Yunomi's Premium Sayama Sencha Suiren

7:07 AM , , , , 0 Comments

Premium Sayama Sencha Suiren
Origin: Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Harvest: First



So I decided to try the sample of Premium Sayama Sencha Surien from Morita TeaGarden that I got from Yunomi.Us for the second time today. The first time I tried it I brewed it at 150F by mistake and it turned out very bitter. I know ten degrees can be a lot of difference for a Japanese green tea, but if feel that this tea is a little temperamental. 

While not entirely relevant I know a lot of people, especially those who don’t regularly drink Japanese teas, can be a little skittish around teas grown in areas that were affected by the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant failure of 2011. While Yunomi vouches for the safety of this tea and other teas produced in the affected regions, many small farms are avoided by vendors within Japan and out because of a perceived contamination. I don’t want to recommend this tea or any tea because I feel the people who grew and made this tea are unfairly being ignored, but if you are one of those people who are afraid of Japanese teas because of the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant failure please reconsider your stance. You don’t owe anyone your patronage, but you are missing out on wonderful teas by avoiding teas produced within regions. If you have any questions about teas grown in areas affected by the 2011 disaster or want to see proof of their safety Yunomi has a contact page and they are always open to questions.



Dry Leaves: The leaves are a little broken up, but my mailman did deliver the envelop that contained this sample smashed between two heavy boxes, so I won’t hold that against it. Otherwise the dry leaf is pretty intense, mostly flattish pieces and the occasionally rounded needle shape, both of various sizes. It has a rather nice grassy scent and a little floral



First Steeping
Temperature: 140oF
Brewing Time: Thirty Seconds
Aroma: Grassy and Vegetal
Flavor: Cucumber, Grassy and Honey
Tasting Notes: This infusion was rather interesting; it has all these intense green flavors, and then this nice sweet honey aftertaste. It sort of reminds me of a Chinese green, while still being uniquely a Japanese green. There is plenty of unami in this despite the sweetness.



So despite my horrid first attempt at this tea, this brews very nice, even though I feel that I did not overbrew this tea, it has that slight bitter edge that is hiding under the surface.


Second Steeping
Temperature: 145oF
Brewing Time: Forty-Five Seconds
Aroma: Grassy and Vegetal   
Flavor: Grassy, Cucumber, Spinach, Nutty and Honey
Tasting Notes: Even sweeter than the last infusion. While the last infusion had a nice general grassy taste, this has a much fresher taste that is strangely sweet, reminiscent of a kabusencha. But the cucumber and spinach does offer a nice contrast to the sweetness in the grassy notes. It has a new nutty flavor that I thought was a little strange for such a grassy sencha. Regardless the honey taste is starting to wane and the sweet aftertaste is much weaker than the previous infusion.


This was my favorite of the three infusions, it was in that nice middle ground between good bitterness and sweetness. I don’t often find senchas that have a pleasant bitterness (without being overwhelming) or sweetness (without being sickly sweet). The more that I drank the more I felt this is similar to a kabusencha, although it is darker than any kabusencha I had this year.



Third Steeping
Temperature: 150oF
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Grassy
Flavor: Grassy, Floral and Lettuce
Tasting Notes: It’s starting to become apparent that this tea has given all it’s got. The sweetness is pretty much all gone, but now there is a weird floral taste that I did not care for. It’s drinkable still, but if I were to order this again I would probably stop at the second infusion, or perhaps a longer brew would bring out more of the dark green notes in this although it would be a shame to lose some of that sweetness.


When I decided to change my format of my blog to a more formulaic style I was afraid of this day; the day when I have to acknowledge that not all teas can last fifteen or more infusions. I am not disappointed that if I were going to brew this again I would probably stop at the second infusion, but sometimes we have to admit that it is perfectly fine for a tea be all used up after x amount of infusions. Sure I am probably that person who rings out as much as I can from my leaves, but sometimes I prefer a shorter more memorable experience than a long drawn out tea session. Regardless of the how many infusions I got out of this I still think it was a pretty good tea, currently it is being sold at $3.50 for a 10g sample, or $28.80 for 100g; while this tea is approaching its first birthday and Yunomi.Us is probably going to have a sale to get rid of their 2014 stock after the spring harvest comes in it is still nice. It doesn’t taste like it is starting to go sale, but you readers who are of a more economic mindset then me might want to wait on purchasing it, in a little more than a month I imagine many of us are going to be drinking 2015 Shincha for the same price as this tea right now.


