Tea Review: Hojicha (Japanese Green Tea)

Hojicha
Japanese Green Tea
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture
Product Description:  Freshly harvested premium quality green tea is roasted carefully in porcelain over charcoal for maximum flavor.

Temperature: 175° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 2 minutes

The dry leaves have an aroma of roasted nuts and seared wood.

The red-brown infusion has an aroma of roasted nut shells, caramelized sugar, and seared wood, with a hint of cocoa.  The taste is rich with notes of roasted nuts and a hint of cocoa.

Due to the roasting process, the dry leaves are incredibly light and a it takes approximately 2 heaping teaspoons to for a 3 gram serving.  The results with this much leaf were exactly what I would hope for, full-flavored rich and roasty.  Reducing the amount of leaf will still produce pleasant, if milder, results in the cup.

This tea was purchased by me.

Tea Review: Gokuzyo Aracha (Japanese Green Tea In)

Gokuzyo Aracha
Japanese Green Tea In
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka
Product Description: Gokyuzyo translates literally to "The Highest Grade" in Japanese. Among all the green tea harvested, Gokuzyo is the section of the best tea leaves based on taste, water level, aroma and the quality of the leaf itself. Trained masters (called chya-shi in Japanese) pick the best tea leaves by hand, one leaf at a time. Please enjoy the best of what we offer.

Freshly harvested sprouts are steamed right away and dried. We pick and knead the soft, new leaves gently. The process is fairly simple and may not look elegant, however, the aroma is so intense that it makes you feel as if you just got lost in a green tea processing factory.

You can enjoy this tea which includes twig tea, coarse, broken tea leaves, and powdered tea. Crude tea leaves produce a beautifully colored drink with a mild, unique taste.

Temperature: 175° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 10-20 seconds

The dry leaves have a savory, buttery, nutty, and marine green aroma.

The bright green infusion has a sweet, savory and nutty aroma.  The taste is sweet, green, and nutty with a hint of astringency and a long sweet green finish.

The best results to suit my own tasting preferences were found with a 15-20 second 1st infusion, 10 second 2nd infusion, and 15 second 3rd infusion.  The results were flavorful, sweet, and savory with astringency slowly developing throughout each infusion, while still being mild at most.  With very brief infusions, this is one of the easier teas to brew because you don't need a timer and there's not enough time for distractions to pull you away. 

If you use more leaf, consider pouring the water out almost immediately after pouring it over the leaves or reducing the water temperature to 140° F-160° F.  If you favor a bolder taste, a 1 minute 1st infusion will result in a more savory, nutty, and rich aroma with a thick, rich, green taste and moderate-to-high astringency.  A second infusion of 30 seconds is thick and bold with astringency. 

For comparison, the 2nd photo below is a 15 second infusion and the 3rd photo is a 30 second infusion.

This tea was received as a gift from a third party.

Tea Review: Green Tea with Mikan (Japanese Green Tea)

Green Tea with Mikan
Japanese Green Tea
Type: Flavored Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture
Product Description: Our premium green tea is mixed with fresh Japanese orange (mikan). The tea can be enjoyed hot or cold by simply mixing with water.

New flavors are developed over one year of research and collaboration with Japanese local high school students (Shizuoka Commercial High School).

After over a year of prototyping, Arahataen is proud to introduce the newest tea taste in Japan: Green Tea with Japanese Orange (Mikan).

This blend contains citrus unshiu (Japanese orange/mikan), green tea, sugar, dextrin, sucralose, and natural flavor.

Cold Infusion

2 teaspoons tea, stirred into 8 ounces of chilled water

Mixing with cold water will take slightly more effort than with hot water which is still easy.  I stirred with a spoon, though the process might be even easier with a small kitchen whisk or a shaker.

The infusion is bright opaque green with a lightly sweet citrus aroma.  The taste is much sweeter than the hot infusions and reminds me of freshly peeled chilled mandarins with just the barest hint of tartness.  

