Premium Yuki Hōjicha - Roasted green tea review

So I bought this Premium Yuki Hōjicha from MATSU KAZE at the Calgary's Japanese festival.

I also recently found our TDS metre (Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of a solution). Why do we have that at home and why should it matter? It probably doesn't matter to most of you. But we live near the mountains and the water is pretty hard here. So we have our own reverse osmosis filter system for drinking and boiling water. I will have none of that scaling in my kettle!

As you may or may not know, perfect (or near perfect) H²O is not the best medium for tea making. Tea needs minerals to develop in flavour during the steeping process. Not too much, but enough. For that reason, I have a mineral package which sends back some good minerals in my water at the turn of 2 switches. I seldom record how much of the particles are found in my re-mineralized drinking water. We moved recently so for a time, this little metre was lost. Before I did this tea cupping, I recorded a TDS record of 86. I guess the old filers were due as I'd normally see 34-ish. 86 is preh-tty good! I'm expecting my next experiences will be more interesting from now on. Until I need to change my mineral filter again. Next time, I want to try a gyokuro with my mineralized water vs something like Fiji bottled water.

So here's the round-up of December 2016's tea cupping (we went on surprise vacation! YAY! Shoddy internet access, more connection with me. That was nice). I included the frosty cup's liquor colour shots since it came out differently and we don't all use the same vessels. Gives you variety.

Dry leaf: Twiggy medium brown and dark camo green leaves, some lighter brown (straw) were seen on the twigs. The length of said twiggy leaves was approximately 2 to 2 ½ cm. They were dry and brittle, but they didn't seem "old" to me. I support this because of the nice nutty aroma with light but rich mocha coffee grounds notes, as well as dry wood (good ol' bark), damp soil earthiness and caramelized apple finish.

Recommended steeping method:
Amount: 3g
Water: 120-130 ml
Temperature: 90-100°C
Time: 30 seconds

1st steeping:
(Senchado)

Liquor: Had a peach/dark orange colour reminding me of ochre but peachier. Some dust was found at the bottom of my cup but the liquid looked clear, shiny and I'd even say silky. It had smooth rich mocha notes with toasted chestnuts and a sweetness reminiscent of beeswax (a little honeyed). I caught some light damp soil earthiness we had with the dry leaves and maybe a slight hint of leather.

1st Steeping - In a white cup

1st Steeping - In a frosted translucent cup

Taste: A good astringency to it that wasn't overwhelming (it was in good taste, haha), strong-bodied with toasted chestnuts coming back as flavours as well, the beeswax and the leather I thought I caught a whiff of earlier.

Wet leaves: They smelled SO STRONGLY! Gamy and leathery with raisins, wet wood (think driftwood) and damp leaves. Obviously, these are damp leaves, I'm thinking about those found on the forest floor after a light rain. Then the colours were medium to dark green to same spectrum brown. They were shiny like I think good leaves should look like when wet.

Then I did a second steeping!

I lowered the temperature to 90°C, Kept the same tea leaves as I always do for subsequent steepings, went for approximately 120 ml and another 30 seconds. Same senchado method.

The liquor had the same colour as the first steeping, but the notes of toasted chestnuts, leather and beeswax came out as stronger this time.

2nd Steeping - In a white cup

2nd Steeping - In a frosted translucent cup

The taste became slightly less astringent, the texture more mellow and rounded, structured bodied and more flowing.

I really enjoyed this second steeping.

Next time I will test the waters and see where the differences lie! I will arm myself with the TDS meter!

Houjicha comparisons from Obubu Farm Tea Plantations

Greetings! It is almost the end of the year and I'm finally back again after working for months on end (endlessly as it felt), 7 days a week, crazy hours (available from 9am to 10pm to my underlings -- 16 of them -- and working until 1-2am some days...). A burnout later, I'm learning to like what I used to be passionate about again.
I won't lie, sending my application -- and hopefully getting accepted -- to a tea review club is why I'm back. Aside from the need to update and dust off my blog, it gave me the motivation and eagerness to start tea cupping again. And I think it's working!

Lucky you, I have 2 "non-blogged" sessions in my note book, so I will be making 2 separate posts. Also, scroll down to get a holiday promo code with yunomi.us!

