Tea Review: Kaga Bocha Genmai (Yunomi/Yamane-en)

Kaga Bocha Genmai

Yamane-en/Yunomi
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture and Ishikawa Prefecture, Kanazawa
Product Description:

The region of Ishikawa Prefecture was once called Kaga and has a centuries-long history of roasting the stems of tea leaves. Though the region itself doesn't have a large commercial tea agriculture industry, they are masters at roasting leaf stems from other parts of Japan.

This version includes a mix of toasted rice for an extra nutty flavor.

BOWCHA is our partner in this region, and has provided us with a light roast of high grade spring tea leaf stems.

Temperature: 194° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time:  1-2 minutes

The dry leaf has notes of ground nuts and sesame.

The golden liquor has a toasty aroma with notes of cooked rice and a hint of vine bean.  The taste is toasty with notes of nuts, rice, and corn.  

This was a comforting tea with roasty notes throughout three infusions. Increasing the steeping time of the third infusion to 2 minutes really brought the flavor back out.

This tea was purchased by me.

Tea Review: Kaga Bocha Ginger (Yunomi/Yamane-en)

Kaga Bocha Ginger
Yamane-en/Yunomi
Type: Flavored Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture
Product Description: 

The region of Ishikawa Prefecture was once called Kaga and has a centuries-long history of roasting the stems of tea leaves. Though the region itself doesn't have a large commercial tea agriculture industry, they are masters at roasting leaf stems from other parts of Japan.

This version includes a mix of dried ginger for an extra spicy flavor.

BOWCHA is our partner in this region, and has provided us with a light roast of high grade spring tea leaf stems.

Temperature: 194° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 1 minute

The dry leaf aroma has notes of ginger and ground nuts.

The liquor is golden peach in color with aroma and flavor notes of roasty ginger.

This was an impulse purchase because I like hojicha and ginger tea separately and I'm delighted to say that this was exactly what I was hoping for.  The fullest flavor was in the first two infusions, though a longer steeping time of at least 2 minutes helped to lift the mellower flavor of the third.  I was reminded of a ginger-flavored puff pastry which is now something I need to find a recipe for.

This tea was purchased by me.

Tea Review: 2022 First Flush Yutaka Midori Fukamushicha (Yunomi/Yamane-en)

2022 First Flush Yutaka Midori Fukamushicha

Yunomi/Yamane-en
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Kagoshima Prefecture, Ibusuki District, Ei Village
Product Description: 

Delicious fukamushicha, or deep-steamed tea, from the Village of Ei in Kagoshima Prefecture. Together with the Villages of Chiran and Kawabe, the entire region is known as the Chiran region producing world famous Chirancha (Tea from Chiran). The first flush tends to be characterised by an excellent balance between delicate flavor and reasonable pricing, a gem hiding quietly waiting to be discovered. 

About the cultivar: Yutaka Midori (ゆたかみどり) means abundant green in Japanese. It is a cultivar that is mostly found in Kagoshima prefecture (30% cultivated area) as it is a cultivar that is suitable for warm weather. This cultivar ranks second after the Yabukita cultivar with respect to cultivation area and popularity in Japan. While producers often mix the Yutaka Midori with other cultivars, a single cultivar tea will give a deep green color with a balanced astringency and sweetness and pleasant fragrance.  

Temperature: 160° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 1 minute

The dry leaf aroma has sweet, nutty, and light marine green notes.

The bright green liquor is slightly cloudy with a savory, nutty, and edamame aroma.  The taste is thick, savory, and nutty with edamame and light grass notes and a long savory, nutty, and sweet green finish.

For the purposes of this review, I followed the brewing instructions on the package, steeping for 1 minute with a water temperature of 160° F.  Due to the deep steaming process (fukamushi), there was a fair amount of sediment at the bottom of the cup which seemed to add a bit of extra flavor to each sip.  The first two infusions were filled with delicious umami with an underlying sweetness in flavor and aroma that moved to the front with the third infusion.  

This tea was purchased by me.

Tea Review: Sugabow Goyokuro Karigane Hojicha (Yunomi/Yamane-en)

Sugabow, Goyokuro Karigane Hojicha
Yamane-en/Yunomi
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Kyoto Prefecture, Uji
Product Description:

Stems of high grade tea is called karigane 雁音. By roasting these stems in an iron pot, it becomes Karigane Houjicha. This particular product uses gyokuro tea stems from Uji, Kyoto.

How is this karigane houjicha different from regular houjicha? The answer is in the strength of fire. Usually, houjicha is roasted over an extremely low heat. In this way, the tea will not be burnt but roasted to the core of the teas. However, the flavor of the tea is lost through this process, leaving behind only the aroma.

This karigane houjicha is roasted in an iron pot over strong heat. Only the surface of the stems are roasted, retaining the flavor of the tea itself, because the inner part of the stem is not roasted. Both the strong aroma and taste of tea can be enjoyed.

The water color is a bit cloudy compared to regular houjicha with clear water color, but this cloudy water color is the flavor of tea.

Today, the iron pot roasting is very rare and so only those tea shops that are particular about houjicha come visit the factory. Yamane-en's Shiobara-san wanted to experience this iron pot roasting so visited this factory in Uji, Kyoto to learn the technique!!

WHAT IS 'SUGABOW'?? That was a question we had for Shiobara-san. It's a little pun...one of the most famous type of kukicha in Japan is Kagabou from Ishikawa Prefecture. Since, Yamane-en is based in Sugamo, Tokyo, Kagabou becomes 'Sugabow'.

Temperature: 190° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 1-2 minutes

The dry leaves have an aroma of roasted nuts with a hint of cocoa.

The copper orange infusion is slightly opaque with a rich, almost buttery aroma of roasted nuts and hints of cocoa and caramelized sugar.  The taste is thick, rich and savory, and almost smooth with notes of roasted nuts and a hint of cocoa. 

This tea was included in the Fukubukuro/New Year lucky bag I purchased from Yunomi.  I was delighted to find this among the selections as it seems every karigane hojicha I encounter is unique and always delicious.  Following the recommended 1 minute steeping time brought out the best results with a nuanced flavor and smoothness that is unusual for standard hojicha.  The second infusion was almost equally flavorful after 1 minute, while the third infusion seemed to have lost much of it's nuance until I increased the steeping time to 2 minutes and found myself with another delightfully flavorful cup of tea. This is still a rather forgiving tea, so longer steeping times and higher water temperatures will provide good, if less nuanced results.  

This tea was purchased by me.