Yuuki-cha Gokujo Shincha

So I have had this tea several times now, and the first time I had it I was actually getting ready for a late night tea session but as I was heating up the kettle I crashed, so I turned off the kettle and left the leaves inside my kyusu over night unused. Surprisingly enough, the tea the next day reminded me quite a bit of Gyokuro. Something I did not get so much in later trials of this tea.

So I will have to note this in the future to not acquire so much Shincha, as in all honesty I do not go through it nearly fast enough.

I will say this much, I have been impressed with the Yuuki-cha teas I have tried so far, but then again I have liked just about every Asamushi (light steamed) sencha/shincha I have had recently. This one comes across with incredibly broth flavors, its like a subtle wave of umami that permeates the entire tea drinking experience. It is full of flavor and passes what I consider my primary test in a tea "Do I keep on wanting to drink infusion after infusion, and have this tea over and over again?"

Yuuki-Cha Sayamakaori Shincha

I am sorry for the delay in tea reviews, I have been trying to finish up shincha I've had open for far to long due to vacation and the cold I came down with in June. So now that those are running dangerously low, I can start to open up shincha that has been stockpiled, and I literally mean stockpiled, as I have never had so much of a supply in one type of tea before.

The tea is a nice bright yellowish green with a very powerful aroma of fresh cut grass and steamed vegetables. Perhaps most surprising is the hints of cabbage coming through in the aroma.

I do not know if it is my fondness for Hagi yaki that makes this appealing to me, but I find it rather comforting and rustic, that when brewing Asamushi Sencha in Hagi yaki I usually get tiny little particles of leaf in the bottom of the cup. I know that bothers some people, but I absolutely love the simplicity of it, almost as if to show yes this brewed with real leaves!

This tea presents itself in a very nice manner, straight forward, clean and not trying to hide its identity. While there is no taste which jumps out at you, nor is it exceptionally broth like, but it asserts itself with a salad like flavor, that is cool and refreshing.

Temperatures drift even higher
letting old friends go unsteeped,
so I turn now to greener leaves.

--Adam Yusko

2005 Changtai Yiwu Zheng Pin

This cake is borderline mythical to me in several ways, and I have not even had it yet. Though I can not find the review Hobbes over at the half dipper reviewed a similar cake quite some time ago, and recently he has reviewed quite a bit of Changtai productions. But this is also mythical as it is also labeled "Yiwu!" Whether it is actually from Yiwu or not I have no guess but it is such a well known Puerh region that many fanatics go wild over.

So Sad to say that only upon close inspection of the wrapper can you notice that despite the overall appearance of this wrapper being hand stamped it is in fact printed by a printer (a rather crude resolution one at that). But opening up the cake and it reveals a cake that is so loosely compressed its a miracle it hasn't completely fallen apart. I easily scraped off 5 grams just by rubbing my thumb up against the edge like I was trying to turn a page. The dry leaves smell a bit dull but amazingly sweet. While I have little experience with Puerh this age, somehow I feel this will yield a rather interesting broth.



The soup is a bit darker than I thought a 5 year old tea would produce as an amber orange. It actually smells a bit like oranges, but mostly Camphor, and bananas.

This is rather interesting, I have never had a tea that tasted such a perfect balance between young and aged. Its earthy, but sweet, and while it lets your mouth no it is there, there is no biting bitterness.

The soup in later infusions becomes incredibly syrupy, and almost like syrup as it just tastes sweeter and sweeter.

This tea was provided by China Cha Dao (formally Chinese Kung Fu Tea Art store), as payment for me writing some product descriptions for his site.

A thick cooling soup
The heat vanishes inside
A hot tea brings chills
--Adam Yusko

Yuuki-cha Honyama Shincha

Yuuki-cha has recieved a lot of bad press on Teachat lately, and I honestly hope the situation can be resolved as Yuuki-cha seems to offer a great deal of very appealing Japanese tea and teaware.

I really must say the dry leaves both look and smell great. As this was only a sample of their tea that I got, I'm brewing it in my Hohin to cause the sample to last a bit longer.

The color is an amazingly clear yellowish green, with an amazingly fresh clean semi sweet aroma. For an organic tea, this is quite nice, mellow but complex, and presents itself quite well.

If you love teas that are a bit more subdued and not in your face, this tea is great. It also seems to have a very wide range of brewing parameters which still produce a very good brew.