Let's start with the Kyoto Obubu Farm Tea Plantations' Houjicha comparison I did months ago.

Teas tend to differ from year to year, but their profile generally doesn't go to extremes, while I believe this tea cupping session will still be relevant and help you decide which one to go for, I did something a little extra; I aged them, for about a year and a half. The proposed drinking date being until the 31st of December 2014. I kept them all sealed and well stored.

In the Houjicha category, I had samples for Basic Roast, Smoky Roast, Dark Roast, and Organic Superior.

With names like these, you'd be wondering which one your palate wants. I did too, so I bought all of them, and I will now lay them down for you.

Beware, this is my second try with tables!

Tea	Houjicha Basic Roast	Houjicha Smoky Roast	Houjicha Dark Roast	Organic Superior Houjicha
Dry leaf	- Crispy, dark & medium brown leaves of medium length - Twigs & thinly (a few looser) rolled leaves -Shiny coppery sheen on leaves - Aroma of roasted barley, light coffee roast, bitter cacao and barley sweetness	- Crispy, dark medium brown colour - Barely shiny - Long twigs and leaves, ratio of flattened rolled leaves & twigs 40/60 - Aroma of light barley sweetness, mild coffee upper notes, reminiscent of Assam teas (raisins and brown bread)	- Crispy, dark & medium brown colour - Barely shiny - Medium & small lengths of twigs and leaves with large dust pieces - Ratio of flattened rolled leaves & twigs 60/40 - Aroma reminiscent of Assam sourness (brown bread), a little barley, very light white bread	- Light brown with some darker leaves & twigs - Ratio of small flattened pieces of rolled leaves and twigs 20/80 - Some dust pieces - Strong sweet aroma of barley. Strong roasted smell. Very pleasant.
1st   Steeping Method: Gaiwan	60 ml	2.5g	80°C	10 Seconds
Wet leaves	- Black-brown, very shiny - Roasted barley aroma	- Dark brown, shiny - Strong roasted barley aroma	- Black-brown, shiny - Medium-roasted barley aroma Smells a lot like steeped barley tea	- Light brown and vibrant  green, not very shiny Looks like steeped sencha with added twigs - Aroma of lightly roasted barley and green tea (sencha)
Liquor	- Light amber Colour - Sweet almond tofu and light barley aroma	- Medium orange amber colour - Light steeped barley aroma	- Medium brown amber colour - Light sweet steeped barley aroma	- Light orange amber colour - Green (sencha) and light roasted barley aroma
1st Taste	Light roasted barley taste. Mild in body and astringency.	Rounder roasted barley taste with mild astringency. Little more intensity to it and a mild sweetness.	Strong Roasted barley taste with some astringency. Almost coffee like in taste. Somehow tastes like sencha a little bit.	Milder in taste with some light marine (reminding me of fish oil) and barley notes. Smooth with a mild astringency. It has a mild green sweetness to it. Round & smooth.
2nd Steeping Method: Gaiwan	60 ml	2.5g	80°C	30 seconds
2nd Taste & Rating	Same as 1st taste with added roundness and tastier. Rating: 3.5/5	Much more smoky than the 1st taste. Rounder with more astringency. It has a light taste that is almost like fish oil. It made me cough because of the smokiness! Rating: 2/5	Same as 1st taste with added roundness. Rating: 3/5	Sweeter and rounder than 1st taste. Almost fruit-like with hints of stone fruits. Has a green (sencha) after-taste. Rating: 3/5

Note that a rating of 3/5 doesn't mean it's not worth buying. I'm a harsh rater. This is on a scale of horrible to fantastic. Those were good teas, but I found the Smoky Roast too much for my taste. If you like very smoky, this is a great contender to Lapsam Souchong lovers. They are definitely interesting and I would recommend them just because these are types of green tea that you won't find easily, even in a tea store.

This table was hell to correct. It won't for the love of me center to the left so it doesn't spill too much on the right side. Bear with me, cellphone users, I've seldom used HTML since I learned the basics 17 years ago.

Stay alert! Another post will be done within the week.

Little edit here: I forgot to give credit to yunomi.us for selling the tea. They are truly fantastic and I really like this online shop. Frankly, I have 2 favourites, but when it comes to Japanese teas and related items, I almost exclusively go with them. It's late and I need to go sleep, but I'll write myself a note to try and find some promo code somewhere if I can. Cheers!

