Kuradashi Gyokuro Super Premium

Tea: Kuradashi Gyokuro Super Premium
Vendor: Hibiki-an
Price: $24.00/ 40g
Source: Uji, Japan

About This Tea: This tea is a Kuradashi tea. Kuradashi teas are teas that have been stored for a period of time to intentionally age the tea. This was stored for 18 months before packaging.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea has a lightly grassy aroma. The leaf is dark in color. The shape is very similar to the o-cha Yame Gyokuro.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 140F, 5oz, 60s

1st Infusion: The first infusion had a pale green color to it. It was quite transparent with just a hint of color. The tea has a very unusual aroma, it's an almost woody aroma to it. There is a rich umami flavor to this infusion and it is much less grassy than most gyokuro. The flavor was lighter than many gyokuro, but it was still very full bodied. The flavor was predominantly a marine/seaweed flavor, which followed through from beginning to end.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 145F, 15s

2nd Infusion: This infusion had a much brighter color to it. There was a light amount of murkiness to it, and a radiant green color which reminded me a bit of shincha. The tea has a light dry aroma to it. The marine/seaweed flavor was dominant in this infusion as well. The tea is very smooth and enjoyable. There is no bitterness and no astringency to it. The flavor in this infusion was very consistent from beginning to end.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 150F, 45s

3rd Infusion: This infusion had a dusty aroma to it. The marine/seaweed flavor was also dominant in this infusion. There was still a good amount of umami flavor in it, but I noticed the empty wamer water flavor showing through.

4th Infusion Parameters: 160F, 90s

4th Infusion: This infusion had a clearer color to it. There was a much lighter flavor, but it felt a bit hollow. The thickness found in the earlier infusions and richness of umami flavor was lightening up and the flavor felt a bit hollow. There were still hints of the marine/seaweed flavor though.

Rating: 10/10

Conclusion: This is a very unusual gyokruo. The flavor was the most consistent throughout the infusions as I have ever seen. Even with the increasing temperature it was smooth with no sense of bitterness or astringency, a characteristic that tends to show up during later infusions. It felt very pure and clean throughout the whole time.

Yame Gyokuro

Tea: Yame Gyokuro
Vendor: O-cha
Price: $27.95 / 100g
Source: Yame, Japan
Vendor Description: Yame Gyokuro "Select" - High quality first-flush gyokuro grown in Yame, Japan. Over 50% of all gyokuro grown in Japan comes from Yame. Gyokuro is shade grown before harvesting, giving it a greener color and sweeter taste. Once you learn to make it properly, you wil be hooked for life! Make sure to read our brewing instructions, as it is brewed differently than sencha.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea has a very noticeable and pleasant gyokuro aroma. The leaf is a dark green color, and has a relatively long and thick appearance to it. The leaf does not appeared as needle like as some senchas. There is a surprising amount of powder to this tea.

1st Infusion Parameters: 10g, 5 oz., 140F, 60s.

1st Infusion: The tea came out witha very murky grassy green color to it. There is a slightly light and tingly aroma to it, which was surprising. Most gyokuro has a thicker aroma. The flavor is rich and distinctively gyokuro like, but not as thick as most. There is a light sense of astringency, and no bitterness. The flavor is very full and enjoyable, but lighter than most gyokuro.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 150F, 30s.

2nd Infusion: This was a darker and murkier infusion than the first one. The flavor was lighter and thinner than the first and it has an almost clean feeling to it.

Rating: 4/10

Conclusion: This tea was rather unusual for a yame gyokuro. It could not hold up well for as many infusions as other yame gyokuro. Tweaking with the parameters would probably extend this out to 4, but not past that. It feels almost like a what a fukamushi is to a sencha, this feels like it is to gyokuro. The cloudiness in the first infusion was very unexpected. Later experimentation with this tea showed that it brews well at lower leaf:water ratios and warmer water. It is wonderful in almost sencha like conditions.

Homadola FBOP

Tea: Homadola Garden FBOP
Vendor: Plucker's Pick
Price: $18.00 / 3.5 oz.
Source: Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon)
Vendor Description: A fresh, sweet tea with a light aroma.This low-grown tea brews to a golden shade with hints of orange. A mild and mellow flavor.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea is very uniform in size and color. It is a very normal shade of black with hints of a gray color on the edges. It hints at being similar to a silver striped. The packaging for this tea was quite nice. The tea comes packed in a mylar bag packed in a tin packed in a box.

