Recently, I had the unique opportunity to join Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club, and I just received my first shipment! Yay! I received three sample sizes of three different Japanese teas, and this review will be about the first tea I sampled from the group of three: the Monoucha Genmaicha from Ishinomaki, Miyagi
Tea Description:
Sencha from the town of Monou in what is now Ishinomaki City brews into a deep forest green with a strong astringency. With a 400 year history of tea farming, the town of Monou is the northernmost tea region, and the field managed by Sasaki-san is the northernmost tea field in Japan.
Monoucha Genmaicha blends Sasaki-san’s sencha with toasted rice grains as well as rice cracker balls (plain and matcha flavored) for a uniquely toasted nutty flavor.
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Taster’s Review:
LOVELY! I’ve tasted a lot of Genmaicha tea in my “career” as a tea reviewer, and before that, as a tea purveyor. But this Monoucha Genmaicha from Ishinomaki, Miyagi as sold by Yunomi might very well be the very best that I’ve tried thus far. I can taste the freshness of the Sasaki-san Sencha in every single sip, as well as the beautiful sweetness from the toasty rice. This is SO good!
Perhaps it’s the addition of the “rice cracker balls” that are in this blend that makes it different … I don’t know for sure. What I can tell you is that I taste something different in this cup of tea. It tastes sweeter … it tastes fresher, it tastes toastier. It tastes BETTER!
When I was measuring out the tea, I noticed the aforementioned rice cracker balls and I did a double (and a triple) take, because they looked so … unusual. I mean, with a typical Genmaicha, I usually see little bits of popped rice (that look like miniature kernels of popped popcorn), but these little balls were so uniformly shaped … they looked so different from the usual popped rice that I would see in a Genmaicha … and there were a lot more of them than I would usually see in a Genmaicha too. Then I came back here and read the description and saw that there are in fact these little rice cracker balls in the tea … that explains it!
And they do make a difference in the taste. If you like Genmaicha … this is one that you really should try … taste the difference! It’s remarkable!
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, December’s Shipment, Part 1: Red Tea
Leaf Type: Black
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 of the Global Tea Taster’s Club is here! I get so excited every time this package arrives, because I know I am about to enjoy tea that I would likely never have the chance to try if it were not for the International Tea Farm Alliance (ITFA). This time, we journey to Indonesia to sample the red tea (or what we would refer to as black tea here in the United States) from PT Harendong Green Farm. 
This is truly a unique black tea, quite unlike anything I’ve tried thus far. The dry leaves are very dark (which was expected), and they have been rolled into pellets resembling an Oolong (well, except for the dark color!) The dry leaf aroma is floral and slightly earthy, reminiscent of the air in early spring. It infuses to a coppery brown color with a fragrance that is quite similar to the scent of the dry leaf. It is one of those intriguing scents that draws you in and beckons you to sip.
The flavor is amazing. There are earthy tones with hints of flower in the background, with a foreground of sweet, malty tones, as well as a caramel-like flavor. There is a taste that is similar to freshly baked bread. Our local grocery store has freshly baked French bread daily at 4 o’clock pm (also at 5 and 6 o’clock), and my family and I love arriving there just in time to get a hot loaf of bread, and we eat it immediately. No butter, no jam – just the piping hot bread – the crust is tender and chewy, with just the right amount of crunch to it, and the inside is soft and warm. And that tender, chewy crust is my favorite part, and this tea has a flavor that to it that reminds me of that chewy, deliciously caramel-brown crust.
There are also delicious hints of cocoa in this – rich and chocolatey – that develop as I continue to sip. The finish is dry with a sweet aftertaste.
A truly remarkable tea from Indonesia. I am honored that I had the chance to try it!
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, October’s Shipment, Part 3: Chi-Sin Oolong Tea
Leaf Type: Oolong
Produced By GoeTea
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:
Have I mentioned lately how much I love the Global Tea Taster’s Club? I have absolutely loved every single tea that I’ve tried thus far (all five in the first shipment, and so far, I’ve tried 3 of the four teas sent in the second shipment), and I also love that it not only offers me the opportunity to try these teas that I would likely never have tried otherwise, but it also offers the opportunity to learn more about the teas and the processes each tea undergoes through the literature that is included with each shipment.
With this October Shipment (where we “visit” the tea farms of Taiwan), we received two teas from GoeTea. The first was the Oolong Tea with a High Degree of Fermentation, and in comparison, this tea is much sweeter and less on the savory side. Whereas the Oolong Tea with a High Degree of Fermentation had a consistency and flavor that reminded me a bit of a thin broth, this one has a heady, floral aroma and a flavor to match.
Hints of sweet apple linger in the distance, along with a honey-esque undertone. The floral notes remind me a bit of honeysuckle – so much so it evokes memories of springtime at my gramma’s house … where the honeysuckle bloomed and the Santa Ana winds would come in and sweep that fragrance through the air.
Definitely a lovely tea to sip and to recall fond memories!