2011 Organic Kumamoto Jo Shincha

Due to conflicting reports about possible radiation levels in the 2011 crop from Shizuoka Prefecture, I decided to forgo Shizuoka-grown Shincha this year. I also wanted to try shinchas offered by other vendors - I hvae been buying my Japanese teas mostly from Yuuki-cha -, especially kinari shincha from Maiko but unfortunately most of the teas offered are not organic.  So I went back to Yuuki-Cha again and got the Kumamoto Jo Shincha, a Chumushi (medium steamed) shincha from the old traditional town of Yabe in Kumamoto Prefecture. What attracted me to try this tea was the price ($12/100g) and the tea being medium steamed that I've never had before.  

The tea is made from standard Yabukita tea plant cultivar and Tsuyuhikari, a hybrid of 'Asatsuyu' and 'Shizu7132'. I eyeballed everything; the tea, the water temperature and the brew time. While the tea was  good and refreshing, it tasted a little bit to mellow to my taste. I am guessing partly because I didn't brew it as I normally do when I try a new tea by following the steeping methods provided by the vendor - which I will do next time I prepare this tea again. 

Tea and Sunset

Evenings have been warmer than usual lately which made me a happy camper when we went to the beach to enjoy sunset this evening.  Well, we were not really on the beach, but on our usual spot on the cliff that was close enough to the ocean.  Watching sunset over the Pacific Ocean is something that both of us love to do since we moved here almost a decade ago. And we do this a lot!    

I brought with us a pitcher of cold brew organic Kagoshima Saemidori sencha that I forgot to pack while running errands earlier today. I prepared the tea before I went to bed last night - something that I often do on the warm days, left it in the fridge overnight and planed to drink it throughout the day. It was a good thing that I forgot to drink it during the day. This cold, refreshing and naturally sweet drink was much better enjoyed while watching beautiful sunset on this perfect spot anyway. 

Today's Matcha

was Sakuraka in Chris Chaney's Pink Shino chawan. I love the pleasant aroma that comes out from the chawan every time I prepare this matcha. 

Organic Tenryucha Shincha

Fukamushi shincha 

Varietal: 100% Yabukita

Origin: Tenryu, Shizuoka

This deep steamed shincha was from the 2010 season. I went overboard in ordering shincha last year and quickly realized that I couldn't use it up as planned. Even if I drank shincha every day! So I decided to store some of them in the fridge for later consumption by placing unopened bags in a pyrex container, then wrapped the pyrex tightly in a thick dark colored kitchen towel. I am pleased to find that my shincha hold up well so far.

Today I brewed the tea by eyeballing everything; the water temperature, the brewing time and the weight of the dry leaf. The first steep produced a mild and smooth taste note with a light umami. But we liked the taste of the second brew the most. The sweet and distinct umami flavor of the second brew put a big smile on my and my husband's face. We continued brewing this tea until it completely lost its kick by the fifth brew. 

Some information about this tea (from Yuuki-Cha website): Tenryucha is an organic deep steamed (fukamushi) sencha that is high grown in a secluded mountainous area of the famous Tenryu tea growing district of Shizuoka. The mountains of Tenryu are blessed with a beautiful environment, pure water, rich soil, plenty of sunshine and deep mist. These elements are vital for producing quality organic sencha, therefore, a number of Shizuoka organic tea farmers ply their trade in Tenryu. Just as vital is formulating compost that will supply the tea bushes with sufficient nutrition. The farmer of this organic sencha has put a great deal of time and effort into formulating compost that really brings out a nice approachable flavor in his tea.


The leaf has been deep steamed (fukamushi sencha), but not on the heavy side, it maintains good appearance. The tea liquor is an attractive light-green to lime-green color which is the norm for high grown organic Yabukita that has been carefully deep steamed, and sun-grown without the use of chemical fertilizers. 

Tea on the road - Monterey

While I miss my morning matcha ritual, I am still able to enjoy a descent cup of sencha. Sitting on the porch of our hotel room overlooking Del Monte Golf Course in Monterey, I am currently sipping organic sencha Okuyutaka from Yuuki-Cha, brewed directly in Nakahara hagi cup using the finum brewing basket. No kyusu, scale or thermometer (the later I rarely use any way); just eyedballed the leaves and used hot water from the hotel's club lounge for a quick steep. 

New Year - New Teas

Started the new year with organic matcha from Den's Tea (Saemidori varietal from Nishio, Aichi, first flush). It was creamy, smooth and delicious. 

Matcha in "In Praise of Shadows" chawan by D. Michael Coffee

Shortly after that enjoyed a pot of French Breakfast Tea from Mariage Freres, bought at their store while in Paris last October but had left unopened in our tea cupboard until today.   

French Breakfast

Oriental beauty from Floating Tea Leaves after lunch. I liked its roasted and honey flavor. 

Oriental Beauty

Ochazuke with Broiled Tofu

I am using up my Sayamakaori shincha to make Ochazuke today. Ochazuke is a Japanese dish in which a hot tea is poured over rice topped with some simple ingredients. The dish is simple, tasty and extremely easy to prepare. Just put hot cooked rice in a bowl (I am using organic Japanese sushi rice), place any toppings of your choice (favorite toppings include grilled salmon, tempura or broiled eel),  add sesame seeds, wasabi, green onion or freshly grated ginger for additional flavor, then pour your tea (sencha, hojicha or bancha) over it. Done.

I didn't have any wasabi, green onion or fresh ginger today so I had mine without any extra flavor. Just rice, broiled tofu and tea. Simple and delicious.

