Yunomi

Traveling Tea Box Tea #3
Now THIS might be the weirdest tea of the teabox (and there are some weird teas in here).  This might be the first FERMENTED tea I have tried? This is Japan’s only fermented tea. It looks like a bunch of dark, decayed  maple leaves from the yard compressed together.  I would say the flavor in the first steep most reminds me of a lightly roasted charcoal oolong. The first steep has maintained its shape, so we shall see how this progresses in the next steeps.  It’s a little buzzy to the mouth… The description says it should taste “sour” but I don’t really notice sour.  It’s almost like a dark tea, that I also experience few and far between.  I had to give up after steep #2, as I was feeling a bit nauseous, and had a sneaking suspicion it was this tea.  I am usually unable to tolerate most fermented things…
Steep #1 // 1 piece for a mug // 21 minutes after boiling // 2-3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 min

4 tsp?!?! I only have 10g available… And I want to save some for matcha. (Stealing that to try from the Northeast TeaHouse in Minneapolis)

Dry Aroma: Peanut Butter. Sesame Butter. Salted Sesame Seeds. Sunflower butter. ALL THE BUTTERS! This aroma is fantastic!!!
Steeping aroma: Buckwheat. Makes me want to instant transmission myself right to Kyoto.
Flavor: I don’t think I’ve had Sobacha before. HOW HAVE I NOT HAD THIS BEFORE??? It’s lovely! All the flavors in the aroma. Relaxing, uplifting, and the buckwheat is so nice! Interesting though… I think the first notes were better. As it steeps it gains some slightly acidic notes. Nothing too crazy though

Have you read a series called Matcha Made in Heaven? If you like manga and tea (espeically Japanese tea), do yourself a favor and read this series, it’s awesome. And this is not a spoiler, but withered green is mentioned at one point. So that’s why I decided to try this sample this morning.

Dry: Soft feel. Shiny. Broken mostly. Needles. Uniform dark jade green.

Flavor: It’s subtle, but you can taste that there is something different about this tea. It still has the usual umami and vegetal notes, but there are slight hay and other dried grass notes that remind me of withered greens.

Wet: Green peppers. Steamed veggies. Heaped grass lying in the sun.

I love to try rare and unique teas. When people experiment and find something amazing using an everyday tea, I find it fascinating. Granted, Kamairicha isn’t an everyday tea like Sencha, but it should be.

Dry Leaf: Perfect form. Curls. Fairly uniform in color with light greens and dark greens being the same. The aroma is slightly chocoltely with a great umami.

Flavor: OH. MY. Word. Yes. I had forgotten how much I enjoy kamairicha. Slightly earthy tones with veggies

Wet Leaf: Steamed veggies. Spinach. A bit of asparagus. When people drink some sencha, and they get that astringent, bitter, summer-made, cheap tea taste, it makes me sad when they don’t try more. Because this… is amazing.

Sipdown 6 – 2026

Finished this last week and can’t remember much about it, but I recall it being decent and enjoying it.

There is a big silly grin on my face right now. This matcha not only looks amazing but smells amazing too. Um, and tastes amazing. I kinda licked the part of the air tight packaging that I cut off. Licking the dry powder is a good (or bad) sign of what is to come.

Dry aroma: Fresh. Vegetal. Umami.
Dry appearance: Vibrant green.
Flavor: Vegetal. Grassy. A bit of Umami. Some bitterness. Its not terribly bitter but enough that I want to see if changing things brings out it’s better qualities.
Mouthfeel: Smooth. I used 170 f water. Next time I’m going to 160 to see if it will bring the astringency down a bit.
Liquor aroma: Reminds me of the smell of processing green tea. Fresh eaves being cut and steamed and releasing an aroma like nothing else.

The use of the term basic and ceremonial is an interesting mix. I don’t know that I would put this in the ceremonial category based on taste or color, but it is better than many straight-up basic grades. As soon as the matcha hit my palate, I thought, “This is not a matcha meant to be consumed on its own.” The tannic notes that hit the tongue instantly make it difficult to consume.

As a latte with oat milk, it is better. Though I am still finding it difficult to drink latte style after some of the amazing matcha I’ve consumed. I still don’t quite know where to rate this… It leaves a metallic taste along with a slightly stingy mouthfeel that I do not appreciate

TTB 2.0 If you want to drink tea, be very careful about what you eat beforehand. For example, dried oranges. Espeically ones with little to no sugar. They will grab your palate and punch it raw. I might have to revisit this tea. It has a decent aroma when wet, but lordy, I can’t even taste the grassiness.

