Rah's Thoughts on Tea

What-Cha Japan Yame Matured Kurajikomi Sencha

Origin: Yame, Kyushu, Japan

Harvest: May 2014

Elevation: 400-500m

I decided to try one of What-Cha’s new Japanese greens after a rather good experience with his Australian Japanese-style teas and this one stood out to me (although I did forget to buy a sample of the 2015 Goishicha Bancha which is probably What-Cha’s most interesting new tea).

It seems this “matured” sencha is a pseudo-kuradashi sencha, kuradashi teas are traditionally enriched for around a year, although I have heard of kuradashi teas being refrigerated rather than stored in a warehouse away from heat and cold. Although there have always been stories about crafty businesspeople who sell those teas that were forgotten in the back of a wearhouse as Kuradashi teas, although only certain types of teas are supposed to benefit from aging.

Dry Leaves: The majority of my sample is tea dust (not like bagged tea tea dust, but typical of Japanese greens) as well as couple long leaves. There is a quite a pungent grassy aroma and hints of chocolate.

First Steeping

Temperature: 185^oF

Brewing Time: Immediately

Aroma: Grassy

Flavor: Fresh Cut Grass, Citrus and Nutty

Tasting Notes: This is a rather interesting tea, it certainly tastes like a Kuradashi Sencha, it lacks the punch that some Senchas have. It has an incredibly mellow and crisp flavor, although there is quite a bit of depth to it. It was a little unusual for an aged tea to have as fresh of taste as this had.

Second Steeping

Temperature: 185^oF

Brewing Time: Twenty Seconds

Aroma: Grassy                   

Flavor: Grassy and Nutty

Tasting Notes: I was a little hesitant to follow What-Cha’s recommended brewing parameters; What-Cha suggests for the first infusion to remove leaves immediately and for each subsequent infusion add twenty seconds). I decided to even though the last infusion was pretty strong, luckily I did not over brew! While it is a tad more potent than the last infusion, it is rather nice.

The flavors are still very crisp and mellow, but the citrus of the last is gone, and while this tea is still grassy it is not a fresh as the last. I rather liked this infusion; it has a nice unusual texture for a Japanese green and some astringency.

Third Steeping

Temperature: 185^oF

Brewing Time: Forty Seconds

Aroma: Nutty

Flavor: Grassy and Nutty

Tasting Notes: Not much has changed from the last infusion, it has not started to wane, but you can definitely tell its days are numbered.

What-Cha’s Australian Greens Sencha and Shincha

What-Cha’s Australian Sencha

Origin: Two Rivers Green Tea, Acheron Valley, Victoria, Australia

Harvest: Second Flush December 2014

Cultivar: Sayamakaori, Yabukita and Okuhikaori

Elevation: 200m

So I recently got my What-Cha package and decided to immediately try one of the new Australian teas. And if you were like me you may have been confused with the description. How could a tea that was harvested in December be considered second flush, until you remember Australia is in the southern hemisphere and the seasons are inverted (Summer is from December to February, Autumn is from March to May, Winter is from June to August and Spring is September to November, roughly). It took me a much longer time than I care to admit to realize this. Anyways What-Cha describes this as:

Dry Leaves: The leaves are a mix of long flattish pieces with smaller twisted leaves. The majority of the leaves are light green with a little bit of forest green and yellow, although there are a bit of blueish green small pieces mixed in as well. I was a little surprised that there was not much of an aroma to these leaves especially since two of the cultivars that make up this sencha blend are known for having a distinct aroma.

Temperature: 165^oF (+5 for every subsequent steeping)

Brewing Time: Thirty Seconds (+ Fifteen seconds for every subsequent steeping)

Aroma: Grassy

Flavor: Grassy, Sweet Corn and Citrus

Tasting Notes: This is a rather interesting tea; I cannot help, but compare it to What-Cha’s Nepal Second Flush Sencha. Like the Nepal sencha it lacks the unami taste; while I did not feel the Nepal Sencha was lacking because of the absence of unami (mostly because it felt like the perfect hybrid of a Japanese and Chinese tea) this Australian Sencha feels like it is missing something. I am not saying it is a bad tea, but it feels very similar to eating your favorite dish only to discover the chef forgot to add an important ingredient.