2010 Sayamakaori Shincha from Yuuki-Cha

Another shincha that I am trying to finish up as well. I brewed 5 gram of leaves in 5 ounces of filtered water - boiled with bamboo charcoal- in 370ml kyusu by Hokujo (Shimizu Genji). The first brew was about 1 minute which resulted a sweet, light vegetal and clean taste. The second (and third brew - both for about 20 seconds) was bold, pleasantly crisp and nice astringent without bitterness at all. As with any other shincha, after the fourth brew, I continued brewing with boiling water  to enjoy its sweet water. 

This light steamed shincha is from Shizuoka and 100% sayamakaori breed. Very nice looking asamushi needles!

A big bowl of sayamakaori sweet tea water. 

Tea in Jakarta

I didn't get a chance to visit two tea houses as I originally planned, but I still managed to drink some good teas while I was in Jakarta last week as two tins of matcha and some oolongs from Floating Tea Leaves were traveling with me on this trip. 

At the hotel we're staying, my mother and I enjoyed our non-creamy and un-frothy matcha every morning at breakfast. I had all the tools with me; chawan, matcha shifter, chasaku and chasen. But after preparing matcha (Aiya organic ceremonial) with all those tools on the first day and didn't get a good result (but  got a lot of questions about the tools from the hotel waitstaff), I decided to just use regular teacup and spoon. Of course it didn't produce a fine and creamy drink, but the taste was good and we liked it. That's all the matters, right? 

Breakfast View from the hotel

At my parents house, my mother and I enjoyed our morning matcha in D. Michael Coffee's chawan prepared using more "appropriate" tools, and Alishan Oolong from Floating Tea Leaves in the afternoon. 

A day before I went back to the states, my sister, my mother and I decided to visit two tea plantations in Puncak.  Growing up, my parents often took us to different tea plantations near where we lived for a picnic lunch on the tea fields. During my college years, my friends and I often went to Malabar Tea Plantation in Pengalengan for the weekend just to breath the fresh air and walk around tea plants. I am always fascinated by the beauty of the tea fields. And I wanted to see it again this time. 

It was raining really hard when we reached the first plantation "Perkebunan Teh Ciliwung", so we just enjoyed the tea fields from the car. Fortunately the rain stopped when we got to "Perkebunan Teh Gunung Mas", a government-owned tea plantation about 87 km south of Jakarta. We went straight to the cafe inside the plantation to warm ourselves up with a pot of hot tea, fried banana and yummy grilled banana. We were the only customers at that time. Ah.. what a peaceful place... so calm, so quite, and so green.

Perkebunan Teh Ciliwung

"Agrowisat Ciliwung" seberang Cagar Alam Cibulao

Kecamatan Tugu, Cisarua

Perkebunan Teh Gunung Mas

Jl. Raya Puncak, Bogor

(0251) 25 2501

Tenshin

Our teacher will go back to Japan in December so today was the last day of our tea lesson.  As always we had a great time studying, eating delicious Japanese sweets and drinking a lot of koicha. Around noon, the teacher asked us to stop practicing because she was going to serve tenshin (a light meal for tea gathering). What a wonderful surprise! I have been eating vegan only for the last 5 months, I could have given the grilled salmon and sashimi to the other students.  But I decided to eat them anyway. She thoughtfully prepared all dishes and it was a special day after all. The least I could do is showing my appreciation for her efforts and kindness. I didn't regret it. Thank you sensei. Mata ai ma sho. 

Honyama Tokuju shincha

Drinking the sweet tea water of Honyama shicha from the 5th, 6th, and 7th infusions. After the 4th infusion of the morning session, I put the tea in the fridge and brewed it in the afternoon with boiling water for 3 minutes, 4 mins, and 5 mins respectively. 

Decanted the tea into my Pink Shino Chawan by Chris Chaney and enjoyed it after it cooled down. While it obviously didn't give me the bold flavors (and the astringent and grassy character were gone as well),  I enjoyed its delicate and lighter taste. And it was also good with Amedei Chuao.

Today's Matcha

Honzu matcha harvested in Ogura, Uji from Postcard Tea in Michael Coffee's chawan.

2010 Kanayamidori Shincha

Vendor: Yuuki-Cha
Type: Asamushi
Varietal: Kanayamidori
Origin: Shimizu, Shizouka
Brewing vessel: Kuro Sendan Tokoname kyusu (with a sasame ceramic strainer) by Houryu

Iced Matcha au Lait

The warm weather continues......
No hot matcha today.  Instead, I had this delicious and refreshing cold drink: Iced Matcha au Lait. Yum.

Here is my method:
1. Pour 2 chasaku of sifted Matcha into a cold glass.
2. Add 100ml iced water, and whisk with chasen (bamboo whish) until the tea gets frothy.
3. Add soy milk and stir.  Then add ice cubes and enjoy!

Cold brew Teas

The weather has been hot lately as June Gloom is finally over.  The thought of having a cup of hot tea is not really appealing so I decided to cold brew my teas this week. After searching online for how to prepare cold brewed teas, I decided to try brewing my teas with iced water and left it overnight in the fridge. First try was saemidori shincha. Wow I really liked the taste!  It was sweet,no bitterness, less astringent and very refreshing. 

Then I tried other type of teas that I normally brew hot; oolong, darjeeling and matcha. I liked all of them too. I am very pleased to know that I can still enjoy my teas even in very hot days! Life is good.  

2010 Farmer's Choice Bao Zhong from Floating Tea Leaves

2010 Organic Honyama Tonkuju Shincha

This is one of my favorite shincha teas this year; it has a sweet and delicate taste which I really like for my green tea. Look at the beautiful leaves!

The spent leaves do not look bad either.