There it is! 30% off on Holiday collections! Enter promo code YUHOLIDAYS at yunomi.us!

Dong Ding Competition Special Mention #9 - Cooked Wulong

After quite a long hiatus, I’m back again on this blog. A lot happened (death, birth, house, yada yada) and now I have more time at home to write this. I recently bought a lot of different matcha from Ippodo (online shop) so I’ll be sure to add matcha testing to my list (plus one I still have from Matsu Kaze Tea shop). I’ve got from low cooking grade to fancy koicha higher grade and even a first harvest matcha which is not unlike Shincha.

Some months ago, I purchased a cooked wulong from the Camellia Sinensis shop which got a special mention during a tea competition last year. Quantity were scarce and quite pricey but when do you get to taste something like this, right? Unless you’re a judge or part of the competition, you’d have to be pretty lucky to get a sip. Or you find out a 10g quantity for $30 like I did and wait for the perfect time to test it. *sigh*

I was literally afraid something or someone would ruin the moment. There is basically enough for one infusion and a half in there if you go for the Gong Fu Cha method. Which I did as it was recommended. Hopefully the Camellia Sinensis shop will continue to offer such products in the future. They also offered two other wulongs, but considering the price and that my order included other teas as well, I settle for the Dong Ding Competition Special Mention #9 (I need a new pair of pants. Let's buy $200 worth of tea instead!).

Dong Ding Competition Special Mention #9

Cooked wulong from Taiwan
Sold by the Camellia Sinensis Tea Shop

Notes from the Camellia Sinensis Tea Shop:

Its golden liquor is vivid and fleshy, combining its wonderfully tangy and sweet pineapple and candied fruits notes, with oatmeal cookie fat and almond butter nuances. Supported by well integrated tannins, it also has a subtle bitterness giving it strength and evocative of cedar resin. This masterpiece evolves into a long finish where the more volatile accents of vanilla, coconut and flowers take flight. For the fortunate!

Kaytee's notes: A cooked wulong is a wulong that is roasted between 2 to 60 hours depending on the desired result. It rounds up the floral notes, kinda makes it taste more mature but not yet the nutty long oxidized wulong you may know. Also, in this case here, roasting wulong is pretty much the signature of the Ding Dong wulongs. You're buying one? Chances are it's a cooked one!

Dry leaf:
- Tightly rolled very dark green balls with medium green and some blond colours visible

- Balls are approximately 1 centimeter diameter

- There are some flakes, small particles

- Oatmeal cookie smell and Oatmeal cookie fat smell, powdered almonds aroma

- Light flowery aroma, the one you’d expect from a green wulong

- Sweet aroma like that of maraschino cherries

There is a comforting aroma that’s nostalgic especially for those who had oatmeal cookies as kids. My mother used to make a lot of them from scratch.

Steeping Method: Rinsing, 2 teaspoons of tea (as per instructions), 95°C, 250ml of water
Gong Fu Cha method

Steeping times: 45 seconds, 30 seconds, 30 seconds, then double subsequent steeping times

Wet leaves after rinsing: Charcoal and buttery aroma

Liquor:

• Clear and Shiny
• Mellow straw-yellow colour with a hint of pink-peach colours
• Oatmeal and flowery aroma

Wet leaves:

• Milk chocolate (Lindt), dried papaya & pineapple, light oatmeal cookie, and charcoal aroma
• Fruity with smokiness

1^st steeping (一煎目), 45s:

Fragrance smelling cup:

• Oatmeal cookie, buttery, cotton candy

1^st taste:

• Dried papaya
• Mild in taste and powdery (light astringency)
• Liquid in mouth but not silky
• Light floral taste
• Lingering smokiness like charcoal at the back of the mouth

The first taste lacked body and was not rounded.

2^nd steeping (二煎目), 30s:

• Colour was slightly darker than previous steeping

2^nd taste:

• Mild and smooth
• Texture was more oily and had slightly more body and roundness than 1^st steeping
• It was also slightly more astringent but not too much
• Sort of salty-sweet taste on the tip of the tongue
• Slight floral and fruity (dried fruits: papaya, pineapple without sourness)
• Dried garden herbs
• Quick to disappear coconut butter aftertaste (it was pretty hard to discern)
• Light buttery finish

I had the feeling I was tasting a slight undertone of shellfish but I guess I lacked the confidence to confirm it.

