Hibiki-an

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drank Sencha Konacha by Hibiki-an
123 tasting notes

This is a by product from the sifting process of all that Sencha. Tea specks from premium grades are used.

I recommend this product for cold brewing. Simply take 20 grams of the tea and add to 1L (roughly) of water. Leave for 24 hours in your fridge

There are two ways to finish this. Strain out the whole tea and put the liquid in a container. Add a 450 mL of water to rinse off the tea. Now you can either drink the liquid you rinsed off, or put back into the jar. It is like the unfiltered apple cider of tea This will be green and cloudy versus the clear filtered liquid.

One note, you can’t use this in fine tea bags.

Because the tea has sat, the sediment has settled to the bottom. Try to pour off the first liquid without disturbing the sediment.

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drank Sencha Superior by Hibiki-an
123 tasting notes

This is an excellent tea at a good price. There is plenty of flavour. The leaves are green. There is maybe $3 USD difference between this and the next grade down. So why not?

Use 10 g and steep three times with 200 mL of 80 C water for 1 minute each time.

Flavors: Umami

Preparation
10 g 7 OZ / 200 ML

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drank Sencha Superior by Hibiki-an
123 tasting notes

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drank House Matcha by Hibiki-an
123 tasting notes

It’s fall again. Why do I mention it? Because this is traditionally when matcha is released. Ichiban (first picked) matcha is stored away from spring to fall to give it more depth of flavour. Every year there is a ceremony for the release of new matcha which has been stored in a Jar underground. After opening the jar, the tea is stone ground.

Anyways, this house matcha (Ceremonial grade) is fine for the tea ceremony. The colour is green. The taste today was mild. There should be more aroma and flavour tommorow, as I just opened this after it travelled.

By the way this is Jigase method tea. Plastic sheets are placed directly over the tea plants. Also, the tea leaves are picked by shaving the leaves. This is why you see round tea bushes, because it makes it easy for the tool / machine. Expect a bit of a stronger flavour because of it. Most of you should prefer it, because of this. The economical price is a plus.

Delivery waa superfast, four days!

I will update this review as time goes on.

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drank House Matcha by Hibiki-an
123 tasting notes

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96
drank Houjicha Karigane by Hibiki-an
871 tasting notes

So in my first tasting note on this tea, I only had a chance to try the first steep. And as it got cold, it got really bitter. I have had a few more chances to try it.

2tsp in boiling water.

First steep of 15 seconds- remains the same as my first review. Very roasty nut and buckwheat flavours. Does get a bit bitter as it cools.

Second steep of 30 seconds- pretty much the same flavour as the first steep. But no bitterness as it cools. I think I might like this one better cold. Very similar to a buckwheat cold brew/iced tea. But there is a more in depth roasty flavour profile and it is somewhat sweeter.

Third steep of 45 seconds- this one is holding out really good for a third steep. It is starting to mellow a bit but the flavours are still quite strong. And it still brews up quite dark. The roasty flavour profile is subsiding and it is a bit more nutty tasting. There is more of a sencha type buttery green tea flavour that is starting to emerge.

I am sure I could do more steeps with this but I haven’t had the chance to try yet.

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96
drank Houjicha Karigane by Hibiki-an
871 tasting notes

This is for the superior version of this tea.

The tea appears to be a lot of little twigs and stems and long spirals of rolled tea leaves. It smells very roasty, almost burnt.

Hibiki-an recommends double the amount of usual tea you use, boiling water for 15 seconds.

It brews up a light brown colour. It tastes super roasty. Definitely both buckwheat and roasted nut flavours. There is a lot of popcorn scent and flavour. It is very smooth. There is a slight sweetness. The liquor has a moderately creamy taste and texture.

I am super impressed with this one. I bought it on a whim in order to hit the free shipping threshold

They recommend at least 3 infusions but I only have time for one is afternoon at work

Edit: This tea got quite bitter once it cooled. It also developed quite an earthy flavour that reminded me a bit of pu-erh. I don’t know if this would make the best work tea as I often don’t get to my tea when it is hot.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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60
drank Sencha Superior by Hibiki-an
24 tasting notes

A fine, drinkable, everyday Japanese green. I’d only bother to steep in my kyusu once though, as some less-desirable characteristics are extracted after the first steeping. In general, it’s fairly “green” and moderately astringent, but when fresh it can still be enjoyable. That said, considering I feel confident with a second steeping with higher-grade teas from Hibiki-an, I’d recommend just buying those, which will not only be better to serve guests, but you can brew more of it from the same dose of tea.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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80
drank Genmaicha by Hibiki-an
62 tasting notes

I have a hard time describing this tea, but I love it. It’s so refreshing. There’s a hint of bitterness, and a hint of sweetness.

