Tag: Green Tea

Posted on

Masters Teas’s Shincha Genmaicha

Shincha Genmaicha by Masters Teas
Green Tea / Straight
$19.00USD for 1.5oz

Masters Teas has provided me with Shincha Genmaicha for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Shincha Genmaicha came to me in a sealed, resealable pouch with a matte label on the front that has a bit of information about this tea. Between the label and the product page, I learned that Shincha Genmaicha comes from Shizuoka, Japan and the farmer’s name is Katahira. This Japanese green tea was harvested in April 2019 and is considered an ‘early spring’ harvest.

Shincha Genmaicha consists of Japanese green tea and puffed rice. The leaves are very flat, thin and dark green. For the most part, the rice is brown and has a light, delicate toasted aroma to it, with a few pieces in the mix that reminds me of popcorn because of the way the rice puffed up. There’s a mix of sweet and salty aroma coming from the dry leaf, along with the ‘popcorn’ smell. I find the aroma of Shincha Genmaicha to be really inviting.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Shincha Genmaicha at 180°F (82°C) for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep was for 2 minutes with 175°F (79°C) water.

First Taste

A 120 second steep of Shincha Genmaica results in a very pale yellow-green tea. The aroma of the tea is very similar to the dry leaf – a mix of salty and sweet. I found that the flavour of Shincha Genmaicha is a mix between a nice sweet vegetal quality, the puffed rice flavour, and light savoury aspect to the tea that is mostly lingering in the background. The umami notes in the tea are pleasant and make it a nice savoury tea to sip.

A Second Cup?

Masters Teas suggests that the leaves can be used for up to seven infusions – so naturally I did seven resteeps (eight steeps total) and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the steeped leaves became very bright green, and the tea itself became a brighter yellow-green as well. The flavour profile remained fairly similar to the initial steep – I found that it was a bit less sweet as the steeps went on and became more savoury with stronger umami flavours.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’s Shincha Genmaicha. I found that this Japanese green tea really resteeped well, holding strong for a total of eight steeps of the same leaves. I really enjoyed the flavour of this tea – it was pleasant to drink and have the flavour profile very slowly shift as I went through all the steeps. I would definitely recommend taking your time with this tea so that you can enjoy the change in the balance of the flavours as you steep it repeatedly.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

Naked Teas Galore’s Matcha Latte

Organic Matcha Latte by Naked Teas Galore
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$3.25 for 25g sampler or $14.95 for 227g

First Impressions

Organic Matcha Latte was a little packet I picked up when I was at the Naked Teas Galore retail location in Langley, BC some time ago. I really appreciated that their flavoured matcha selection was available in both sample packets as well as much larger bags (25g vs 227g!). I opted for a few 25g packets so I could get a couple cups to try before committing to a larger bag or tin. Organic Matcha Latte comes in a sealed, resealable foiled bag. The front label tells me the name and ingredients, the back provides preparation instructions.

Organic Matcha Latte isn’t as green as I expected, nor bright. The colour reminds me of a shade of green I might find in some moss or something like that. There is a considerable amount of cane sugar granules, so I really wasn’t able to sift the powder when preparing it. Organic Matcha Latte consists of: organic cane sugar, organic matcha, and citric acid. The powder blend smells a bit sweet, I can’t really smell the matcha.

Preparation

Naked Teas Galore provides preparation instructions for making this either hot or cold. For hot, it’s mix with a hot milk of your choice. For cold, it’s to add the powder blend to a shaker cup, and then add ice and milk. I didn’t sift the powder, because the cane sugar granules are so large, and I mixed this with heated unsweetened organic soy milk directly in the cup.

First Taste

Organic Matcha Latte doesn’t really colour the soy milk too much – soy milk is naturally a bit of a cream colour, and the Organic Matcha Latte just gives it a slightly dull green colour. Organic Matcha Latte does taste sweet – I can taste all that cane sugar! I found that the matcha flavour was very mild – I didn’t note any grassy or umami flavour notes in the profile of the drink, with just a hint of matcha flavour at the tail end of each sip.

A Second Cup?

As always, matcha cannot be ‘resteeped’ because you drink everything all up.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Naked Teas Galore’s Organic Matcha Latte. I think this blend was just disappointing to me from the get-go. From the lack of green in the powder, to the colour of the drink after mixing it – it just wasn’t what I was expecting it to smell, look, or taste like because it lacked the flavour profile of matcha for me.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

Masters Teas’s Shincha Sencha

Shincha Sencha by Masters Teas
Green Tea / Straight
$29.00USD for 1.5oz

Master Teas has provided me with Shincha Sencha for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Shincha Sencha came to me in a sealed, resealable bag from Masters Teas. The sample label has little information – I know it was harvested in April 2019 from Shizuoka Japan – but that’s about it. But the place to go for more information the Masters Teas website, where I learned that this tea is from the farmer Katahira, a tea farmer who’s been growing tea for 15 years a part of the family business. This particular green tea can be steeped for 7 times, as per Masters Teas.

The leaves are dark green and flat leaves with some pops of bright green throughout. There’s a nice pleasant umami note in the fragrance, which otherwise has a light grassy aroma to it that’s almost sweet to the senses.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Shincha Sencha in 180°F (82°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I used 185°F (85°C) water that was cooled for a little over 5 minutes and did an initial steep of Shincha Sencha for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Shincha Sencha steeps to a pale yellow colour. It has a very light fruity and grassy aroma to it, which is pleasant. I found the flavour of this green tea to have a mix of salty, grassy, fruity, and savoury notes to it. The fruity flavour was very similar to apricots, but it was very light in comparison to the other flavours that I found in my cup. With the 2 minute steep, I found that Shincha Sencha was smooth and a pleasant cup of tea to drink.

A Second Cup?

I resteeps Shincha Sencha eight times, because Masters Teas suggested seven infusions. I found that the flavour profile shifted slowly towards more and more savoury and less sweet as I got further into the resteeps. As always, I added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colour of the tea got deeper with each steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’s Shincha Sencha. I really enjoyed the complexity of the flavour that I found in this Japanese green tea, it made for a great experience as I noted the shift in the balance of the flavours with each steep. Shincha Sencha definitely has a great savoury/umami flavour to it, and I think it would be great paired with a meal or to counter against the sweetness of desserts. I would highly recommend resteeping this tea though, to get the full experience of the flavours.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.