3^rd steeping (三煎目), 30s:

• Lemongrass whiff emanated from the infusion as I was pouring it into the tea pitcher

3^rd taste:

• Smooth and oily
• Dried papaya and pineapple tastes which built up in pleasant strength in the aftertaste
• Pleasant astringency, vivid sensation
• Buttery aftertaste (pineapple butter if there was such a thing) with light charcoal undertones

I had a feeling of a light corn oil taste and it seemed that the infusion would get oilier in texture with each subsequent infusions. However I stopped at the 3^rd infusion as I wanted to share this precious tea with my family before the taste became too subtle for them to appreciate. The liquor was definitely more vivid after the 3^rd steeping. In fact, the 3^rd steeping was the best one; it definitly tasted better and was better structured. I felt there was a sort of cacophony of flavours… Cacotaste? Cacophagy? With the 3^rd steeping, the flavours became clearer, easier to discern.

As the tea cooled down a bit, the floral and astringency parts built up in strength especially in the aftertaste.

I’m not a fan of greener wulong and this is what this cooked wulong seemed to be, albeit “cooked” which means that it has less of that floral and greenness you'd find in a short oxidized one, however, it was definitely one of the better ones and most enjoyable.

3.9/5 is what I'd give it for personal taste

If I were to be more neutral, definitely a 4.4/5.
Why so low for a competition tea? One part probably my fault, as I waited quite some months before trying it. Although... It WAS in an airtight package. I don't know.
The other part is that I find it took some time to build in greatness. I know that originally, the first steeping is discarded (I wouldn't dare do that!) but still, it took 3 steepings to get there. The notes were fantastic, but it still felt like a better green wulong to me (don't throw me rocks, please!).

Extra notes:
I waited a few hours to try for a 4th steeping with my family and maybe because the vessel had considerably cooled down and I may have lost a few degree although I tried pouring hot water on the teapot, the tea tasted weaker than the 3rd steeping. Either its peak was the 3rd one or losing between 3 and 7 degrees made a bit difference. I will never know, but I thought I ought to mention that I did try another steeping. Anyway...

Kaytee's Teas new blog intro

Welcome back to those who read me and welcome to the new ones!

I have decided to separate private life (as much as possible) from the tea part of my blog, so now Kaytee's teas will get their own blog!

I will post old tea blogs here with dates and all and then move on to the continuing of sharing my experience with tea. I was recently in Vancouver, so you can expect I visited tea shops that do offer tastings!

So stay connected, there will be more to come!

For the love of tea!

Hida Mugicha or Barley tea from the Hida region Review!

Edited post on the 22nd of August 2014 for the new tea blog

Welcome back after so long. Here's why it took so long...

I managed to do a quick tasting of the Hida Barley tea, which is not a tea per se, as in not Camellia Sinensis. I don't even know if it qualifies as "herbal" tea. It really is just barley. Maybe "Grain" tea? But hey, it's a nice refreshing drink when cold! At least in Japan they like it. I had it warm because I felt like it.

Hida Mugicha
Barley Tea from the Hida region
Manufactured by the Nabeshima Meicha
Cultivated by the Araki Agricultural Cooperative, Toshiro Tanaka
And sold by yunomi.us
(http://yunomi.us/shop/13002/hida-mugicha-barley-tea/)

Steeping method:

1. Bring 1 litre of water to a boil.
2. Place 1 pack (they come in big tea bags) of barley tea into the boiling water.
3. Boil for 5-6 minutes.
4. Enjoy warm or cold.

I enjoyed it warm. Although the rest stayed on my kitchen counter until I finished it. Taking a few glasses here and there.

