Tag: Yunomi

Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha by Yunomi
Green Tea / Flavoured
$7.00USD for 20g

Yunomi has provided me with Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha came to me in resealable kraft paper bag. This green tea comes from the Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden, one of the things that I realy like about Yunomi is that they list the tea gardens that their products come from – so it’s super easy to figure out the specific tea farms that each tea comes from.

When I opened the bag, I was greeted by the smokey aroma of the tea. There are a lot of short twig pieces that are mixed in with the tea leaves. The smoke aroma isn’t as astringent as a lapsong souchong, if you’re familiar with that smoked tea.

Preparation

Yunomi recommends steeping Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha in 90°C (194°F) water for 1 minute. My initial steep was for 1 minute in 91°C (195˜F) water.

First Taste

Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha steeps to a beautiful golden orange in a very short period of time. There’s a strong smokey aroma to this tea. On first taste, I notice that beyond the smokey flavour is a touch of bitterness and a mild astringency at the end of each sip. The aroma reminds me a lot of liquid smoke – I think it’d be a great tea to use in cooking to add some depth of flavour (e.g. to a barbecue marinade).

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha twice, adding an extra 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour remained consistent throughout. I think it would have held up for a few more steeps.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Yunomi’s Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha was just okay. I think if you love smokey flavours, this would be a great tea for you. I personally prefer more floral notes, which is why it’s just not a favourite for me. I can definitely see myself utilizing the tea in cooking though, to add a bit of liquid smoke flavour to a dish. The smokey flavour is strong, and this tea could probably be steeped for less than 60 seconds if you’re sensitive to bitterness in teas. I think that the aroma and taste of Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha match very well, so if you’re a fan of smokey teas, give this one a try!

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Gyokuro Phoenix 2016 by Yunomi
Green Tea / Straight
$6.00USD for 10g

Yunomi has provided me with Gyokuro Phoenix 2016 for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Gyokuro Phoenix 2016 comes from the Hattori Tea farm, from Uji, Kyoto. Yunomi describes this tea as a “heritage grade gyokuro”, which is from Akinobu Hattori, who is a tea farmer who has been farming gyokuro for fifty years. The family that runs Hattori Tea Farm has a 400 history as tea farmers (whoa!). Gyokuro Phoenix is a handpicked green tea that was harvested in the spring of 2016. This tea was aged by Yunomi.

Gyokuro Phoenix has these beautiful dark green leaves, there’s some parts of it that almost have an emerald-like shimmer to them. The leaves have a light grassy aroma to it, and they actually look quite small. But given the fact that they were harvested in the spring (and who knows how early in the spring), that seems fairly appropriate.

Preparation

Yunomi recommends a series of steep times for this green tea. An initial steep for 60-80 seconds at 50°C (122°F), with a second steep for 15 seconds at 80°C (176°F) and a third steep for 45 seconds at 80°C (176°F).

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that while I do use a variable temperature kettle, I can’t change the temperature settings. What I did for the initial steep of Gyokuro Phoenix was heat the water at the lowest temperature setting 175°F (79°C) and allow it to cool for about 7 minutes and I steeped the tea leaves for 70 seconds.

First Taste

Gyokuro Phoenix steeps to a pale yellow. The aroma that I get from this green tea is primarily that of sweetness, with a bit of salty air to it. When I tasted it, I noted that it had a bit of sweetness and some grassy notes. There was a pleasant amount of umami with each sip, which added a great mouthfeel to this tea. The grassy flavours made it taste very fresh, and felt very summery.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Gyokuro Phoenix a total of three times – I did the 2nd and 3rd steep was per the suggested steep times and did the 4th steep at 60 seconds. It did so well with each resteep, the flavours got stronger for the second steep, and started to wane for the third and fourth, but it was still a flavourful cup of tea.

My Overall Impression

I loved Yunomi’s Gyokuro Phoenix 2016. This green tea was flavourful and just steeped well. It’s definitely one that I would say you would need to watch your water temperature and steeping times, especially with such a low recommended temperature and relatively short resteep times. There was happily no bitterness or astringency at the recommended temperature settings, so I think Yunomi was on the ball with this one.

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Genmaicha: Brown Rice Green Tea by Yunomi
Green Tea / Flavoured
$8.00USD for 100g

Yunomi has provided me with Genmaicha: Brown Rice Green Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Genmaicha: Brown Rice Green Tea came to me in a kraft paper sealed pouch lined with foil – not resealable, unfortunately. This particular Genmaicha comes from Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms in Wazuka, Kyoto, Japan. You can clearly see all of the ingredients in this tea – from the flattened, long green tea leaves, to the tiny puffs of rice mixed in.

Genmaicha: Brown Rice Green Tea consists of green tea and toasted brown rice. The aroma from this tea is primarily that of cut grass (from the green tea) and wheat (from the toasted brown rice), but it’s quite mild and subtle. The label on the packaging says that the rice is sweet mocha rice, which I am unfamiliar with.

Preparation

Yunomi suggest steeping this green tea blend at 90°C (195°F) for 60 seconds, I followed the steeping instructions for the initial steep.

First Taste

Genmaicha: Brown Rice Green Tea steeps to a pale yellow with a very vibrant aroma that I wasn’t quite expecting, considering how subtle it was in the dry leaf. The aroma is mostly that of cut grass and then there’s the nutty aroma that comes from the brown rice. When I sip the tea, I’m surprised by the sweetness that is present. It’s not overwhelmingly or cloyingly sweet, it’s just enough to make the sweetness known, and mingles well with the nuttiness and the grassy flavours. It’s quite the good balance between the flavours in this blend.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Genmaicha: Brown Rice Green Tea three times, I added an extra 30 seconds per subsequent steep. The tea steeped to a more golden yellow with each steep, and the flavours got deeper in the first resteep with the same balance as the first steep, just stronger. By the third resteep (fourth steep overall), I found the flavours were be almost lacking, as it was getting to be watered down. I think two or three resteeps would do most people just fine in terms of flavour intensity.

My Overall Impression

I loved Yunomi’s Genmaicha: Brown Rice Green Tea. This green tea blend just has a beautiful balance of flavours – from grassy to nutty to sweet. It resteeps well, and has a lovely aroma and flavour. I really enjoyed steeping this tea and drinking it – and the price isn’t anything to sneeze at either, as it’s pretty affordable considering the number of resteeps that you can get from these leaves.

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