It lasts as many infusions as you can expect to get out of a Sencha / Shincha, and while its never really in your face in longer infusions it does develop a bit more of a presence on your palate.

Not for the Feint of Heart

So going a bit over the top, and wanting to understand Matcha a little bit better, I decided to brew up three that are available to me in a side by side by side. One is a DoMatcha, Two are from Ippodo, Tancho-no-Mukashi, and Wakamatsu-no-Mukashi.



The Domatcha in the Jason Fasi chawan, has a really classic matcha aroma, of bitter chocolate and slightly chalky. But the taste leaves room to be desired, I'd almost call it sour.

The Tancho-no-Mukashi in the Ikkyuo Hagi chawan has what I'd almost say is a peanut butter and chocolate aroma, and goes down thick with a very grassy and chalky taste.

Wakamatsu-no-Mukashi in the beige hagi chawan honestly has no problem being the star of the show. Though I like the power in the Tancho, the Wakamatsu is just so pleasant the entire way through, its almost like drinking bliss, especially when made in Koicha fashion.

O-Cha Kagoshima Shincha Yukata Midori

Yukata Midori/ YM for short is definitely a classic O-Cha offering, and I can not wait to taste this Shincha. I am an affiliate of O-cha because I like their teas and feel Kevin did a great job introducing a wide variety of Japanese teas to the English speaking market. I almost feel without him peoples exposure too Japanese greens would be limited almost to a more regional type setting. Not to mention the fact that I love the massive amount of information provided on the web page of each tea.

Wow this has a wonderful aroma, it is actually so very very sweet, it smells almost like a candy. The taste while mellow is nice and round with hints of hearty grains, and nuts, but its also got the natural sweetness of a carrot.

It feels good to be back into a more regular life style for now, and today I'm rather over indulging on tea, in the past 3 hours, I've had Matcha, and I'm on my second Shincha. (I felt in a rather Japanese tea mood today).

With a cat roaming the grounds,

the birds sound alarm.

Drink the tea with the moment,

and enjoy life for its subtle charm.

--Adam Yusko.

Green Tea - For Your Health

O-Cha Kirameki Asamushi Shincha

Now that it is basically summer, I can fully embrace spring. It has been hectic starting with finals, and working its way through Graduation. But I now own a very expensive piece of paper, and am moving on with my life.

I have been looking forward to trying this tea ever since I ordered it, and the wait was quite long as it arrived at my house about 3 weeks ago, but I only arrived here on Tuesday evening.

I do not know what made me more anxious to try this tea, the fact that I have a new Hagi Kyusu which only works well with Asamushi sencha, or the fact that this tea is quite talked about from repeat O-cha customers.

The first time I had this tea it did not disappoint, and I am hoping it will not today either.

The dry leaf smells potent, almost grassy and slightly nutty. I do not think the picture will do the first infuions color justice, its clear but almost toxic green in color (at least it appears that way in the blue cup). The aroma is quite nice nutty and buttery.

I went a little ligher on leaf this time, and it is still good. I recommend going heavy on the leaf if you want a very strong umami profile, but at a .6g per oz its like a refreshing soup with hints of umami and dare I say bok choy?

There are teas I try and say I want to order again, though part of this blog is about tea exploration, so I often try many different teas (though I do have favorite vendors), but as such I do not think I have ever placed an order for the same tea twice, but this is definitely on a buy list for next year.

The green grass is constantly growing,

while the days still have the cooling breeze.

Summer is quickly approaching,

but we welcome it with fresh spring teas.

-- Adam Yusko

Green Tea - For Your Health

The Mandarins Tea Room High Fire TGY

First off this tea's dry aroma is incredibly appealing, caramel apples, which came out more and more and more as I followed Toki's instructions of opening the bag and letting it sit exposed to the air for 10 days before consuming.

I am making this tea Chao Zhou style, so I crushed a third of my 60 ml pots worth on the bottom and then filled it mostly full with fuller leaves.

The aroma is great, while the Clarity is Impeccable. The aroma has hints of the Caramel apple along with I dare say a hint of fruitiness like its usually found in red wine. The taste is rather amazing perfectly balanced between astringency and sweetness, with an amazingly sweet aftertaste.

Each sip definitely leaves you wanting more, and strangely the sweetness is incredibly cooling.
It was a rather successful Chou Zhou style session as all 4 infusions were nearly identically, though incredibly delicious.