Barley tea bag:

• Was too opaque to see the barley
• Smelled like roasted barley, somehow a bit like hearty bread (those healthy full of seeds/grains ones) and a bit like steeped small black soybeans (To be more exact, these: http://yunomi.us/shop/9256/yamane-en-black-soybean-tea-200g/)

Liquor:

• Hay-peach colour (I imagined grilled peaches)
• Lighter roasted barley smell, somehow a bit hearty bread and a little bit like steeped small black soybeans

Taste:

• Mild bread taste
• Barley taste (I kinda expected that)
• Not pungeant or aggressive
• Mild and smooth
• Feels like there is a light astringency
• When cooled down a bit, it gets this neat creaminess

While not a tea (I didn't say I didn't like herbal teas and the likes, just not a big fan of flavoured teas), I really liked it and it was better than anticipated. Refreshing? I'm not sure. I guess really cold it would totally feel refreshing. Not like Handmade lemonade would though (which I also made and it was sooo goood my husband drank most of it without telling me! D:). But warm, it's agreeable and a better solution if like me, you can't have caffeinated drinks (yes, yes, it IS caffeine you find in tea, even if in a lower amount than your average coffee) late in the evening. Because barley and any other herbal teas don't have caffeine. At least, they're not supposed to.

Hot, it's definitely nice, very smooth. I'd recommend trying it that way first and then cool it (to very cold in the fridge if you want) and discover all the different layers of flavours it has to offer. Let it cool down a bit when it's piping hot and you'll be surprised by the creaminess that comes forth. It's worth a taste and I give it a 4.3/5!

That was short, so this one review shouldn't strain your eyes too much! :)

See you next time on the blog! Peace! (Yes, I watch Sesame Street with my son)

Organic Handpicked Midori 1st Flush Shincha Green Tea Review - 2013 VS 2014! Hajime!

Edited post on the 22nd of August 2014 for the new tea blog

First and foremost, sorry for the formatting issues... I tried to make this post with Microsoft Word first thinking it would be easier (and it was!) and then copy pasted the whole thing. Some cutesy items didn't show up much to my disappointment and some columns are not like they ought to appear (mainly because I selected "no borders" to start with!). I could not fix any of them! So there. *bows very low*

Here's what the teas I will now review look like:

2013 on the left and 2014 on the right - two very beautiful packages!

I recently received both the 2013 (after a lucky mistake - for me) and 2014 Organic Hanpicked Midor 1st Flush Shincha from yunomi.us. When I contacted the website, Mr. Ian Chun, a very nice and able man even proposed that I could compare them. It was a fantastic idea! He said that by now my 2013 Shincha would be considered "aged". It is still good (and since I tea cupped it, I can very much agree to that), just older and will depreciate faster once open. I actually did prefer the 2013 for the first steeping. It had this peachy taste mixed with exotic fruits that I really didn't expect... and something fishy!

Now a little bit of information before we begin…

What is Shincha?

Shincha is the very first Sencha of the year. The first one picked in the first month of harvesting. But that’s not all; instead of being put in cold storage like the other Sencha, it is packed and sold right away making it a prized tea for its freshness and its young flavour!

The harvesting time starts in early spring and this 2014 Shincha was made available for purchase on the 16^th of May this year on the yunomi.us website. By the way, you can get a 15% off on this year’s Shincha if you enter the code shincha15.

It is already June and you may wonder what took me so long to tea cup the tea? Very simple, newly discovered pollen allergies and a cold. You can’t taste or smell anything with a stuffed nose! Luckily, a pharmacist hinted that I may have pollen allergies and I made the decision to try Reactin for allergies and I think it worked. The cold is gone. Also, to top it off, I wanted to make sure of my results, so I tea cupped twice. Then I did something wrong with the 2014 Shincha and had to tea cup it a 3^rd time. Then I remembered I ate something a bit fruity about 10-15 minutes before trying the first batch and wondered if my results had been influenced by it. I had to tea cup again. I had to fit thing in between stuffed nose episodes, so there you have it! Sorry for the wait and thank you for your patience! Without further ado, I present to you

2013 VS 2014!

Organic Handpicked Midori 1^st Flush Shincha from the Shizuoka Prefecture

2013	2014
Dry Leaves:	Dry Leaves:
– Mellow, sweet, it has warmth and a green aroma	– Asparagus, sweet, smooth and more vibrant than 2013
– White chocolate brownie aroma with melted white chocolate	– Creamy buttery greens aroma
– Has a bit of a duller medium-dark green colour to it, but still a bit shiny	– Shinier medium-dark green colour giving the impression it’s of lighter colour (it isn’t)
– Long dark green needles amidst shorter ones with some lighter green needles and big particles	– Long dark green needles with some lighter green ones (no particles!)
– More astringent aroma like ripped tree leaves	– Sweet fruity aroma like berries
– Spinach, more pungent than 2014

1^st Steeping 一煎目

Sorry for the pieces of leaves, I forgot to take pictures the first time and did a shot of cupping for the sake of making pictures and I used a slightly different method of steeping (it should hold the same results) and some pieces fell in.