Regardless this is a very thin and light tea, definitely an Asamushi (light steamed) Sencha rather than a Fukamushi (deep steamed) Sencha. Despite its thinness this is a rather nice tea, or perhaps because of it. There is some astringency to this tea, not a whole lot, but still enough to be quite pleasant. I imagine if this was a stronger tea I’d probably have missed the astringency entirely.

Australia Shincha

Origin: Two Rivers Green Tea, Archeron Valley, Victoria, Australia

Harvest: First Flush, October 2014

Cultivar: Sayamakaori, Yabukita and Okuhikaori

Elevation: 200m

Onto the Shincha!

Dry Leaves:  The leaves are darker than the Sencha and the aroma is still rather weak. Although this time there is a slightly stronger (than the Sencha) vegetal aroma.

Temperature: 165^oF (+5 for every subsequent steeping)

Brewing Time: Thirty Seconds (+ Fifteen seconds for every subsequent steeping)

Aroma: Grassy

Flavor: Grassy and Nutty

Tasting Notes:  This is quite a simple tea. It was a little strange to taste nutty flavors in a Shincha, I am use to tasting them in Senchas and later teas, but not a tea that was harvested so early. Regardless this is quite a thin tea, like the Sencha, but once again it is not unpleasant. Unlike the Sencha there is almost no astringency in this.

At the time of writing this What-Cha is selling this Shincha for $7.50 for 50g. As for whether or not I think it is worth checking out that is a little more complicated. While it is quite inexpensive, it is the weakest of What-Cha’s Australian teas. I think it is worth checking out just to see what an Australian grown Japanese inspired tea taste like, but this is not the kind of tea that you’d base an order around. Everything wrong with this tea (thinness, lackluster aroma, lack of astringency, etc) is present in the rest of What-Cha’s Australian teas, but the other three teas have some redeeming characteristic. Nevertheless I do feel What-Cha needs to have an Australian green tea sampler.

Origin: Okinawa

Harvest: Spring

I am almost a year late on this, but we can pretend it is a Kuradashi Sencha (an enriched tea that is best a couple months after harvest), except that it is a Shincha and I have never heard of a Kuradahi Shincha. Regardless I’ve been having a lot of Taiwanese oolongs recently and have been craving a proper Japanese green tea. So I’ve decided on trying this Okinawan Shincha that I bought from Obubu.

Dry Leaves: Smells very fresh and grassy. Some of the leaves look machine harvested, but this was a relatively inexpensive tea so it isn’t that big of deal. Leaves are mostly blueish green although there is quite a bit of yellows and lighter greens.

First Steeping

Temperature: 160^oF

Brewing Time: One Minute

Aroma: Grassy

Flavor: Grassy and Buttered Vegetables

Tasting Notes: It was very simple, but perfect. I was a little surprised at how murky the water became when I was brewing this in my houhin. Besides that this reminds me a little of a Kabushincha and a little bit of Gyokuro, although it is missing the sweetness of a kabushincha and the depth of a gyokuro. Regardless it was quite interesting despite its simplicity.

It had almost no astringency. I almost want to place this on the sweeter side of the bitter-sweet spectrum of Shinchas, but it lacks sweetness and bitterness which is something I have not encountered often with Japanese greens. It is a very neutral tea.

Second Steeping

Temperature: 165^oF

Brewing Time: One and a half Minutes

Aroma: Wet Grass              

Flavor: Grassy, Vegetal and Citrus

Tasting Notes: Still a very neutral tea, although the citrus flavor is making it a little tart. It still is a very mild tea, I might have described this as plain, but it is very subtle and delicious. While I do tend to prefer teas with stronger or more complex flavors, this was quite nice. Definitely not the type to dazzle you, but the kind you can only appreciate with a clean palate and plenty of time.