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Shan Valley’s Valley Green Tea 2014

7:52 AM , , , 0 Comments

Origin: Mynamar


I thought I had a sample of the 2013 harvest of this tea, but sadly I do not so I can’t do a proper comparison between years, but I am assuming this is made from either the Summer, Autumn or Winter harvest of the First Flush plants, but I could be wrong. Anyways, let's get on to the Shan Valley Valley Green tea.


Dry Leaves: The leaves are slightly twisted, but they still are quite flat otherwise they are similar to the Shan Valley First Flush 2014 harvest, I don’t see as many stems, but it has a fruity aroma, although not the same aroma as the First Flush closer to stone fruits and has some tangy smoky notes. The 2014 First Flush reminded me of barbeque sauce, this one not so much although I could distinguish a little cooked artichoke in it.


First Steeping
Temperature:  175oF
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Fruity
Flavor: Metallic, Cherry, Grass and Seaweed
Tasting Notes: It’s quite interesting how similar this tea is to the 2014 First Flush, yet how different. It tastes like a darker version of the first flush although the individual flavors are quite different. Most notably this lacks the honey notes of the First Flush, but it has a rather sweet cherry taste. Unlike the first flush the metallic taste is not as sharp.



Compared to my first infusion of the 2014 First Flush, this comes up a little short. This teas is a little darker and has more astringency, a little too dark for my tastes.


Second Steeping
Temperature: 180oF
Brewing Time:  One and a half Minutes
Aroma: Fruity                     
Flavor: Ocean, Metallic, Stone Fruit and Seaweed
Tasting Notes: It is developing a strong unami taste that I don’t remember in any of the other Shan Valley teas I had so far. I was sad to see the cherry notes become less distinct, but this infusion was much more pleasant than the previous. 


It is a little reminiscent of Japanese greens, but is nowhere as subtle. I think that is the fatal flaw with this tea it has too many strong contrasting flavors.


Third Steeping
Temperature: 185oF
Brewing Time: Two Minutes
Aroma: Fruity and Floral
Flavor: Ocean, Metallic, Fruity, and Nutty
Tasting Notes: This was very different from the previous infusions, but it was the best. It still struggles with balancing one strong flavor with another. Definitely my favorite of the three infusions, most of the astringency has gone by now.




My problem with this tea is it has too many strong overwhelming flavors fighting for attention. I prefer the First Flush over this, but Shan Valley is selling this for $1 an ounce (or 6 ounces for $5 at the time of writing this). I was a little curious as I was writing this and searched Steepster and a couple tea review blogs and was a little surprised at how poorly received this tea is, while it certainly is the ugly sister of Shan Valley’s teas (that I tried) I’ve had much worse. As you can see by my photos I have quite a lot of this tea, I plan on roasting some of this and aging the rest, some of Shan Valley’s other greens I’ve compared to puerh in previous posts and I am curious if this has any potential to improve with age.




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White2Tea's 2007 Repave

7:01 AM , , , 0 Comments

(Tea Provided for Review)
2007 White2Tea Repave
Origin: Hekai


So I decided to continue riding the puerh train, even though I’ve been on the Taiwanese Oolong train for the last couple months, and decided to try White2Tea’s 2007 Repave.



Dry Leaves: I have a big ol’ chunk that is pretty tightly compressed. Other than that there is not much of an aroma.



First Steeping
Temperature: 175oF
Brewing Time: Thirty Seconds
Aroma: Tobacco, Earth and Wood
Flavor: Tobacco, Caramel and Citrus
Tasting Notes: Instantly I noticed how smooth and mellow this tea is. It has a nice syrupy mouthfeel to it, ridiculously thick for a first steeping. Besides that it is a very punchy young sheng, the only real issue I had with this tea so far is that it has a strange molasses/caramel taste that in the end I decided to list as caramel, but that is not exactly right.