Steeping method (Senchado technique (Kyusu)):

5g of tea – 2 minutes – 80ml (1/3 cup) of water – 60°C

Liquor:	Liquor:
– Clear and shiny	– Clear and shiny
– Lighter, yellow-green colour with particles at the bottom	– Slightly darker yellow-green with small dust particles at the bottom
– Cream of buttered spinach nose	– More vibrant cream of spinach aroma

Taste:	Taste:
– Green Umami attack which tapers off quickly	– Mellow sweet green grass attack that tapers off more quickly than 2013
– Peach, buttered greens and something that feels like metal (mussels?) which lingers	– Buttery and white chocolate finish
– Sweet, mellow and almost creamy	– Some astringency
– Almost no bitterness	– Mellow sweet green attack
– Exotic fruit (papaya?), peachy aftertaste	– Flowery
– Very mild astringency	– Some bitterness

2^nd Steeping 二煎目

Steeping method (Senchado technique (Kyusu)):

5g of tea – 15 seconds – 80ml (1/3 cup) of water – 65°C

Liquor:	Liquor:
– More dusty and murky	– Has a lot of dust particles floating about and is murky as well
– Nice buttery greens nose – Medium straw yellow colour	– Vibrant buttery greens – Medium green-yellow colour

Taste:	Taste:
– More astringent	– Smoother in taste
– More bitter which is slightly unpleasant to me who likes sweet things	– Mellower and smoother bitterness which is way more pleasant than 2013
– Light exotic fruits and peach with mussels aftertaste – Pleasant green Sencha taste (I know this sounds generic, but if you drink enough Sencha, you know what I mean.)	– Pleasant green Sencha taste (I know this sounds generic, but if you drink enough Sencha, you know what I mean.)

Here are what the wet leaves look like. I couldn’t tell the difference except that 2014 looks a little paler, but when mixed with buttery margarine, honey and shôyu, it was still too bitter to eat! Maybe I should have over-steeped them to remove the bitterness!

It seems that the 2013 is more to my liking than the 2014… that is, in general. The first steeping gave me quite a shock with the 2014 compared to 2013, as the 2013 was mellower and sweeter and 2014 more vivid, vibrant and like chewing fresh green leaves. 2013 also developed peachy and mussels flavours in aftertaste which I became quite fond of.
The 2014 was not bad per se, it is younger in taste (especially in the 1^ststeeping) but it might just be because the 2013 is deemed “aged”. 2014 offers a very pleasant 2^nd steeping cup that is smoother than the 2013. However, I was not able to find anything really peculiar in the 2014… either there was a too intense Sencha green tea taste or it wasn’t strong enough for me to find it or it just didn’t have that little something 2013 had. One thing for sure, I will also age this 2014 Shincha and if I remember, will do a single review on it with a link back to this review.

2013 wins but 2014 is still worth its weight in ¥en!

Additional editing:
I felt my review was a bit harsh, so I decided to add a little more:
To do both teas justice, I am not a big fan of Sencha teas labelled as Sencha (because Gyokuro IS a Sencha per definition as "shaded tea"). They are usually too green and the attack too strong for my delicate palate that just wants smooth and sweet things with very little astringency and bitterness if any.

As a Sencha, I believe these two products were pretty good. Excellent? I wouldn't venture in that direction as I am no expert on Sencha and am just giving my 2 cents. Someone who is really into Sencha might like them greatly as the 2014 is very fresh and the 2013 sort of vintage which is very interesting in flavours.
End of the edited part.

Next time, I would like to do a Barley Tea cupping (which would, in fact, be an herbal tea). I have 3 small tea bags of 10g of Hida Mugicha Barley Tea. I want to give you a hot and a cold review since summer is coming and cold Barley Tea is much appreciated during that time in Japan!