Mystery Green Tea (5 Jan 5 2023)
Given to me by Shiho-san from Cha Do Raku to taste-test. I was given guidelines for brewing but no information about what it could be.
- Smells like a mixture between hojicha and matcha — toasted and marine
- I understand, when smelling the hojicha-like toastyness, why 95 Celsius was recommended, but based on the colour of the tea itself (very green, some sticks), I decided to go with somewhere between 85 and 90 Celsius
- I did not have a full tea spoon — maybe 2 or 3 grammes, so I tried to use a very small amount of water.
First infusion: 85 Celsius, 2 minutes
- Taste was very different from the smell when dry;
- The tea smells vegetal, herbaceous, with hints of hay and squash; I was expecting stronger umami/marine notes from the smell of the dry tea so that was surprising!
- A subtle bitter sharpness was definitely present in the first infusion (I am very sensitive to bitter) which also surprised me
- I did find it reminiscent of karigane kukicha, but more complex
After the first infusion:
- The wet leaves had a very pronounced vegetable smell; very pleasant.
Second infusion: 90 Celsius, 2 minutes
- I found the second infusion very interesting.
- Very soft, reminded me almost of oolong, there was less discordance between taste and perfume;
- Stronger squash and legume notes;
- Hint of umami; very pleasant;
- No bitterness;
- I really liked it.