It is very potent, I wasn’t overly fond of the tobacco notes, but I could certainly live with it. So far no bitterness which I found a little disappointing, but c’est la vie.   



Second Steeping
Temperature: 180oF
Brewing Time: Forty-Five Seconds
Aroma: Earth, Tobacco, Wood and Floral                 
Flavor: Tobacco, Burnt Caramel, and Citrus
Tasting Notes: It has become very smooth and became dark really fast! I had to double check White2Tea’s site because even when brewed at such a low temperature it is starting to feel like a shou. Suddenly the mellowness of the last infusion is gone and is replaced with a swift punch to the kidneys. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a lovely tea, but  the last infusion lead me to believe this was a soft delicate tea with a slight edge, while this infusion is much edgier. (I didn’t realize this initially, but I noticed when I brewed this tea on two other occasions that it has short bursts of flavor that are not as prominent in the previous or subsequent infusions)


Despite the sudden torrent of flavor, I still enjoyed this tea. It did become very strong fast, but not an unpleasant tea otherwise this has a sweet aftertaste.



Third Steeping
Temperature: 185oF
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Earth, Wood and Floral
Flavor: Tangy, Dark Rum, Citrus and Floral
Tasting Notes: It has become super smooth and less syrupy. Not as punchy as the last infusion, which is a plus! The tobacco notes have disappeared and the caramel has become reminiscent of dark rum. Of the three infusions this is my favorite; it is dark, but not intense, it has nice soft floral notes, a sweet aftertaste and has the mellowness of the first infusion. It is starting to develop fruity notes, I couldn’t taste them in this infusion, but in later infusions I was getting apricot, plums and dates


The tea gets much better after the third infusion, but I did notice that on my second, seventh and fifteenth infusions (on the three occasions that I brewed this tea) that it becomes very potent. I have no idea why though. I decided to continue my  habit of only documenting my first three steeping even though I feel the later ones are much better because I thought of stopping and if I did I would have missed out on all this tea had to give. If I abandon every tea that lashes out I’m sure to miss out on some gems. If I were to buy this again I might do longer rinses or skip the second infusion entirely. For $4.50 for 25 grams this is definitely worth checking out to see if you like it. .




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What-Cha Darjeeling Second Flush Goomtee Oolong

8:58 AM , , , , , 0 Comments

What-Cha Darjeeling Second Flush Goomtee Oolong
Origin: Darjeeling


So I decided to try What-Cha’s Darjeeling Second Flush 2014 Goomtee Oolong after trying What-Cha’s Silver Oolong from Nepal. I still have a couple Indian teas that I’ve been meaning to try, but I decided to try this first since I haven’t had many Indian oolongs and I am always willing to try new things, even if it is from a region I have a sordid relationship with.


Dry Leaves: It doesn’t look very oolong-y, but I am not that familiar with Indian oolongs. There was a muscatel aroma that I enjoyed; I tend to prefer second flush and later Indian greens because of the muscatel aromas/tastes.




First Steeping
Temperature: 194oF
Brewing Time: Three Minutes
Aroma: Floral and Orange
Flavor: Violet, Citrus and Spice
Tasting Notes: It reminds me a little of the Nepal Silver Oolong, but much rougher. It has floral and orange notes, but it is much darker and has a lovely spice taste. I was not expecting much from this because I am not really all that into Indian teas, but this was quite nice.

There was a muscatel element to this, but not strong enough which is not unexpected since this is a second flush Indian tea. In case you didn’t realize because of my horrible photography I had a little problem with steam today, I don’t know why steam decided to ruin (well ruin implies my photography had any intrinsic value beforehand and we all know my skill as a photographer is piss poor at best) them.



Second Steeping
Temperature: 194oF
Brewing Time: Three and a half Minutes
Aroma: Floral and Orange 
Flavor: Violet, Orange, Pepper and Woodsy
Tasting Notes: There is a new woodsy taste to it and the spice from the last infusion became distinctly peppery. This was my favorite of the three infusions. I am starting to warm up to the idea of Indian teas. I rather enjoy the Peppery and Woodsy tastes mingling while the Violet and Orange are rather sharp.

Otherwise the tea has reached its strongest point from here on it starts to wane.



