A Treasure Trove of Japanese Teas

Last Saturday I attended the event "A Treasure Trove of Japanese Teas" hosted by Northwest Tea Festival, Heather Porter of Hanamichi Blog, and Cinnabar of Phoenix Tea.

The Luminaries at Work

 

Some of the incredible teaware used during this event:

Heather has been to Japan many times and has some great tea connections. At the event, Heather told us charming stories from her latest trip to Japan while Cinnabar brewed and distributed perfect cups of tea. Below are my tasting notes on the 8 wonderful teas presented.

Kuradashi Sencha
This first tea was light, refreshing, buttery, and sweet. A great start to the tasting.

Kamigokoro kabusecha
From a family in Uji that has made tea since the 1500's. It was buttery, grassy, with a slight artichoke note. Super delicious.

Baisen Hiirecha
This tea had a rich toasty note. Very hearty and brothy compared to the first two. Loved it!

Tougenkyou
This is a super fragrant tea. It's a little floral and also crisp, clean and brothy. It was my favorite tea at the event!

Harigane Hojicha
This Hojicha was strong and fragrant. Most guests really loved it but I wasn't too into it. It was good, but I got a slight burnt popcorn aftertaste.

Gyokuro
My second favorite tea at the event! It was like drinking pearls (in a good way :). Very brothy, nutty, and luscious.

Fukucha (good luck tea) sencha
This tea was cheerful and bright. I liked it, but compared to the other greens we tasted it was lacking complexity for me.

Wakocha (black tea)
I'm very into this tea! It's peachy, and floral with a note that reminded me of an heirloom tomato. I would drink this often if I could.

 

ありがとう Heather and Cinnabar!

Matcha Morning

It's a beautiful cool misty morning here in Burien, Washington. I've got the door open at Phoenix Tea and I can smell the sea. My tea of choice today is a high-quality matcha (抹茶) green tea called "御薄茶万代昔" from 上林春松本店 in Japan.

Big 謝謝 to my friend Jason for hooking me up with this delicious treasure.

Hojicha Spearmint Iced Tea

Hojicha is a toasted Japanese tea. I like it, it makes a nice hot beverage, but I seldom crave it. I drink plenty of hot tea everyday... but on those particularly warm and sunny days (a rarity here in Seattle) I sometimes dabble in iced tea too and Hojicha is one of my favorites.

Back in 2001, my first year as a tea seller, my tea mentor Donna Fellman suggested I add a big pinch of dried spearmint leaves to Hojicha. I thought it tasted wonderful and have made it at least once every summer since.

Today I tried it with 5 fresh spearmint leaves from my yard. First I ripped up and muddled the spearmint in a jar. Then I steeped them with a rounded teaspoon of hojicha leaves for ~5 minutes with near boiling water. After it cooled, I poured it over ice. The result, garnished with a spearmint sprig, was divine.

I feel like this would make a nice ice tea to serve at a summer garden party or barbecue.

Genmaicha with Matcha

Today was cold and rainy here in Seattle. I made a pot of genmaicha with matcha for my afternoon tea. An unusual choice for me but it really hit the spot.

"美味しい"

DoMatcha's Organic Ceremonial

Last week my good friend and former coworker Tiffany P. asked me if I'd like to review DoMatcha's Organic Ceremonial tea on my blog. I've had a couple of great experiences with DoMatcha's products in the past at World Tea Expo so I happily agreed. Just two days later a can of tea and a new bamboo whisk (aka chasen) appeared at my door!

You may already know this (but it bears repeating) in order to taste good, matcha must be prepared well. It really takes skill, and that means a lot of practice. I'm by no means a skilled matcha whipper. I've only had a couple of short tutorials and seen a few videos. I don't drink matcha very often but I am lucky to already possess a very nice Japanese matcha bowl and chasen.

This morning I set up a serene matcha tasting under my cherry tree. As I opened the can I was delighted to find a small red booklet explaining matcha preparation waiting under the lid. Very classy.

The tea smells fresh and has a lively green color. I'll try my best to whisk it well!

I used two scoops from my bamboo matcha scoop (aka chashaku) and a few ounces of 190° spring water. I whisked as smooth and quick as possible in a zig-zag pattern for about 20 to 25 seconds until it looked like this:

Wide shot:


Close up:

The tea has a heady, sweet aroma and felt rich and substantial in my mouth. The texture was not at all chalky. My tasting notes included green banana (in a good way), and sugar snap pea. My daughter, who has never tried matcha before, took one small sip and stated that "Drinking matcha tea makes me feel like a sweet apple." (It should be noted that she is three years old and happened to be eating an apple at the time.)

I don't claim to have a well developed palate for matcha tea but I'd rank this one as very good.

Sugimoto's Spring 2010 Temomi Shincha

I recently treated myself to a selection of Sugimoto Tea Company's 2010 Shincha (新茶) for my own personal enjoyment. Today I am savoring the rarest of my new treasures, a tea called Temomi Shincha. According to my Seattle tea friend Kyohei Sugimoto, this tea was entirely handmade by his mother on April 23, 2010.

Look at these beauties.

I followed Kyohei's brewing instructions as seen on his blog (linked here) and steeped the tea five times. The broth had a pale yellow color with a thick sheen of tea oil sparkling on the surface. The aroma was sweet and pungent, reminding me slightly of newly mowed lawn and light spring rain.

I have never had a tea like Temomi Shincha before. It was extremely buttery, but also vibrant and grassy. It was a little bit like drinking warm unsalted vegetable broth and the tea left me feeling comfortable and nourished.

After the session I nibbled some of the spent leaves. They were the most tender tea leaves I have ever eaten!