Flavors: Grass, Green, Nutty, Tea, Toasted Rice

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 8 min or more 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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79
drank Gyokuro Premium by Hibiki-an
57 tasting notes

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

Gyokuro Premium from Hibiki-An is great as an introduction to gyokuro teas. While it is not the highest quality gyokuro offered by the company, it is (like all their teas) a great value, providing the classic rich flavors of good gyokuro at a fraction of the typical cost. The tea does retain some bitterness, but this is counteracted by the inherent cream and vegetal notes. It is best brewed following the instructions on the bag, changing only brew time which should be 1 minute maximum rather than the suggested 1.5 / 2.

Gyokuro means “jade dew” and – disregarding matcha, which should be considered in a different category – is known as the highest class of Japanese green tea. It is distinguished from other Japanese teas such as sencha, hojicha, etc. by a shading period just before picking. The tea plants are blocked from direct sunlight for 20 days, forcing them to compensate for the lack of light by producing more chlorophyll (the chemical responsible for carrying out photosynthesis, and also what gives plants their green color). This enhances the sweetness of the tea and hence gives gyokuro its singular taste.

For reference, Hibiki-An offers four levels of quality for their teas, which – from lowest to highest – are: “superior”, “premium”, “super premium”, and “pinnacle”. They occasionally offer a fifth grade that is even better than “pinnacle” called “competition-grade pinnacle.”

Flavors: Corn Husk, Cream, Grass, Umami

Preparation
140 °F / 60 °C 1 min, 30 sec 7 g 6 OZ / 177 ML

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65
drank House Matcha by Hibiki-an
57 tasting notes

For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio.

Firstly, it is important to remember that this is a “house” matcha, or rather a lower-end, budget matcha intended for daily consumption. That said, Hibiki-an’s House Matcha is an incredible value. Priced at a very reasonable $24 / 80g ($0.40 per bowl if prepared in the proper method) or at a bulk price of $60 / 240g ($0.33 per bowl), this house matcha has no shortage of flavor, and does not taste dull, or stale in any way. It is perhaps slightly more bitter and tannic than higher quality matchas, but you will not find a better daily matcha on the market. Great value, impressive taste for the price. Also great as a cooking matcha for use in frosting, cake, lattes, etc.

Flavors: Cream, Nutty, Umami, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 g 3 OZ / 88 ML

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90
drank Matcha Superior by Hibiki-an
871 tasting notes

I bought this when I bought Hibiki-An’s house matcha to use for cold shaken in the mornings. I wanted to try a few grades to see what would work best. The house matcha ended up being perfect.

The superior matcha is ground so fine it is way beyond dust consistency. There is strong green tea vegetal aroma, but still sweet. It smells delicious. It barely needed to be sifted and does not clump too much. The colour of the matcha is dark, rich, uniform green.

I have tried this one two ways so far.

Cold shaken
My usual recipe of 1 heaping tsp (prolly 1.5tsp) in 8 oz water, with a pinch of white sugar. It is actually quite good. However, I think the house matcha is better than the superior grade for cold shaken. The superior grade is much more vegetal but is still smooth and quite creamy. It dissolves very well and doesn’t clump at the bottom of my shaking glass.

Matcha latte
1.5 tsp, matcha, 1/2 tsp white sugar, approx. 6 oz frothed warm milk. Dissolves excellent. There is not a lot of sediment. The taste is creamy, light matcha, slightly vegetal. It is perfect for a latte.

I think this superior grade is much better as a hot matcha. The house blend is much better cold (which I find funny because you would think the higher the grade the better it would be for everything). That makes me happy. The house blend is cheaper and I don’t drink a whole lot of hot/traditional prepared matcha. This superior matcha is probably the best tasting matcha [made at home] that I have had.

I still have another box of the houseblend to get through but I am getting excited to make another order with Hibiki.

Lupiressmoon

For a matcha latte, you add no water then, just milk? I am curious on it. I drink a coffee latte every morning, the only way I like coffee and get all into it.

Lala

It really depends on the matcha I am using. If I am concerned about the matcha dissolving then I will dissolve it in a bit of water before I add the milk. Other times I just dissolve it in warm milk before I add the frothed milk.

