Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Tea Description:
A very interesting green tea. It looks like Chinese gunpowder tea in that the leaves are rolled up into little balls. This particular one from our supplier Chakoan has a strong savory umami aroma that is similar to gyokuro.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t recall ever trying a Gyokucha tea before tasting this Ureshino Gyokucha Ochatama from my monthly mystery Tea Sampler’s Club from Yunomi.
That’s one of the reasons that I love tea sampler clubs like this … I get the opportunity to try teas that I might not have tried otherwise. In fact, when I first saw this package, I thought it was Gyokuro, and it wasn’t until I opened the pouch and saw the tiny pellets that resemble Chinese Gunpowder green tea that I realized that this is NOT a Gyokuro!
But even though this looks a lot like a Chinese Gunpowder (in shape, but the color of the leaves here are a much more vivid green) … it doesn’t taste like a Chinese Gunpowder. It tastes more like a Gyokuro … although it is a bit lighter and crisper on the palate.
The first thing I noticed when I tasted it was a distinct nutty tone. It starts out sweet, and then transcends to a strong savory note. The finish is clean and there is a dry astringency.
There is relatively little aftertaste here, just faint notes of a grassy taste that rests upon the tongue. The taste is very clean … and it’s a very “cleansing” sort of feeling that I get from this tea.
I’m really enjoying this Japanese green tea. A very interesting tea, indeed!
Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club: Light Roast Houjicha from Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantation
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Tea Description:
Roasted green tea, or Houjicha, is unlike any green tea you’ve tasted before. With a smooth, smoky flavor that is simultaneously light and sweet, houjicha has none of the bitterness of traditional green teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club here.
Taster’s Review:
This Light Roast Houjicha from the Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantation is the third and final tea that I received in this month’s Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club package.
As I’ve professed before, I am quite fond of Houjicha (or Hojicha) because I love that roasty-toasty flavor! This particular tea is “Light Roast” and the difference is noticeable in the flavor.
It is a much lighter taste – a mild smokiness and a gentle toasted flavor is what I’m enjoying with this cup. It is sweet and mellow and lacks any bitterness whatsoever. The astringency is also quite light here – it’s barely noticeable.
The roasting process of Houjicha seems to mute out the strong vegetative or “grassy” notes that is often found in green teas, and replaces them with a sweet, toasty taste, and I think that’s what I like best about Houjicha. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that grassy taste from a Japanese Sencha just fine, but, sometimes, it’s nice to change things up a bit.
I like how the lighter roasting of this allows some of the smoky tones to be explored. It isn’t a strong smoky overture, but I can note the complexity in the smoky tones. This seems much more complex to me than a typical, “medium” roast or stronger roast Houjicha. Smooth with layers of flavor that are smoky, nutty, sweet, earthy, somewhat woody, and deliciously toasted.
A very tasty Houjicha … very relaxing to sip, and a very smooth, comforting cup!
Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club: 2013 Kurihara Heritage Gyokuro from the Kurihara Family
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Tea Description:
Gyokuro tea is grown beneath shading, cutting out some 85% of the sunlight. This allows the leaves to mature without obtaining bitterness. The results is an ultra delicate green tea with an extremely sweet taste profile.
Our Heritage Gyokuro is grown beneath traditional, handmade bamboo and/or straw shading. The moisture that drips from this natural shading flavors the tea — a return to the past with this gourmet tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the second tea that I’m trying from this month’s Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club package – 2013 Kurihara Heritage Gyokuro from the Kurihara family.
It is SO good.
I guess it goes without saying that I drink a lot of tea. I taste a lot of different teas from a lot of different sources. And, the plain and simple truth of the matter is, I enjoy much of what I taste. But, while I do enjoy much of what I drink, there are different levels of enjoyment. I enjoy a delicious, well-conceived flavored blend of tea – these teas are fun and sweet and tasty. They’re kind of like candy in tea form.
And then, every once in a while, I get something like this: a pure, unadulterated Gyokuro. And with the very first sip, I think: “now this is TEA!” This is tea on a whole other level. And while the flavored blends are like candy in tea form, an exceptional Gyokuro like this one is more like going out to a five star restaurant and being served at the Chef’s table in tea form.
This truly is an extraordinary Gyokuro. It is sweet with a complex vegetative taste that is like lightly buttered, steamed fresh vegetables with hints of new, spring grass and just a hint of kelp in there. But because Gyokuro tends to be a delicate brothy taste, these notes are soft.
It is such a wonderful, contemplative cup. It is very smooth with very little astringency. There is absolutely no bitterness … it’s just sweet and delicate and fresh tasting. Such a lovely, lovely cuppa!
A remarkable Gyokuro, this Kurihara Heritage Gyokuro.
Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club: Monoucha Genmaicha from Ishinomaki, Miyagi
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!
Certified Organic Oolong Tea by the Takeo Family from Yunomi
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Learn more about this tea here.
About Yunomi:
Matcha Latte Media KK was launched in January 2012 as a result of founder Ian Chun’s work with Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations (see Starting a Tea Business – Background). Our mission was to put Japanese culture into the hands of consumers around the world. We feel that many products, including Japanese tea, gain much of their value from an understanding of the culture and society behind them, not simply from their physical qualities. Many of these cultural products in Japan are produced by small-scale producers, and we had hoped to bring them to global markets by providing an e-commerce marketing service.
However, the Japanese tea industry called to us, and as a product so central to Japanese culture, we fell in love. 2013 marks our pivot from a consultancy into a tea business with the Yunomi.us website. We hope you will support us and follow along as we build a paradigm changing business.
Taster’s Review:
This Certified Organic Oolong Tea by the Takeo Family from Yunomi is quite unique … different from any Oolong that I’ve ever tried! And in this case … different is definitely GOOD!
The flavor is mild, sweet, and fruity. There is a sort of tangy note that tickles the tip of the tongue toward the finish, and that tingly sensation lasts into the aftertaste. Almost like a “sweet and sour” note! Quite intriguing…
This tea hints at floral notes in the distance … although I would not call this tea a floral tea. These are mere hints … like a whisper of a breeze that has passed through a field of flowers and picked up on just a hint of the floral essence … that’s what I detect here. This is much more fruity than floral, tasting of stone fruit, with hints of toasted nuts and a slight earthy tone and notes of mellow spice.
I brewed this tea in my gaiwan (as I do with most Oolong teas) and this allowed me to re-steep the leaves several times with very positive results. The flavor changed with each new cup of tea … the fruity notes became sweeter and more mild as I reached my third cup. By this time, those hints of flower in the distance have subsided, but there is still this lovely, sort of exotic sweet and sour note that keeps me captivated.
A really enjoyable Oolong … one I’d recommend to all Oolong enthusiasts … especially if you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary! This is truly a unique Oolong – one that deserves discovery!