Andao Wuyi Golden Tortoise

Well I have been drinking a decent amount of tea, but sadly I have had little time to write about it. One of my biggest dilemmas has been dealing with my new Yixing. For the sake of informing everyone.

The vendor told me it should be used for green TGY, and nothing roasted. Whereas when talking with Toki he says at this stage of its use, there are no rules. Either way it is a wonderful pot, and after drinking a lot of Wuyi and TGY (yes out of the same pot). I settled down to the fact that the more this pot got used, the better the Wuyi seemed to taste.

So consider this a bit of a test, I am going to make the Wuyi Golden tortoise in my new yixing and see how it behaves today.

Looking at the color of the first brew, it brings up a question in my mind, are there any Yancha oolongs that have great clarity on the first infusion, or is it something about the processing that the first infusion tends to be a bit murky. I will have to run through pictures. Clarity is something I have started to really look for in a tea. Its a little thing, doesn't mean much taste wise, but lits just nice to not have a cup that looks murky. Which is probably why I've backed off the deeper steamed Sencha's.

I apologize my nose seems to be broken. As I know from previous times brewing this tea that it does have an aroma though I'm hard pressed to find much of one today. What I do get is a slight hint of buttered pastries, with hints of cinnamon, and possibly some fruits. I really can not get that more specific as like I said my nose is not working today.

The taste though, is quite nice, perhaps a bit strong, but the roast is evident, and the mouth feel is great. The taste is a bit "creme bruele" which has to be the first time I have pulled that out as a descriptor.


On the third infusion my nose started to work a bit more, it had a nice peppery aroma with hints of many other spices. The flavor though seems to have started to fade into a smooth but incredibly drinkable concoction. The only hit of astringency comes though in the finish.

This tea has its flaws, but perhaps I have a bit more of an acceptance for Wuyi Yancha flaws than most other tea's. Or perhaps its that I need to as I tend to drink an excessive amount of Yancha that I could not afford amazing stuff all the time.

Which reminds me of a post I was thinking of putting out about Price points in Tea and Teaware, and if I feel they are worth it. Though in short I feel the higher the price per gram of tea, the better it is "likely" to be. The likely qualifier is much needed, as I am sure there are always those people selling tea at inflated prices which does not command such a high price.

Ippodo Gyokuro Kakurei

From Hagi in Use

It is spring and that says Green tea, to some people. While I am excited about the incoming new harvests, and hopefully Shincha getting in within the next two months, it is time to try and clear out some old stock. Japanese greens I seem to have no problems finishing, as this is my last bag and its close to half finished already.

Chinese greens are sadly a bit different, I have plenty of Everyday Dragonwell, and Bi Lo Chun.


The aroma of this tea is impeccable, and very characteristic of a Japanese green, sweet and slightly grassy/vegetal. The taste is quite good for a gyokuro of its price per gram. Great dose of umami but rounded out nicely with a great sweetness. It does a good job sticking to the tongue and mouth, and it sticks around with a flavor that is rather biting and reminiscent of strong spinach.


Green before the grass,
soon the northern breeze will quit,
promoting the tea.
--Adam Yusko

Zhi Ming Du He Kai

I was flipping through a list of Puerh samples I have yet to try, and I came across He Kai, which intrigued me simply because I knew nothing about it, Most the other mountains or places I have heard of and red reviews of teas from there. This one is completely new to me.

So as my usual brewing parameters 5 grams in my 60 ml gaiwan. The rinse smells amazing, lots of tropical fruit, and possibly some berry like aromas also.

The aroma of the first infusion is similar, but the real shock, is the flavor is reminiscent of well done toast with butter. As weird as that sounds its strangely inviting. Its slightly acidic, slightly bitter, and buttery.

The second infusion has a much more grain like aroma, possibly because I am really looking for it now. Wow apparently this tea is just starting to wake up, this time its full on orange peels, almost too bitter and acidic.

It really slowly settles down after the second infusion, possibly because I pulled back on steep times, but it seems to be slowly working its way back to the well done buttered toast.

Andao Tea Wuyi White Rooster Crest

Another Wuyi Tea from Andao Tea, I wish I could give some facts about this Cultivar but its Chinese name is Bai Ji Guan, and it is one of the Si Da Ming Cong. Besides that I know little, and I have considered learning Chinese to do some further research but that seems to be pretty far on the back burner.