This was my favorite of the three infusions. It feels like the quintessential Japanese tea, very reserved, but one can easily see the prettiness if one pays attention.

Third Steeping

Temperature: 170^oF

Brewing Time: Two Minutes

Aroma: Wet Grass

Flavor: Grassy, Vegetal, Tangy Berry and Citrus

Tasting Notes: It’s starting to remind me a lot of a guricha which is a shame, it is starting to lose some of its charm. Not that it isn’t still enjoyable, but it is becoming a little generic. In later infusions it develops an almond flavor and becomes essentially guricha. Starting to be on the sweeter side.

Overall an interesting Shincha and for 50g at $11 (at the time of writing this) it is not a bad deal. Definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of Senchas, and it is a nice introduction to Japanese teas if you are worried about bitterness. I did find the packaging a little garish, but it was an amusing contrast to a very unassuming tea to have a very bright package. My major criticism of this is that it loses its uniqueness in later infusions. I’ve been drinking an ungodly amount of vibrant and loud teas this year; I have been craving the simpler more refined teas and the first two infusions was both simple and refined, but it started to lose both in later infusions when minor flavors started to appear. Regardless I am quite fond of this tea and it was an interesting experience to see a tea blossom from a meek beauty into something louder.

Origin: Obubu Tea, Kyoto, Japan

Harvest: Summer 2014

So I received a new houhin from O-Cha and decided to break it in with this Sencha. I haven’t been that impressed with many of the Japanese teas I’ve had this year even though Senchas are probably my favorite kind of tea, so I was a little cautious about this tea even though it is from Obubu Tea being sold by What-Cha.

Dry Leaves: I think this is a machine harvested, judging by some of the smaller tea leaves. This isn’t as uniform tea as I like for Sencha, there are quite a few bits that would not stand out from Long Jings, while others are tightly coiled and sill there are some smaller fragments. I wasn’t too impressed by the leaves, but they had a lovely green bean aroma and a nice spectrum of colors. There were more yellows and blues in my sample packet.

First Steeping

Temperature: 158^oF

Brewing Time: One Minute

Aroma: Vegetal and Camphor

Flavor: Sweet Grass, Seaweed and Spinach

Tasting Notes: The first steeping was bitterer then I expected, although I did not find it entirely unpleasant, at first I thought I used more tea leaves then I should have, but in subsequent infusions the tea started to shine. Besides the bitterness this first infusion felt very much like a run of the mill Sencha.

Second Steeping

Temperature: 163^oF

Brewing Time: One and a half Minutes

Aroma: Vegetal           

Flavor: Wet Grass, Vegetal, Hay, Citrus and Savory Bitterness

Tasting Notes: While it wasn’t as bitter as the previous infusion, it still had some bitterness, although it became much more pleasant. I was quite surprised, while I wasn’t that shocked to find a Japanese tea with some initial bitterness, I was amazed by how quick it became pleasant. Otherwise it started to develop a sweet finish.

I was quite fond of this infusion even though I liked the previous, this time it had a nice balance.

Third Steeping

Temperature: 168^oF

Brewing Time: Two Minutes

Aroma: Vegetal

Flavor: Grass, Savory Bitterness, Buttery and Sweet

Tasting Notes: It became much more simple than the previous infusions, and not as nuanced, although it was still quite pleasant. Even though the flavors were not as complex or as crisp as previous infusions, this was my favorite of the three infusions.

Overall I was impressed with this it was rather enjoyable for a summer tea. And at $8.80 for 50g (at the time of writing this) it is well worth the price. I am not sure if I would recommend this tea unless someone was familiar with Japanese greens. I haven’t had many summer senchas that start out as strong as this one then become sweeter in subsequent infusions which was a rather interesting transition for a sencha. While it may not be a daily drinker for everyone, it certainly s for me I can easily see myself buying more of this as my morning tea. I got about five infusions out of this tea although I might stop at four the next time.