Hot Infusion - 175° F

2 teaspoons tea, stirred into 8 ounces of 175° F water

Mixing with hot water takes almost no effort.  There was a little sediment at the bottom of the cup, though I found it to be pleasant enough to not require additional stirring.

The infusion is bright opaque green with a sweet aroma of freshly peeled citrus.  The taste is sweet, though less so than the cold infusion, and citrus-y with a faint tartness and no astringency.

Hot Infusion - 208° F

2 teaspoons tea, stirred into 8 ounces of 208° F water

Stirring seemed to go even more quickly than the 175° F infusion.

The infusion is bright opaque green with a bold citrus aroma.  The taste is sweet and citrus-y, though milder than the 175° F infusion with no astringency.

Prepared hot or cold, the mikan flavor comes through nicely.  The recommended measure of tea is 2 teaspoons, though you can easily experiment with more or less to suit your tastes.  I haven't had mikan in a long while and it was a welcome opportunity to experience that flavor again without waiting until the next visit to Japan.  

This tea was purchased by me.

Tea Review: Issaku (Japanese Green Tea In)

Issaku
Japanese Green Tea In
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka
Product Description:  Issaku is proud masterpiece green tea created by Farm Master Mr. Arahata at Arahataen Green Tea Farm. If you are looking for the best, traditional, and authentic Japanese green tea online, you have found it.

Issaku is the highest-grade tea available from Arahataen, and, due to the complex and long process of creating the tea, only a limited quantity is available to produce every year. This tea is rare, even in Japan to enjoy.

This is the best premium traditional Japanese green tea offered by JapaneseGreenTeaIn.com. The tea is handpicked once a year on new crop, processed with the highest technology, and available in Japanese Market.

Temperature: 160° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 2 minutes

The dry leaves have a rich, buttery, nutty, and green aroma with marine and mineral notes.

The bright green infusion has a fresh green aroma with buttery and nutty notes, savory umami, and a long sweet green finish.

While I enjoyed this fukamushi (deep-steamed) tea and 160° F, it would also do quite well at 175° F.  Reducing the second infusion to 1.5 minutes produced a thick liquor that was bold but not too much so.  Sweetness had moved to the front by the third infusion and a slight increase in temperature or steeping time would easily bring out at least a few more refreshing infusions.

This tea was produced using chagusaba which has been designated a UNESCO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.  Tea fields are surrounded by Japanese grasses which are harvested and laid around and between the tea field hedges to provide soil fertilization and weed prevention. 

This tea was provided as a free sample without guarantee of a review.

Tea Review: Gokuzyo (Japanese Green Tea In)

Gokuzyo
Japanese Green Tea In
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka
Product Description: Gokyuzyo translates literally to "The Highest Grade" in Japanese. Among all the green tea harvested, Gokuzyo is the section of the best tea leaves based on taste, water level, aroma and the quality of the leaf itself. Trained masters (called chya-shi in Japanese) pick the best tea leaves by hand, one leaf at a time. Please enjoy the best of what we offer.

Temperature: 160° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 2 minutes

The dry leaves have an aroma that is rich, nutty, and green with mineral notes.

The bright green infusion has a fresh aroma that hints of springtime with notes of nuts and grass. The taste is rich, savory, and green with moderate astringency and a long sweet green finish.

This is a fukamushi (deep steamed) tea and the results were ideal for my tastes at 160° F. The second steeping was thick and cloudy, as expected, and I reduced the steeping time for that infusion to 1.5 minutes which allowed it to develop an astringency that was bold, but not so much that it wasn't enjoyable. This tea can also be steeped at 175° F if you prefer bolder results, though I would recommend cutting the time back to 1-1.5 minutes.

This tea was produced using chagusaba which has been designated a UNESCO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.  Tea fields are surrounded by Japanese grasses which are harvested and laid around and between the tea field hedges to provide soil fertilization and weed prevention.

This tea was provided as a free sample without guarantee of a review.