Its color brews up a deep almost coffee like color, it's aroma is chocolate like with a hint of a citrus fruit (ever so slight). Its taste is like a really good coffee, and slightly biting in a bitter sense but still nice. This reminds me of a really high Cocao content dark chocolate.

The second infusion lightens up a bit, the second infusion smells fruity and is somewhat lacking in taste, perhaps I shouldn't have gone with a shorter infusion.

The third infusion brews up an ruby red with an amber hue to it. I am actually rather amazed at how fresh this tea is starting to smell after the first infusion was so chocolaty. With the longer infusion the mouthfeel I love about Yancha is back, and so is the lengthy dry finish.



The sips have passed,
how many times through my lips?
Tasting just began.
--Adam Yusko

Kept 6 months Everyday Shui Xian

A hair over 6 month ago I reviewed this tea the Everyday Shui Xian from Jing tea Shop. And while I said I would not touch it for 4-5 years, I think a 6 months check up is needed to see how it is doing, to see if I am possibly on the right track.

While the dry leaf aroma does not smell nearly as potent, the rise smells a bit on the acrid side. And perhaps my storage method did not do enough to keep moisture out, as it is almost a bit sour smelling. But actually it is quite an interesting aroma, and once you get past the harsh shock of it, its got quite a bit of promise.


While this is far from the best wuyi I have ever had, it is quite an improvement over what was there 6 months ago. A fruit and chocolate profile emerged from the high roast that was there. It actually tastes like a fruit based dessert and coffee all rolled into one tea.

It was certainly interesting, and I feel the tea is much improved. If it will continue to improve is anyones guess.

Tancho-no-mukashi Matcha

This is a High grade offering from Ippodo, a traditional teashop in Japan specializing in tea form the Uji region.

This might be the first time I have ever detected a floral note in matcha, sweet yes, but this is distinctly floral almost rose like. Drinking this is drinking something which you know is there, you feel its warmth, you taste its sweet and bitter combination with the slightly chalky mouth feel which lingers into the finish. But before you know it half the bowl is gone, then the whole thing, and you are wondering what happened, because you are convinced you did not drink nearly that much. But what you remember of the sip you took was that it was good, subtle and ever so enjoyable, but seemingly non existent.

Andao Tea Wuyi Big Red Robe.

Some of you may know that I did review this tea last August. As I state in the post the tea then was not my favorite, but I did eventually figure out how to brew it, and thankfully I still have not forgotten. This is a brand new bag, but as Andao does not label some teas with production years it is rather hard to know, if what I had in August was the same year or production run as this tea.

Wuyi in my mind is best brewed with a completely attentive mind. Brew this tea with an attentive mind and it will be good to you, great mouth feel, great aroma, only the flavor is slightly lacking. It is rather plain and not that strong. But everything else was great.

A reunion of sorts,
A reflection off a teapot,
Life comes forth.
--Adam Yusko

Zhi Ming Du Lao Man Er

Yet another one of the Zhi Ming Du offerings, and again I'm using my 60 ml Gaiwan and 5.7 grams of leaf. It is a rather snowy day here, and I'd like to say this tasting is being brought to you by the snow outside. As I have been so busy running around I rarely have occasion to knock myself down and write up one of these reviews.

I must say the aroma present in the rinse quite interests me. and I decided to use a small blue and white porcelain cup gifted to me in a swap of tea with a friend.

As the rinse smelled rather potent I decided to do a 5 second infusion for the first steep. The aroma definitely is potent bamboo and citrus rinds, and possibly the slightest hint of pineapple. Upon first taste I realize a bit longer wouldn't hurt, but if you like your young puerh tasty but mild about 5 seconds would be the right length. Its got that characteristic grassy astringency with a nice round burnt buttery taste full of all sorts of tropical fruits.

This is certainly a welcome tea, and this is coming form someone that has had quite enough tea today (but I'll keep on drinking ;-) ).

Today seems to be an entire economics lesson for me... in the sense that I'm being reminded how supply and demand are rarely ever wrong on most commodities. This 100g cake comes in at 10 dollars before shipping, and with a slightly stronger brewed 2nd infusion, I'm realizing its certainly better than standard Dayi fair coming in at around 10 dollars for 357g.

The big flaw I have with this is while it has strength it seems to have a strong bitter component that is not the good type of bitter I look for in puerh, this is rather drying and is just not meshing with what I want right now.