Infusion Parameters: 1 tsp (2.21g), 5 oz water, 208F, 3 minutes

Infusion: The infusion has a very golden honey color to it. There is a very light aroma to it that is characteristic of a ceylon tea. The flavor is well balanced and smooth. At a ratio of 2.21:5 it is light, but not too light, and not overpowering. It has a medium body to it with no astringency. There is a light bitterness on the front end, but just enough to give the tea a nice body and flavor.

Rating: 9/10

Conclusion: This is a very enjoyable black tea. It is smooth without being to strong. The flavor distinctive and noticeable, but not overpowering. At it's price it is on the upper end for a ceylon tea, but not prohibitively so.

Tea: Aromas and Flavors Around the World

Book: Tea: Aromas and Flavors Around the World
Author: Lydia Gautier
Price: $40.00

This book is a rather beautifully illustrated book. It gives a nice overview of many of the different tea producing/consuming regions of the world and a quick look at the differences therein. This kind of information is common to many books about tea though. What makes this book stand apart is a bit of information about the chemistry of tea and tasting. It describes qualities in a tea to look for, the portions of flavor (Head, Heart, Background which I refer to as Early, Mid, Late/Aftertaste). It also goes on to describe affinities between tea and wine and cocoa.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This book is nice for someone being introduced to tea. It doesn't got into great depth on any particular subject, but covers areas which are normally not described in other tea books. The illustrations are nice.

Kyobancha

Tea: Kyobancha - 7433
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $6.50 / 100g
Source: Kyoto, Japan
Vendor Description: Typical Bancha tea in Kyoto. The tea leaves are sun-dried and look almost like dead leaves, but their uneven roasting process makes the tea's flavor richly alluring.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea reminds me of a pile of leaves raked up during the autumn. There are some larger twigs in this tea, larger than most karigane/kukicha teas. The stems are over 1cm in length. The leaves are quite large and flat, there is no rolling or curling at all. The leaf is primarily black in color with some leaves which have a greener color to them.

Infusion Parameters: This tea has some unusual brewing parameters to them. Instead of steeping the tea with the water cooling down from boiling, the tea is boiled during the steeping process. 15g, 2L, 3 min.

Infusion: The tea has a very light aroma to it and a rich brown color. There is a light roasted flavor, but not much behind it. There is a very light to mid flavor and that's the majority of the flavor. There is no early flavor or aftertaste. There is also no bitterness or astringency.

Rating: 4/10

Conclusion: As a hot tea this tea is somewhat unimpressive. There isn't a lot of flavor to this tea, but you make quite a bit for not too much leaf. It is quite inexpensive though and makes for a good everyday tea. I'm curious how this tea will turn out as an iced tea.

White Christmas

Tea: White Christmas - 5524
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $7.50 / 50g
Vendor Description: Tea flavored with white chocolate and apricot, conjuring up images of baked Christmas sweets.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea looks like a mixture of a black CTC mixed with a bit of orthodox leaf. The orthodox leaf is fairly uniform in size at about 1cm in length. There are also a a few small silver pellets like in Champagne Rose and white balls resembling konpeito. The leaf has a very strong sweet aroma and reminds me a lot of the cookie tea. There is a bit of fruitiness to the aroma of this tea.

Infusion Parameters: 208F, 5 oz, 3 min, 5g.

Infusion: The tea has a deep dark brown color to it. There is a lovely shimmer from small metallic flecks in it similar to those in Champagne Rose. There is a thick sweet aroma to the tea which reminds me of the Au Chocolat. There is a medium linght sense of astringnecy to this tea. The initial up front flavor is very light and sweet, followed by an emptiness in the middle. There is a light bitterness at the end of the tea, but just enough to accentuate a good body to the tea.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea is a rather normal flavored black tea for Lupicia. It seems almost like a combination of a few of their other teas, primarily the Au Chocolat and Champagne Rose with just a hint of Cookie. The flavor is appropriate as a holiday tea if you enjoy any of the three which it seems quite like.

Black Friday

Black Friday, the most notorious shopping day of the year, is almost upon us. While most retailers are having very lackluster sales this year it appears there are a few surprises in store for us yet.

Starting on Black Friday Yogic Chai is going to be having a 40% off sale.

Click here for Yogic Chai. Coupon code to be posted tommorrow.

