency at the start of the cup, and as I continue to sip, I notice that this astringency seems to taper. In subsequent infusions, the fruit tones develop, and I notice a juicy taste that begins to emerge as the astringency wanes.
I really enjoyed this memorable journey to Indonesia by way of tea, and I’ve been so honored to take part in the Global Tea Taster’s Club. I look forward to what the next shipment might have in store!
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, October’s Shipment, Part 4: T.T.E.S. No. 18: Ruby Black Tea
Leaf Type: Black
Produced By Yuan Shiang
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
This is an incredible black tea, unlike others I’ve tasted. And that is something that I am enjoying so much about the Global Tea Taster’s Club: it offers the amazing opportunity to try teas that I probably would not have otherwise tasted, and these teas never fail to impress!
And this Ruby Black Tea is certainly impressive. It brews up incredibly dark, and the aroma of the brewed liquor is fascinating. It has a spiced tone to it that intrigues me, beckoning me to take a sip.
The tea is strong and intensely flavored. In one sip, I taste notes of earth, fruit, malt, spice and even the slightest hints of smoke. Each of these flavors meld together so well. There is a pleasing sweetness to the cup too, somewhat caramel-y as it melds with the malty tones, but I wouldn’t really characterize it as a caramel undertone in comparison to other black teas that I’ve tasted. That is to say, it’s not like a buttery caramel flavor, it is more like burnt sugar, sweet but with a hint of bitterness to it as well. There is a fair amount of astringency to the cup – not too much, but it is certainly noticeable.
This tea offers two very splendid infusions (perhaps more!), the first tasting bold and hearty, while the second is a bit smoother with more malty notes. This is a very pleasant black tea, and one that I’m very honored to have tried and to be able to recommend to others.
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, August Shipment, Part 5: Superior Sencha (Hukamushi Premium)
Leaf Type: Green
Produced by Ukibe Seicha Haru Ichiban
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve probably said this quite a bit when talking about these teas from the International Tea Farms Alliance’s Global Tea Taster’s Club, but this tea is incredible! The name “Superior Sencha” does not deceive … this is one of the very best Sencha teas I’ve ever tasted (if not THE best!)
The flavor is sweet and gentle. It is both soothing and invigorating at the same time. I know that these two terms (soothing and invigorating) may seem to be contradictory, but, to really understand where I’m coming from, you just have to taste this tea. I feel revitalized as I also feel the stresses of my day being washed away by this amazing Sencha.
I would categorize this as a light to medium body, but with a smooth, almost brothy mouthfeel. There is very little astringency to this Sencha – far less than I am used to when it comes to the Sencha teas that are readily available here in the United States. It is sweet, with hints of fruit notes (sweet apple) and a very distant floral note (honeysuckle, maybe?)
When I taste this tea, I feel that I am tasting the very best that Japan has to offer. I feel honored to have this opportunity to taste such a tea so special, and it is a joy to drink. Thank you, ITFA!
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, August Shipment, Part 3: Organic Gemmai cha
Leaf Type: Green
Produced for the Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Tasters Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
Editor’s Note: I know it is usually spelled “Genmaicha” or “Genmai Cha,” however, the label on the package says Gemmai Cha.
Genmaicha stands out as my first really positive green tea experience. Way back (about 15 years now! yikes!) when I first started drinking tea “seriously” (err… that is, buying and drinking loose leaf tea), I had decided (rather prematurely) that I wasn’t crazy for green tea. Most of what I had tried was bitter. I have since realized that it was my fault because I had not yet learned the proper way to brew green tea. It was about the time that I started learning more about brewing temperatures and steeping time that I tried Genmaicha, and I really enjoyed it.
So I am always happy to receive Genmaicha, and was thrilled to find a package of Genmaicha along with the other teas that I received as part of August’s Shipment for the Global Tea Taster’s Club.
About this Genmaicha:
Obubu’s Genmaicha, or brown rice tea, is made with new leaves harvested in the summer. Instead of regular rice, Obubu uses sweet rice grown locally in the valley of Wazuka, creating a tea with a strong, sweet, toasty flavor and an aroma that fills the room.
While I am enjoying this Genmaicha immensely, I do disagree with the above quote regarding this tea. This has to be one of the lighter Genmaicha teas that I’ve ever tasted. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It is sweet and toasty, and it is very aromatic, but, it doesn’t have the strong flavor that I usually experience with a Genmaicha.
Yes, I do appreciate the strong flavor of a typical Genmaicha, but, I am finding the lightness of this Genmaicha to be very refreshing, and I’m liking it a lot. The green tea tastes fresh and exhilarating. It has a crispness to it, and a moderate amount of cleansing astringency.
The sweet brown rice adds that cozy, comforting toasty flavor, but it doesn’t taste overly roasty-toasty. It is the brown rice flavor where the lightness is especially noticeable. The brown rice isn’t overpowering the flavor of the green tea, which I think is often the case with Genmaicha. With this Genmaicha (Gemmai Cha?) it is the green tea that is celebrated, and not the toasty rice.
A very unexpected yet delicious Genmaicha!
ITFA Global Tea Tasters Club, August Shipment, Part 1: Organic Sencha Yabukita Midori
Leaf Type: Green
Produced on the Hito to No, Shizen Wo Tsunagu Kai Farm in Japan
Farmer: Toshiaki Kinesuka
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Tasters Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
I have tried this on two separate occasions before I sat down to write about it. The first time I brewed it, I brewed it “light” – that is, I used a little less leaf than I normally would. This is something I generally do with a Japanese Sencha, because the leaf cut is so fine that more tea ends up in a teaspoon than, say, with a Chinese Sencha, which tends to have larger leaves. The second time I brewed it, I used more leaf. And while I enjoyed it both times, I do think I prefer the lighter infusion.
The first infusion was very light and crisp and had very little astringency … much less than I expected after reading the description of this tea:
Yabukita Midori – Soil development of a tea field is a decade-long process and Kinezuka-san has had many years to perfect his cultivation methods. The result of that is the Yabukita Midori tea leaf, made from the Yabukita tea plant cultivar and harvested in the week of the 88th day. In Japanese tea culture, the 88th day after the start of spring in the old calendar is when the tea leaves are said to be at their best, and tea made from these leaves is said to grant you long life. The taste is a deep balance of sweetness and astringency.
It is because of so little astringency that I thought maybe I had misjudged the amount of tea that I should use, and I decided to try to brew it again on the following day … that time with a little more leaf. With the second infusion, there is a bit more body to the cup, as well as more astringency. The astringency is tangy, and it provides an interesting contrast to the sweetness of this tea.
I enjoyed both infusions; this is a wonderful Japanese Sencha. However, I do think I preferred the lighter infusion. It is so sweet and refreshing! Such a crisp, pure taste. It tastes fresh and grassy. There is a fruit-like undertone which is more prominent in the stronger infusion.
This is a tea for those who truly love green tea. Soothing, restorative and yet invigorating. A perfect cup of green tea.