Karigane #22

It was hard to get over the fishy taste in this tea.

Deliciously addicting green tea that’s sweet and grassy. The taste was vegetal and sweet to the point of being very similar to a matcha. Strong clean flavor.

I was really looking forward by this newest offering from Tea Wing, as I have been consistently blown away by their various Yame sencha. I also heard good things from people who had received samples in the Steepster Select program.

The tea (as usual with Tea Wing) did not arrive with any brewing recommendations, so I first tried my standard sencha technique of 175°F for 1 minute. Quite a lot of astringency and a very hard caffeine edge. Not what I was expecting.

What I discovered later is that a much cooler temperature brings out the best of this tea. The dry leaves have an incredible almost berry-like sweetness and freshness, and that same aroma translates to the cup when this tea is brewed at 160°F.

Once the leaves have opened up with the first steeping, hot water can be used for a second or third infusion. Using 208°F for a quick 10 seconds worked well. This tea has an incredibly long finish; the sweetness lingers in my mouth for several minutes, something I normally associate with good oolong teas.

Recommended!

First: 3g tea, 5oz water @ 160°F, 1 minute 30 seconds
Second: 208°F, 10 seconds
Third: 208°F, 10 seconds

I am another steepster select recipient and was excited to try this tea. I am usually a fan of Japanese greens and I thought this was a particularly nice one. Surprisingly low astringency, it was very flavorful with a mellow, low key sweetness. Nice and grassy without being overwhelming. To me it was well balanced and re-steeped well. I may have to purchase more in the future.

I like green teas with strong, but balanced grassy flavors. This fits the bill. You can also brew this a bit stronger and still avoid bitter flavors.

This is the first one out of Select that I’m not in love with so far. The nori taste is too strong and a bit sour for me. It’s got none of the sweetness of matcha. Maybe it’ll mellow out on a second steep? And the whole chewy thing just isn’t working for me.

Just not my groove. Not horrible, but I wouldn’t buy it.

I dont love it but it was a great new try.

This tea has an amazing cut grass aroma from the dry leaves. I didn’t think I would be a fan of this tea when I first tried it. However, as each sip I started to appreciate the layers of flavor. There is the fresh cut grass and nori flavors. I didn’t get the hazelnut finish until the tea had cooler. Finally, there is a slight astringency that that helps finish out the tea so that the flavors are not overwhelming.

First off, this is only getting such a low score because I’m placing it partway between my enjoyment of its notes (I dislike nori and overly grassy teas) and actual quality (it’s honestly a very good grassy/nori tea).

Strong, rich nori flavour with grassy high notes. Sweet, considering the savoury elements in it. I get an initial burst of grassiness, a bit sharp, which fades to sweetness and then a deep, round, almost creamy savouriness – somewhat nutty, mostly nori – and finishes very grassy and fairly dry. Very intense flavours, but not overwhelming or cluttered, just powerful and complex.

Because nori is the primary note here, and I dislike that in my teas, I don’t particularly enjoy this, but I’m impressed by it. It seems like a high quality, complex tea that I would probably rate a 90 if I was looking for a grassy nori-heavy tea. I’ll probably give the next cup of this to someone else who will appreciate it more, but I’m glad to have tried it.

The tea when steeped is a pale green color. The aroma is definitely stronger than the taste, which does meet the “creamy grass” notes described on the package along with some other vegetative aroma I couldn’t identify (and wasn’t a huge fan of).

Drinkable for sure, and light, but not my favorite.