Tag: Yunomi

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Yunomi’s Shimane Oolong Tea

Shimane Oolong Tea by Yunomi
Oolong Tea / Straight
$7.50USD for 20g

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Yunomi has provided me with Shimane Oolong Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Shimane Oolong Tea is part of Yunomi’s collection of teas from the Takarabako Tea Farm, located in Oba Sorayama District, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. While the sample packaging for this tea was not resealable, it has a soft, papery feel to the outside of the foil bag.

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Shimane Oolong Tea is described as being organic on Yunomi’s product page for this tea. It is a straight oolong tea, and I was pleasantly greeted with the aroma of this tea when I cut open the packaging. The dry leaf smells like golden raisins and freshly made toast. Inside, the dry leaf consists of mostly medium sized leaves with some broken stems.

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Preparation

Yunomi recommends steeping Shimane Oolong Tea in 90°C (194°F) water for 3 minutes. I did my initial steep for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Shimane Oolong Tea steeps to a pale honey colour, the aroma of this tea is primarily golden raisins with something that reminds me of peaches. The tea itself has a very mild astringency, not too much that it caused me any mouth-puckering. It has a slight sweetness, which goes well with the raisins and peaches, and it also has a refreshing crispness to the tea. Each sip of this oolong ended with a slight bitterness, I didn’t find it incredibly off-putting so I continue to drink the tea.

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I chilled a cup of Shimane Oolong Tea in the fridge and it’s delicious cold as well, in case you’re not feeling like a hot cup of tea during the hot summer days.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Shimane Oolong Tea eight times over the course of a day. I wasn’t overly careful with my steeping times towards the end, but the tea remained tasty with the flavours of golden raisins and peaches. I found that astringency remained in the tea throughout all the steeping of these leaves, but it wasn’t overwhelming. If you’re not a fan of astringent teas, I would recommend steeping for less time for the initial steep. The tea itself got to be a more golden yellow colour, and began to lose flavour by the seventh resteep. The bitterness that I had encountered at the end of each sip lingered on throughout all of the steeps.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Yunomi’s Shimane Ooolong Tea. I found that this oolong was quite tasty. There was such a complexity to the aroma and the flavours of this tea, that it was really enjoyable to drink. If you’re not a fan of astringency, I would recommend steeping less than the suggested length of time. The flavours are well balanced in this tea, both for the initial steep and the subsequent resteeps. I think this would be a great tea to have with a savoury meal because it’s not too sweet (even with the flavours of golden raisins and peaches), and it’s definitely a tea that I think should be resteeped again and again because the tea leaves are such high quality.

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

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Yunomi’s Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha

Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha by Yunomi
Green Tea / Straight
$25.00USD for 50g

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Yunomi has provided me with Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

By now, I’m sure you know I’m a sucker for good packaging. Yunomi doesn’t disappoint. Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha came to me in a sealed white foil bag that is resealable to keep the tea fresh. The label on the front is quite informative, with information regarding how much tea to use, water temperature, what to do if steeping for multiple people, ingredients, where the tea was grown (and when!), and storage information.

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When I opened the packet, I was immediately drawn into the tea because of the strong vegetal smell. It reminded me a bit of grass, as well as having salty aroma to remind me also of seaweed. The leaves are a bright and dark green and very flat. Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha consists of certified organic green tea that was harvested in April 2016 in Kirishima, Kagoshima. Storage instructions for this sencha is to have it in airtight storage, in a cool, dry area away from sunlight.

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Preparation

Yunomi recommends the first steep in 50°C (122°F) water for 2-3 minutes. For subsequent steeps, the recommendation is to use 70-80°C (158-176°F) water for 30-60 seconds. My initial steep of Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha was for 2 minutes in 50°C water.

First Taste

Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha steeps to a very pale light greeny yellow, as to be expected with a green tea. When steeped for the two minutes, I found the sencha to be very smooth – there’s no bitterness or astringency. Green tea is so easily burnt when steeped in water that is too hot or for too long, I’m glad that Yunomi’s steeping instructions were right on the button for a good cup of tea. There’s a good balance of natural sweetness and saltiness in this tea, a nice mixture that results in a good cup of tea. Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha has a lovely buttery quality to the flavour of this tea, which balances out the sweet and salty well and holds its own in this tea. I generally find sencha to have a natural saltiness to the tea, but a good one is never off-putting.

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A Second Cup?

Yunomi suggests that this tea can be resteeped up to three times, which meant that I had to push it for a fourth. I followed their steeping instructions with the resteep temperatures and times (I used the ‘green tea’ feature on my Breville IQ Kettle, which is 175°F). The flavour of this tea remains consistently the same in terms of taste and intensity for the first three resteeps, the fourth resteep (first one beyond the recommended number of steeps) was a bit lacking in flavour. Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha resteeps well and holds up to the recommended number of steeps by Yunomi.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Yunomi’s Nanadan Asamushi Okumidori Sencha. It’s a quality sencha and resteeps amazingly well. I found that the flavours are good in this traditional Japanese green tea, and the sweet-salty flavour balances out well with the buttery quality of the overall flavour profile. Because of the salty nature of this tea, its quite savoury and I think it would pair well with a meal over dessert.

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