Tea Review: Kuki Hojicha (Kaminari Issa)

Kuki Hojicha/​茎ほうじ茶​

Kaminari Issa/雷一茶
Type: Green
Origin: Japan
Product Description:

This tea is made from roasted sencha stems and has a fragrant, refreshing taste.

Temperature: 176° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 2-3 minutes

The dry leaves have an aroma of fresh roasted chestnuts.

The aroma and taste of the copper-orange liquor is rich with notes of roasted nuts.

This tea was delicious throughout three infusions with the fullest flavor in the first.  While it mellows slightly by the second infusion, adding a minute or two to the steeping time after the first really helped to bring out the flavor.  For those of us who don't always watch a timer and get distracted easily, this hojicha does well at almost any temperature and steeping time.  This tea is available in-store only, at the time of this review.

This tea was purchased by me.

Tea Review: Genmaicha (Kaminari Issa)

Genmaicha/​玄米茶
Kaminari Issa/雷一茶
Type: Flavored Green
Origin: Japan
Product Description: 

It brings out the refreshing aroma of karigane and roasted rice.

Temperature: 175° F

Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 1-2 minutes

The dry leaf aroma has deep notes of nuts, roasted rice, and greens.

The yellow-green infusion has an aroma and taste of nuts and roasted rice with green bean-like notes in the finish.  

This was one of the most deliciously flavorful genmaicha blends I've tasted which may at least partially be due to using karigane (gyokuro stems).  I had flavorful results throughout three infusions by steeping the first two for 1 minute and the third for 2 minutes with the liquor color becoming bright green by the second infusion.

This tea is available in-store only, at the time of this review.

This tea was purchased by me.