As the orange invasion dissipates, I begin to sense more grassy notes. With some creamy notes. But mostly grassy notes

Have you ever put a tea in the fridge and then kinda forgot about it? The first time I tried this one, I think I did it a disservice by steeping it wrong. You truly need to follow the advice on the label for this one. And despite being in the fridge, the packaging Yunomi uses is great for keeping out aromas. While the dry leaf is kinda nil on aroma due to the amount left, it still packs a tantalizing amount of flavor. This is a tasty green tea!

Flavor: Clean, vegetal, umami, sweet grass, a bit of melon
Wet Leaf: Grassy, slightly buttery, vegetal.

Now onto working on my matcha presentation and hoping people sign up this time!

Steepster seems to be getting over its cold. Huzzah. Redoing this note.

When I first opened up this tin, I wasn’t impressed. It says Matcha Superior on my lid, so I guess I expected a finer green color, but now I see the title has been adjusted to Barista grade. That makes more sense. Using a kamairicha as a base is an interesting idea. I would not call this matcha since it isn’t made from tencha, but I’m a stickler…

Dry: Slight umami and vegetal notes.
Flavor: Grassy. A bit bitter. Some umami.
Mouth feel: Smooth but with a noticeable astringency.
This one is better for lattes. But I’ll drink it straight too. Give my palate a workout.

Another gift from Mark of Kobold’s Cup. It’s always fun trying out experimental tea. Partly, because you are part of a select group trying it, but also because I love enhancing my palate. This is an incredible white tea. Earthy but with an amazing sweetness.
Smooth mouth feel.
Dry: stone fruits. Sweetness. But mainly dry, earthy notes like dried leaves and fall aromas.
Wet Leaf: sweet, earthy, Miso dashi! Peppers
The more you infuse, the more the earthy notes come out.

Sip down. Kamairicha is unique. It has roasty and toasty notes like hojicha, but a bit more astringency like a black tea. Overall, I prefer hojicha, but I won’t pass up trying a kamairicha if given the chance. I’d also be interested in trying this one alongside a light roast Kamairicha.

Dry leaf: Lightly twisted. Dark chocolate, dusty brown.
Dry Aroma: Roasty and toasty. A bit of caramel and char.
Flavor: Charcoal. Burnt Toast. A hint of squash.
Wet Leaf: Really unique. I can’t quite put a single note on it because it changes and evolves so quickly. Buttery, then roasted nuts, then slightly burned raisin bread, toasty, roasty, WHEEE.

This is my first run through with this matcha. The last two I had were more on the toasty end, so I will need to let my palate adjust before fully committing to a rating on this.

As of right now, I find it slightly bitter with some vegetal and umami notes.
Creamy. In the aftertaste and flavor. The more I sit with this one, the more I am starting to like it. The bitterness disappears for other notes.

Second sitting. I am stressed out. Can I go on vacation? I really needed to sit with a bowl this morning after finishing chores and getting the kids off to school. So, here we are. The first sip is bitter but not like a black tea or a lower-grade matcha. It’s like it is somewhat gently telling your palate, “Hey, here I come.” Next is the umami. It is very smooth with a slight grassiness and some hints of vegetal notes. Really wish I had a wagashi to go along with this.

After this debuted on social media, I knew I had to try it. And certainly, it doesn’t disappoint. This is a complex matcha with many different flavor notes.
Dry Aroma: Toasty. Like hojicha. Slightly vegetal.
Dry Appearance: Bright and vivid green.
Touch: Smooth
Foam: Easy and light
Taste: A bit of roasted notes with a strong toasty flavor. A bit of seaweed. Ever so slight cream.
Mouth Feel: Smooth. Very little silt.
This matcha blows my mind. It’s amazing. If you enjoy the roasty notes of hojicha, the toasty notes of Dragonwell, and adore matcha, you’ll find this to be a mouth-watering mix of all three.
Steepster is being weird again

Ian-san truly sources amazing matcha. This will be the last of this can, but I can tell you it has been amazing. The vibrancy is perfect. A lush green powder that is sensually soft to the touch. The aroma has faded slightly in the dry powder. The punch isn’t quite as strong with the umami and vegetal notes, but it still makes my mouth water. It whisks very nicely, and the powder stays suspended over a long period. The mouthfeel is smooth. Almost no silt. Flavor is full of marine, umami, and vegetal notes.