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88
drank House Matcha by Hibiki-an
871 tasting notes

I was getting to the end of my tin of matcha and I wanted to wash it out before I re-filled it again. So I used up what was left to make a matcha latte.

I did about 2 tsp matcha and 1 tsp sugar in 8 oz hot frothed 2% milk. I had a bit of a ginger root hanging around and starting to get old so I added a few slices of fresh ginger.

The latte turned out good. Smooth and sweet. My only complaint is I think the ginger root is enhancing a seaweed flavour in the matcha as I usually do not get that flavour with this matcha, either hot or cold.

The tin is now washed and will dry out for a few days before I refill it again.

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88
drank House Matcha by Hibiki-an
871 tasting notes

Ok so this is more of a cooking with tea review. But it was a-matcha-azing!!!

I made matcha chocolate using this recipe:
http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/green-tea-chocolate/ (this site is totally my new favorite recipe site!!)

I tweaked the recipe just a little bit.

My recipe was:
400g of swiss white chocolate wafers, chopped into small pieces as the wafers were quite large
2TB butter
2TB matcha plus 1 tsp to sprinkle
1/2 cup whipping cream.

Heat the cream over medium heat, once hot but not boiling turn down heat to low and slowly add the chocolate stirring constantly. Then add the butter and continue stirring constantly until fully melted together. Remove from heat and immediately add the 2TB matcha slowly (I sifted it in 1/2 TB at a time), and continue stirring until fully mixed and smooth. Pour in a parchment paper lined pan (I used a bread pan because that is all I had that was small enough). Lightly bang pan on the counter to remove any air pockets. Put in fridge to cool. Once cooled, cut into pieces and sprinkle 1 tsp matcha over top (I again sifted it through a mesh strainer).

This was so absolutely delicious. It was quite sweet, there was subtle smooth white chocolate flavour, the matcha was also smooth but provided a moderate matcha/green tea flavour. There was no bitterness at all. Slightly vegetal. The white chocolate made the matcha so creamy and smooth. Next time I think I would use less butter because this came out more soft than I would have liked (it was almost a soft-type fudge consistency). I would like to try to find some good white chocolate that is also a bit less sweet.

The only draw back it is getting late where I am, I am sure I will be up all night now because of the matcha. #sensitive sleeper. But I want to eat so much more :)

Anlina

That sounds amazing. I may need to make this next.

TeaBrat

yum. I have never cooked anything with matcha but maybe I should start?

OMGsrsly

Ok, I’m baking the cookies from that website. :D Back in a bit with tasting notes!

canadianadia

sounds nummy!

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88
drank House Matcha by Hibiki-an
871 tasting notes

Ok this should be my last review on this matcha, for now anyway. I have now tried it cold shaken so I think I have done my due diligence in reviewing this one.

I used 1/2 tsp for approx. 6 oz water, I added 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of white sugar. It took a little more shaking than usual to get it to fully dissolve, which is ok, I am pretending that was part of my exercise routine for today :) It frothed up very nice and was a dark but still bright green colour.

It tasted very smooth, no bitterness or astringency at all, it was slightly sweet vegetal. It could have used a bit more matcha, I will have to play around with it to get the right proportions,

I am super happy with this matcha, which is pretty obvious by my raving, ha ha. I think for a cold shaken, I would not need to use this specific brand name of matcha, but it is the best I have found so far in regards to versatility with a good price point and excellent quality. I also like how I can determine how much sweetener, etc, to mix in with it versus using a pre-mixed sweetened blend.

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88
drank House Matcha by Hibiki-an
871 tasting notes

Made this one as a latte. Sooooo good! Ha ha.

I used 1 heaping tsp of matcha and about 1/2 tsp white sugar. I dissolved that in a little bit of warm water from the kettle. I then frothed up about 3/4 cup of 2% milk and added it to the matcha.It made a delicious emerald green foam. It pretty much tastes like a sweet, slightly vegetal, smooth green tea/matcha latte. No bitterness at all (even when I let it sit for longer than 3 minutes – see my previous review). There is a bit of matcha sediment gathered at the bottom of the cup but I would say that is normal for any latte.

Sil

nice! glad it’s been a positive experience for you

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88
drank House Matcha by Hibiki-an
871 tasting notes

So I have been looking for a new supplier of matcha. I found I was having trouble getting the quality for the price point I wanted. So a supremely long time ago, back when I first joined steepster, some old steepsterites who do not seem to be around anymore, used to recommend Hibiki-an. So I thought I would give it a try. (And I was not disappointed by the company at all).

