Obukucha

Second January Steepster tea of the day. Hopefully I can do it justice. I’m trying this one unsweetened to start with. Sometimes I can get away with that for really nice greens. I don’t have a lot of experience with Japanese greens like this but the last sencha I had, a cupping class at the JusTea headquarters, I really liked it and that obviously didn’t have sugar in it. Thankfully this experience won’t involve so much slurping.

This smells very much a very vegetal green. As soon as it cools down a bit, I’m looking forward to drinking.

First steep (1 minute), very very GREEN. All the things are muddled together and it isn’t as clear tasting as the sencha I had before. It tastes darker if that’s possible. Not sure what to make of it.

Will be edited if other infusions are different.

I love the aroma of the dry leaf with this one. I breathed it in & it is beautiful! The tea itself is delicious, almost like a trip to the Sushi bar. The flavor is a robust Matcha almost, with the additions of Nori & the sea. There is a rich umami to it, a smooth vanilla-like mouth (not taste), & the first cup was slightly tart too!

This is a very fresh & clean tasting green tea.
I don’t taste the eucalyptus, pine or sorrel individually,
AND although this tea tastes slightly medicinal in a way I
cannot adequately describe… I truly like this tea so much.
It is a very nice palate cleansing tea and would be good with
Oriental foods (Chinese, Thai, Japanese, etc…)
But could easily be enjoyed after dinner and before any dessert.
This is GOOD ;-)

Mmm, it’s been awhile since I had a good Japanese green. From the bright green of the wet leaves and the rich spinachy smell this seems more like a gyokuro than a sencha to me (not that I’m complaining!)

The liquor is a lovely green-gold, and the flavor is surprisingly mild, not very bitter. Like dark leafy greens, lightly steamed steamed, or miso soup. This is very comforting on a winter morning

On steep 2, there’s definitely a sharp flavor that may be the sorrel? I don’t actually know what sorrel tastes like :P but I’ve been noticing this tang that’s almost fruity but not as sweet.

I decided to begin my foray through the January 2014 Steepster sample pack with Obukucha because, well, because I just ate lunch, and I love sencha post-lunch!

The liquor of this brew is whitish light green—more green than yellow, with a sort of ethereal glow to it. The taste is a perfect match: haute sencha with a slightly salty taste and a luscious, smooth and silken texture on the tongue. Yum! I wonder whether this was an award winner? Someone else mentioned that it reminded her of gyokuro, and I have to agree, since according to my palate super-fine sencha and gyokuro begin to converge at some point. Delicious!

The notes given on the packet are sorrel, eucalyptus, and pine, but to me the minerality is most dominant of all. This is a salty sencha, not so vegetal, and not at all sweet.

The spent leaves are actually mushy looking, which makes me wonder how good the second infusion will be….

second infusion: this liquor is much more yellow, but the taste is similarly salty. The texture is a bit less silken. It would be interesting to see the mineral content on this tea…

oh this is a tasty sencha! followed steepster instructions for first steeping – i’m not sure i was tasting pine, but was definitely pungent and explosive (in the best of all possible ways!). lovely round mouth-feel, not quite creamy, but definitely round, hard, and smooth. second steeping at just off-boiling for 20s is less pungent, not explosive at all, but i’m quite enjoying it – the mouth is quite the same, this time seeming more creamy, since the pungency is less. sweeter, perhaps. (how do people use words to describe taste? it is so synaesthetic for me that i don’t know if i make any sense!)

I don’t know if i’ll make it to a third steeping, may step out for some lunch, but i’ll update if i do. as far as whether i preferred the first to second steepings – it really was a different tea each time, reminiscent of how a sencha iri matcha will be so…matcha! the first steep and then settle into a sencha by the second or third. at any rate, this is one i’d pick up for a staple in my tea cabinet. it is less astringent by far than other senchas i’ve had, less brassy-grassy, yet still quite flavorful somehow.

must be the “pine.”

Let me start by imparting this wisdom: If you are going to try to prepare this the traditional way for New Year’s with umeboshi and kombu in it, you will definitely be getting some aroma from the kombu and a good bit of salty vinegar flavor from the umeboshi. I could not taste the tea much when I prepared a cup this way, so in short, if you want to do the ritual for fun, go for it. If you want to really appreciate the tea, don’t add anything!

Alright, onto the real review. The first thing that really struck me about this sencha was the incredibly creamy aroma of the dry leaves once added to a warm gaiwan. The aroma of the tea itself is vegetal with hints of ocean. Through the first three steepings of this tea the flavor was pretty consistent, with the first taste being that of cream, then transitioning into the more hearty brothy flavor, very vegetal with hints of seaweed. Finally, it finishes with a mineral or ocean note. On the third and fourth steepings, however, there was a sweetness that emerged in the middle note which was very pleasant.

I brewed in a glass gaiwan using 2g of leaf per 100ml of water, 176F/80C with the following steep times: 1’00, 0’30, 0’40, 1’00. Just a tip: It’s really fun to watch this tea brew in glass! Very green and very pretty!

Overall, this tea was pleasant. It’s cloudy spring green liquor seems to glow and really enhances the “Spring” vibe of this tea. As for flavor, it was not outstanding or terribly unique as a green tea, but on the other side of that coin it has a reliable flavor, making it easy to enjoy.

This is EXCELLENT. It strikes a really nice blend between grassy and naturally sweet. The second steep was better than the first.

I love the name of this tea!! I found online that it means ‘Great Fortune Tea’ and it is tradition in Japan to drink for the New Year to bring good luck.
The dry leaves look like a gyokuro,,,,, very moist, grass -clipping-like, thin, and dark green. But it is a Sencha. Smells good, like salt and red lettuce.
Brewed, the liquor is a lovely bright spring green color with scents of mineral and cooked mixed veggies.
The flavor is a deep green, grassy, salty mineral taste with notes of fava bean and the sorrel (which I haven’t had in a while but it has tangy notes).
As it cools, the tea is getting hints of pine and a zing of eucalyptus which is actually not my favorite aspect. Overall, a very nice green tea.

From the Steepster Select Box, January 2014

Not bad. Savory sweetness with hint of mushroom.