That being said so far through three infusions I rather like this tea, it certain isn't one dimensional, and has a bit of character. But most of it is in the aroma, and the taste I could take or leave, but I find that it really sticks in the mouth, a bit too well in fact. I'm taking longer breaks between infusions, and I even got a cup of water to drink from between infusions. That being said if you like the after taste, you will be in heaven cause it lasts.

This tea has a persistent quality to it that I must give it credit, though young puerh can be like this, but this tea has held constant flavor and taste for the past 6 infusions, with only minor increases in time, and honestly show no signs of relenting.



A gift of tea is a gift of profound and thoughtless mind.
With it one can see as though on top of worldly mountains,
but in truth we ascend into the zen mirror in us.
--Adam Yusko

First Retaste. Douji Shangdou Mini brick 2008

So this is my first retaste, I only have a little over half of one of the Shangdou bricks left. It has been stored in Pennsylvania most of the time but rather inconsistent storage I must say, and not sure I know all the types of storage this went through, but for the past 6 months it has been sitting in a Metal Drawer, supposed to be used for Files, and no added humidity. But I like to think the humidity and temp have been kept reasonable as it is in my room and I make most of my tea in my room (a.k.a kettle boiling and issuing steam for 1-4 hours a day typically).

Both notes can be found here.

Ippodo Mantoku

This is one of their lower priced Gyokuro's which seems more expensive comparatively as the bags are 100 grams not 50 grams. The Dry leaf smells delicious, everything that I have come to like about Japanese Greens. One thing Ippodo themselves say is that this tea can take warmer water than typical gyokuro.

I think that is generally the case when it comes to less expensive gyokuro, it is close and closer to Sencha in nature and abilities.

In truth I am amazed at the strength of the umami taste in this tea, it seems to be bolstered by the extra tinge of bitterness. Though aroma leaves much to be desired.

It was much the same through the second steep.


But I want to say that this tea is an umami bomb, but it seems to have given up the ghost by the 3rd infusion, I'm going to try and give it a fourth.

Wakamatsu-no-mukashi Matcha

From Tea

Another matcha from Ippodo, as they seem to be highly recommended by Matcha enthusiests, and this one comes highly recommended.

Its aroma is quite chocolaty with a hint of sea salt thrown in. The taste was great, like a slightly chocolaty cream. It was devoid of hints of bitterness, it seemed to only be smooth and velvet like.

A video of me preparing this Matcha is Available here.

From Hagi in Use

Zhi Ming Du Ba Da Mountain

Some of these mountain series put my knowledge of Yunnan Geography to the test, and as I'm very poor in my knowlege of that area I often end up stumped, and resorting back to certain guides put together to help people like me. Some good photos were shown here.

So as promised I'm going to start posting weights. I had 5.7g of leaf in my 60 ml gaiwan. The rinse smells promising and is actually a very nice looking pale gold color. Though the overwhelming characterisic of the rinse aroma is a tobacco like smoke aroma.

The aroma is interesting, I'm having a hard time describing the main aroma as its seems like a chocolate/gelatine like aroma, something that is sweet but satisfying. But besides that there are quite a few good notes of melons and cucumbers.

Well this is interesting, though I am not sure if I can say I am thrilled with it, the initial taste is uninteresting but nothing to complain about, but the finish occurs in the front of the mouth. As in all in front of your back molars, it starts with a bitter/sourness then fades into like a sour apple, then fades into the sweetness. But mind you, I like those finish you can feel down your entire throat, you feel like you are still able to taste it right before it enters your stomach. But as for the intial taste its rather like Brussels sprouts.


In all reality there is not much wrong with this tea, it might partially be that I am not in the mood for a young puerh (I keep thinking of how its been awhile since I have had any aged puerh). Though I feel like this tea is not pulling on my heartstings, while the aroma is good, the taste seems to be not what I am looking for, though possibly not lacking for a young puerh. In fact I find it somewhat intriguing, though ultimately I am not interested. And though the many infusions I have done the finish has stayed the same as I have detailed, certainly interesting, just not what I was looking for.

It is a cold day outside, and somehow perhaps due to the nature of young puerh, I feel the warmth from this tea though its very warm in my mouth, seems to vanish the second it hits my throat.

So sorry for one of the shorter puerh reviews I have done in some time. Verdict on this tea, "Interesting, but not for me right now".