Please see my post from the official what did you get in the mail thread cut and pasted here: “As many of you know I am a total sucker for “the tea experience”. It doesn’t matter what kind of experience, just any experience will do. All a company needs is cheeky marketing or to send me a toy or button with my tea (Hello A&D) and I am totally sold. OK so I just had to come here and rant and rave about my recent purchase from Hibiki-an that just arrived today. I ordered some new matcha’s to try. First of all, quick shipping from Japan, and it was free. The package arrived as a very thick and sturdy green paper bag (will be super easy to recycle). It was sealed perfectly, not to little tape and not so much you can’t open it without a chain saw. It was supremely labelled in both English and Japanese and the customs declaration was very clear, and as a result it was not opened and violated by customs officials. So I open the outer green package and inside there is a beautiful colour patterned paper bag that is sealed with a decorative sticker. Inside that bag (which was also very easy to open so I didn’t have to wreck the cute paper bag) were little boxes which contained vacuum sealed packages of matcha. They didn’t need to be additionally packaged in little boxes, as far as I’m concerned matcha isn’t really ruined by squishing. I also got a beautiful post card and an English pamphlet on how to create traditional style of matcha. Super impressed :) I am sure I will be ordering more from them, I really want to try their tea treats.”

I ordered the house matcha and also the superior grade, just to try. I mostly use matcha as cold shaken in the mornings, mostly due to ease of use.

When I first opened the vacuum sealed package, the sweet slightly vegetal smell wafted up to my nose. It was delicious. I was surprised at the remarkable emerald green colour. I had some other matcha I bought from local store. But even as cold shaken it was so very bitter. It at one time appeared green to my eyes. But when I compare the colour of that one to the Hibiki-an matcha, there is no comparison. The local matcha almost looks dreary muddy brown-green. I very carefully cut open the Hibiki-an package and then when I tried to dump it into my matcha canister the fine emerald green powder sprayed all over my counter and floor. I really didn’t lose a lot of the matcha but it was a pain in the you know what to clean up.

I thought I should try this one hot. The recommendations that came from the company were 2 chasen (1tsp) whisked in 70 ml of 170F water. I mixed 1tsp in an estimated 70 ml of water. The recommendations are to drink it within 3 minutes or it will get bitter. My problem is that it was still too hot. I am sensitive to hot temperatures and often have to let my tea sit quite a while before I drink it. So on first sips it was so super delicious, but way to hot for my mouth and tongue. Nice and smooth, slightly vegetal, and just the right amount of sweetness. It did get quite bitter towards the end but only because I was unable to drink it as fast as recommended. I will have to make a smaller amount next time so it will not feel so hot. I will mostly be drinking this as cold shaken anyway, the review will come in time :) , but I will also probably try a latte as well.

If this is just the house matcha, I am quite excited to try the superior grade!

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 0 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 70 OZ / 2070 ML
Sil

great review lala :)

Lala

Ha ha. Thanks Sil. I feel like I wrote a whole lot about only a little bit :P

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100

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96
drank Sencha Karigane by Hibiki-an
66 tasting notes

excellent tea.
low caffeine level.
lighter, yellowish color compared to the bright green of sencha.

Fresh, vibrant dry leaf, as usual with hibiki-an.

I used fairly precise temperature, leaf weight, water volume and steep time during this sessions, using thermometer, timer and scale.

First infusion minral-umami, sweetness and a touch of pleasant bitterness, very thick ‘soupish’ tea liqud.

second infusion onwards: thinner than first. a faint almost tart floral fruity aroma detectable on exhale after sip.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec 7 g 6 OZ / 190 ML

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99

I love this tea. Been looking for a low caffeine option and this is the answer.

Brewed according to vendor instructions, guessing a bit since I had no scale/thermometer.

Flavors/aromas, in progressive order across the 3 infusions:
asparagus
chicken soup (umami)
freshly sliced delicate cucumber
subtle, almost but not exactly floral-fruity tangy aroma that is unique to this tea and very pleasant.

This tea is fresh and sweet. The best infusion was perhaps the second, though the first had the most concentrated mineral-umami flavor.

Enjoyable fresh clear feeling with no caffeine jolt, racing thoughts, restlessness, or other side effects that may result from drinking puer and oolongs especially with 7+ cups in a gong fu session.

Flavors: Cucumber, Tangy, Umami

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 15 sec 3 tsp 200 OZ / 5914 ML

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