For this – part 2 of my review of Yunomi’s Tea Discoveries Club, Volume 17 – I will be reviewing the remaining three tisanes that I received in this month’s package.

The three teas that I’ll be examining a little closer in this article are Hatomugi Tea, Mulberry Leaf Tea and Roasted Barley Tea.

The first tea that I’ll be tasting is the Hatomugi Tea – or Job’s Tears Tea – from Kanazawa Daichi.  This tisane was processed in tea bags and when I first opened the pouch, it smelled remarkably like Roasted Barley – that I had to do a double take and make sure I was opening the correct package!

Then I looked closer at the Yunomi website and learned that this is a type of barley.  It’s organic and it’s roasted – hence the familiar aroma.

The flavor is very much like I expected after experiencing the fragrance – that is to say that this tastes like roasted barley tea.  And it’s YUMMY!  Roasty-toasty, nutty and sweet.  There is a slight ‘grain’ taste, like … well, like barley.  It reminds me of wheat, like Wheat-Hearts cereal.

The second tea that I’m going to review for this article is the Mulberry Leaf Tea from Kesennuma Kuwacha.  I’ve actually reviewed this tisane previously, but I don’t mind revisiting it!

I believe I may have brewed this tisane differently this time than I did previously, because when I brewed it before, I think I might have been under the misconception that it was a blend of mulberry leaf and Japanese Sencha because if you look at these leaves – they look like Japanese Sencha leaves!

So, I’m guessing that I went with a lower temperature and a 1 -2 minute steep previously.  This time, I’m more ‘in the know’ so I went ahead and increased the temperature to 185°F and the steep time for 3 1/2 minutes.

While the dry leaf looks very much like a Japanese Sencha, the brewed liquid does not!  The color is darker, like a forest-y green.  But the Japanese Sencha flavor that I expected was there.  This tastes very much like a Japanese Sencha and would make an ideal substitute for someone who loves their Japanese green teas but needs to cut back a little on caffeine.  It’s a little sweeter than a typical Japanese Sencha – this doesn’t have as much of the savory quality that I’d taste with a Japanese Sencha.  This is more fruity and sweet, but it still is very similar to a Sencha to me.  Very nice!

My final tea journey with Yunomi this month is with the tisane that I figured would be my favorite from this Tea Discoveries Club package:  Roasted Barley tea, which like the Job’s Tears, is also produced by Kanazawa Daichi.

And I was right – this is my favorite.  I enjoyed almost all of the tisanes from this month’s package, the only one that I wasn’t all that crazy about was the Japanese Mugwort tea that I reviewed in part one of this series.

But this … ahhh!  This is my favorite.  I could drink this every day.

This Roasted Barley Tea also came in a tea bag – and yeah, if I’m going to offer any kind of criticism about this tisane at all, it would be that it’s a bagged ‘tea.’  I’d certainly rather it not be bagged.

But other than that, this is so yummy.  It’s deliciously roasty-toasty, nutty, sweet and so comforting.  It is sweet enough that it could even serve as a dessert substitute.  It has a very coffee-ish sort of flavor to it – but without the bitterness of the coffee.  If someone were looking for an ideal substitution for coffee – this would be it.  It tastes more like coffee to me than chicory (which is an herb often used as a coffee substitute).

So my journey with Yunomi’s Tea Discoveries this month ends on a very high note!  A very high – and delicious! – note, indeed.