Third Steeping
Temperature: 194oF
Brewing Time: Four Minutes
Aroma: Floral and Orange
Flavor: Orange, Pepper and Woodsy
Tasting Notes:  There still is some life left in these leaves, but this was my final steeping. It started to become to watery for me.


I rather enjoyed this, even though I am not known for my love of Indian teas this was rather nice. It is a little surprising I tend to dislike Darjeeling teas, but this may be the exception; regardless I may have to not judge Indian teas as harshly, at least Indian oolongs. And at the time of writing this it is on sale $10.80 for 50g (original price $13.50), I think it is worth checking out at either the sale price or the normal price and if Alistair sources the 2015 harvest from this estate I’ll have to check it out.





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What-Cha Malawi Zomba Pearls White Tea

7:10 AM , , , 0 Comments

Origin: Satemwa Tea Estate, Malawi, Africa

So I’ve been on a Malawi kick recently, I’ve had a couple of What-Cha’s other Malawi teas that I’ve been meaning to write up a little on, but I always seem to use up the entirety of my stash before I take some pictures. In the future I must remember to at least keep my phone on me. Unfortunately this is my last of What-Cha’s Malawi tea so if I am ever going to write anything on the 2014 harvest it will probably be in comparison to the 2015.

Dry Leaves: It has a nice grassy aroma and a rather strange shape, not as strange as some of What-Cha’s other teas, it sort of reminds me of a baby being swaddled or some kind of cocoon.


First Steeping
Temperature: 176oF
Brewing Time: Three Minutes
Aroma: Citrus and Green Beans
Flavor: Corn, Hay, Cucumber and Tangy
Tasting Notes:  This was very interesting. At first I was only getting corn and hay from this, they are definitely the dominant flavors, but after a few seconds of this tea on my tongue was starting to distinguish cucumber and something tangy.

This is a very crisp and clean tea, for some reason I can imagine drinking it on a hot summer day, it is a little to clean for winter and a little too heavy for the spring. This was a rather interesting steeping, but it feels more like a green tea then a white to me which is a good thing.



Second Steeping
Temperature: 180oF
Brewing Time: Four Minutes
Aroma: Citrus and Vegetal
Flavor: Hay, Cucumber, Tangy and Bell Pepper
Tasting Notes: The corn flavor is gone completely, but hay is still there although considerably weaker. I was rather happy to see the cucumber become more prominent and the addition of bell pepper was nice as well. The aroma became rather nice. I wasn’t too impressed with it in the first steeping, it smelled like a watered down sencha, this time it started to become pleasant. If I brew this again I should try rinsing this first, it’s not that the first infusion was undrinkable, but this is a much more palatable starting point.

It had a nice thickish mouthfeel. I was much more impressed this time then the last, not that I didn’t enjoy the last steeping, but this feels much more distinct whereas the previous felt like it was struggling.


Third Steeping
Temperature: 185oF
Brewing Time: Five Minutes
Aroma: Citrus and Vegetal
Flavor: Cucumber, Sugar Cane and Bell Pepper
Tasting Notes: It’s starting to become simpler and very mellow. It has become very relaxing, I liked that the bell pepper taste is still present and I am not even missing the tangy notes from the last two infusions (even though it was perhaps my favorite of the various tastes I could distinguish). It has become the kind of tea you want to drink on a lazy afternoon, not too strong, not too weak, sort of reminds me of a talented underachiever that you know could potentially accomplish great things, but for whatever reason is content doing nothing; and I love it for this. The last infusion made a great cup of tea while this isn’t as marvelous, but it is still nice and I think I prefer this last infusion to the two previous ones.

I felt the first infusion was struggling to find an identity while the second infusion was amazing it felt a little too confident and the third is the perpetual slacker that charmed me.


I should have started off with how cheap this is for $12.00 for 50g this is a steal, I may have to pick up 200 or so grams of this, it is that good. The price definitely makes this a daily drinker, but the taste is more in line with a special occasion type of tea. Words fail me when describing this tea, there is something elusive about it and I can only recommend you trying it out. While I still feel What-Cha’s wild growing Long Jing is the star of the greens, this my favorite of What-Cha's white teas. 




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