Another one from Tiffany – I really appreciate it! I love gyokuro so so much. This one is very nice. I think I prefer my gyokuro a bit brothy-er, but this one is still great! Lots of umami and great mouthfeel. Love Kurihara’s catalogue too :)

The moment you open the package you know this one is a big-time winner. The grind is so fine the the electrostatic properties are super strong! When I opened the package the matcha went poof. And not wanting to waste any of the fine powder I, looking like an idiot in hindsight, started trying to lick the air. ^^;
Feel: So smooth it is almost like you aren’t touching it.
Aroma: The newest grass shoots. Sweetgrass. Bits of umami. Fresh grated, cold, high-quality parmesan cheese. If you don’t believe me go pull parmesan out of the fridge and grate it.
Color: Amazing. Vibrant green. Shamrock. Wow.
Flavor: SO FRESH! Some might call this bland because of the lack of facial punch you receive like some matcha but I quite enjoy the incredibly subtle notes this holds. Also I highly enjoy that the marine attributes slowly sneak up if you sip it longer.
Mouthfeel: Air. It’s like sipping air. Liquid air? That sounds weird but it’s the freshest air with spring qualities added. It’s so smooth it’s like the purest water with the essence of pure ocean water. As you let it settle a bit more on your palate the marine attributes come out more.

Thank you for the trade, Marshall!!! I’m currently looking at this one and the Gyokuro side by side and being absolutely mind-blown. I mean, it’s not like this is the first gyokuro or sencha I’ve seen but knowing the work they go through to make the minor differences… Just wow.
Dry appearance is amazing. I would not have guessed this to be a sencha because that is stellar coloring. Guess I need to study up more. Needless thin and tight. Dark green with a few light greens.
Dry aroma: nice. Fresh. Bits of umami.
Flavor: Umami. Fresh cut grass.
Mouth feel: smooth.

Today is a good day for drinking tea labeled with the word heart. My heart hurts right now.
For many reasons.
But this tea helps to warm a weary heart.

Dry Aroma: A bit of warm hay, sweet grass,
Dry Appearance: Mostly flat leaf with some light green stems. Some leaves have twisting.
Temp: 120 F. Infusion Time: 3 Mins
Liquor Aroma: I could sit here and smell this all day. Fruity notes, grassy notes, vegetal notes. My mouth is watering.
Flavor: Umami! All about the umami. Fresh grass and some spinach but mainly umami.
Mouthfeel: SMOOTH!

This was part of a four tea series. Once you have tried sencha enough to the point that you can differentiate it from other Japanese green teas I highly suggest trying different sencha from different areas in Japan. Or even sencha from the same area but different farmers.
While I’ve had plenty of sencha, this is the first time I’ve had one from this farmer and of this cultivar: Yamakai.

Dry Appearance: Muted Green. Deep olive green. Broken.
Dry aroma: Fresh-cut grass, fresh herbaceous notes
Flavor: Vegetal, slight butter, buttered corn, steamed wilted spinach. And a bit of long summer grass.
Mouth feel: A bit astringent. Light and airy.
Wet Leaf aroma: Slight green pepper and wilting tea leaves. Perhaps that is a terrible description but after smelling the steaming of the leaves… It reminds me of the aroma of the tea while it is processed in the factory in Wazuka.

As I sit here drinking this tea I am having an odd thought. Last year (2024) I had a tencha from 2023 and it was phenomenal. I couldn’t help thinking to myself, this tea is fantastic perhaps if I stored it properly would it age nicely like that? So we are going to try.
1/31/2025 Tasting notes:
Dry Leaf aroma: Slight tropical fruit. Mango. Fresh pile of grass.
Dry Leaf Appearance: Shiny, tightly twisted. Dark and creamy light green.
Wet Leaf: Very vegetal. Freshly steamed asparagus and spinach. Makes my mouth water.
Flavor: High in umami. Heavy in spinach notes. Mainly wilted spinach.
Mouthfeel: Soft. Filling. A slight astringency.

Dry Aroma: Herbal. A bit of black pepper without the sneezing.
Dry Appearance: Dark brown with a few hints of tan and an interesting leather brown look on 1/3 of them. Twisting, curling, and some a bit open. Mostly broken in medium-sized pieces.
Infusing leaves: ARTICHOKE! Cream.
Flavor: More artichoke. Kinda herbal. It has a bit of minerality but is different from other oolongs in that it takes a backseat.
Mouth feel: Silky and very filling, like a Chinese silk comforter. Btw… as amazing as they feel they don’t don’t make good bed comforter. They’re slippery. And any time you try to look cool by sliding across it will end up with you faceplanting into the wall or floor.
Liquor color: O_O that’s dark! Not as dark as some pu er or dark teas can be but darker than some black (red) teas.
Wet Leaf Aroma: Kinda… sour? Not quite as high as a goishicha but something in the aroma is slightly sour. But in a good way. There is also a bit of raisin.