TeaGschwendner is also having a sale this year, 20% off everything except Zojirushi, capresso, and already discounted items. Coupon code is: BIGSALE

Genmaicha Satsuki

Tea: Genmaicha Satsuki
Vendor: Den's Tea
Price: $3.75 / 2 oz.
Source: Shizuoka, Japan
Vendor Description: Genmai Satsuki is an interesting and flavorful blend of tea leaves with Genmai. It provides roasted flavor and aroma. Den’s Tea strongly recommends Genmai Satsuki to new green tea drinkers transitioning from coffee or black tea.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea was huge leaf. It is probably the large that I have ever seen for a genmaicha. There was a moderate amount of popped rice. The toasted rice has a few more roasting protrusions than normal. It seems like the rice was roasted a bit longer than most other genmaichas that I have tried. This would result in the increased amount of popped grains and the small protrusions.

Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5oz, 1 min, 185F

1st Infusion: The first infusion had a pale green color. The rice aroma was very prominent. The flavor was very crisp and characteristic of a genmaicha. The flavor was light all around, but was in good balance. If anything the flavor was shifted a bit toward the side of the rice flavor.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 1 min

2nd Infusion: This infusion had a bolder yellow hue to it. The rice aroma was greatly reduced and the flavor was quite light. There was a bit of a starchiness in the flavor on the mid-end transition of the flavor.

Rating: 5/10

Conclusion: This is a good example of a genmaicha. The flavors are present and appropriate. In both infusions the flavors were a bit weak. In later experimentation with this tea I found that it was a better tea when infused with more leaf / water. The price is good for this particular tea. There is nothing particularly outstanding about this tea though. If you want an example of the flavors in a genmaicha this may be a good one for you to try.

Miyazaki Sakimidori 2008

Tea: Miyazaki Sakimidori 2008 - 6415
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Source: Miyazaki, Japan
Vendor Description: A first flush green tea developed in Miyazaki. Beautiful green water color and a relaxing aroma.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea was very uniform in size and they have a very nice shape. It is glossy and well polished and has a sweet aroma with hints of reminding me of a Yutaka Midori.

Infusion Parameters: 5g, 140F, 5 oz, 1 min

1st Infusion: The tea has a radiant luminescent green color to it. There is a light haziness in it and a thick, sweet, and heavy aroma to it. The flavor is light yet rich and flavorful. It is smooth with a light grassy feeling to it. It feels almost like a very light gyokuro. There are no traces of bitterness or astringency.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 140F, 30s

2nd Infusion: This time the tea has a bit more muddled of an aroma. It is deeper in color yet it still retains a certain luminescence. The flavor is veyr different. It feels much sharper on the front third of the flavor. It is very smooth and has a very very light bitterness to it. This is more like a sencha than the first infusion was. It was a very enjoyable tea.

Rating: 9/10

Conclusion: This was quite an amazing tea, yet the only thing that I didn't really like about it was the change in the flavor between the first and second infusions. The first infusion was reminiscent of a gyokuro and the second was much more characteristically a sencha. While for some teas the change in the flavor betwen infusions is what makes them unique, this seemed to detract a bit from the enjoyment of the tea. Both infusions on their own were fantastic though.

Melon White Fridge Brew

Tea: Melon White - 7017
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $13.00 / 50g
Source: Fujian, China
Vendor Description: White tea from Fujian province is scented with succulent and sweet melon.

About this tea: This was a fridge brew infusion of the Melon White from Lupicia.

Infusion Parameters: 15g, 1L

Infusion: This was one of the first white teas that I have done a fridge brew for. 15g of leaf is quite voluminous, and took up much of my infuser basket for this tea. The tea came out with a very very clear, amber colored infusion. The flavor is again an interesting mix between cantaloupe and white tea. The cantaloupe is a bit more prominent over the white tea flavor and the flavor is much longer lasting and very refreshing. The flavor reminds me even more of fresh cantaloupe now. There is a very light bitterness on the back end of the tea, but it pairs well with the sweetness of the tea to provide a very enjoyable nice round flavor.

Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: This was more enjoyable than the hot brew infusion of the same tea. It has a very nice smooth flavor to it with nothing complicating it. The downside is that it requires a rather large amount of leaf to create this infusion, and again the price of this tea is somewhat prohibitive. Try this one on a hot day though if you pick up this tea. You won't be disappointed.