Greetings and Haikei to my wonderful readers.

As some of you may remember from one of my previous posts, I purchased a Fukubukuro bag from Yunomi to celebrate the New Year. It arrived the other day in great time for my up coming birthday, where I plan on having a Japanese tea day.

Just to jog memories.

Tea Fukubukuro: 300+

Tea Fukubukuro 300+ features 300 grams or more (around 3 bags), with a total retail value of over $50. (Shipping cost charged at 250-gram rate, and differs by region.) Shipments begin January 5th.

Price: $39.99 (a little cheaper if you already have an account)

https://yunomi.us/shop/24203/tea-fukubukuro-300-new-years-gift-bag/?ref=5

Tea Fukubukuro: 500+

Tea Fukubukuro 500+ features 500 grams or more (around 5 teas), with a total retail value of over $100. (Shipping weight is registered as zero, so you only pay the $3.00 handling surcharge on the order.) Shipments begin January 5th.

https://yunomi.us/shop/24205/tea-fukubukuro-500-new-years-gift-bag/?ref=5

Price: $74.98 (a little cheaper if you already have an account)

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My 500+ Fukubukuro contained:

100g of Kukicha Midori from NaturaliTEA

https://yunomi.us/shop/7078/naturalitea-10-kukicha-midori-stem-tea-id-7078/?ref=5

In appearance the stems are a blend of green and yellow with a high gloss/shiny reflection.

In scent I can detect sweet grass, honeysuckle, perfume and fresh hay.

Once steeped the tea is cloudy yellow in colour with a sweet yet savoury grass and sweetpea scent. Somewhat similar to it’s raw scent.

Flavour is medium in strength with buttery grass and hay tones. Soft umami that lingers in the after taste, reminds me of asparagus and broccoli. Also some dryness.

As it cools the grass tones become stronger and the umami adds some astringency.

Overall: It’s a nice Kukicha that offers a lot of crisp flavours and nice balanced umami. A little soft for my liking and not as strong as I usually prefer, though very nice all the same.

Rating: 8/10

100g of Yabukita Midori First Flush from NaturaliTEA

https://yunomi.us/shop/7068/naturalitea-03-yabukita-midori-first-flush-id-7068/?ref=5

Crisp dark green needle leaves mixed with a few light yellow green stems. They have a very sweet honeydew scent that is very pure and beautiful.

The steeping instructions are a little different for this tea, it recommends doing one long steep rather than several short ones. So this will be steeped in my Kyusu for 2 minutes. 80ml for 2 minutes seems a little strong but that is what the instructions say on the website.

The resulting tea liquid is medium to dark green and has a sweet yet savoury broth scent. Flavour is strong though not overly so, the umami is rich and lingers into the after taste. Savoury and sweet at the same time with some astringency and rich mineral tones. Like thick cabbage water.

A further steep with the same 2 minute rule reveals more savoury umami but less sweet than previously. It’s still thickly mineral with cabbage and broccoli notes yet it seems toned down as a whole compared to the first steep. Still slightly astringent.

Another 2 minute steep – Severely toned down from what it was but it still has a lot of flavour, only now this is more standard Sencha like. Medium strength, minimum umami and astringency but remains mineral with added grass tones. Has some sweetness once again.

Another 2 minute steep making this number 4 – Extremely mild, all that remains is sweet grass.

This was a pleasant tea that offered lots of umami for the first two steeps which work well as a boost throughout the day.

Rating: 7/10

100g of Matcha Latte from Azuma Tea

https://yunomi.us/shop/4947/azuma-tea-matcha-latte-mix-id-4947/?ref=5

The powder is light green with white pieces amongst them, dry milk perhaps? It smells toasted and grassy though mild.

Following the instructions on the packet, I put two and a half spoons of Matcha blend into my bowl and added 100ml approx of warm water (around 85C).

Once steeped (and well mixed) the liquid is a light green that looks rather milky and has a toasted grass scent.

Flavour is surprisingly good! It’s sweet and toasted with cream and grass tones. Soft and delicate but I’m really understanding the latte description. Perfect for me as I am allergic to milk and drinking it gives me stomach ache, though small doses is fine. There are little bits in the drink that are chewy, petal like as they are soft. The bits are not great, I would prefer it smooth.

Rating:8/10

100g of Fukamidori, Shogun’s Tea from NaturaliTEA

https://yunomi.us/shop/206/naturalitea-17-fukamidori-shoguns-tea-id-206/?ref=5

Instructions from Yunomi via website:

Leaf – 5g

Water – 80ml

Temperature – 60c

Steeping time – 2 minutes

The leaves are very shiny and a mixture of both medium green and light green colours.

Also some are finely chopped while others are roughly 4mm in length.

They smell like sweet grass and butter. A lovely and pure scent.

Once steeped the tea is cloudy yellow and has a sweet grass and mineral scent. Like brocolli grilled with butter.

Taste is sweet and buttery to match the scent but in a more mild manner. Getting a nice low level broth flavour too which adds some savoury to the sweet.

Overall it’s medium strength and with just a touch of astringency in the aftertaste along with some dryness.

A further re steep of 2 minutes 30 seconds reveals an increase in umami and astringency. Preferable to it’s first steep.

This is nice Midori but I have had nicer, from Naturalitea too.

Rating: 8/10

100g of Organic Spring Sencha Kodawari #2 Premium from Takeo Tea Farm

https://yunomi.us/shop/5992/takeo-tea-farm-organic-spring-sencha-kodawari-2-premium-2014-id-5992/?ref=5

The raw leaves are a beautiful blend of green tones with some yellow stems and brown sticks/twigs present. They smell fresh, sweet and grassy with toasted flowers.

Leaf – 5g

Water – 180ml

Temperature – 65c

Steeping time – 1 minutes

Once steeped the tea is cloudy green in colour and has a warm seaweed and grass scent.

In flavour It’s mild yet sweet with light grass and umami tones that come through in the after taste. Some dryness too.

A second steep reveals deeper grass and seaweed flavours with an increased dryness. The umami is present though remains minimal and slightly perfumed. As it cools I can also taste white cabbage.

A third steep brings out some astringency though it remains full of flavour. Though the dryness is increasing and feels powdery.

Overall: It was nice and the Organic factor made it extra special but I found this Sencha became dry too quickly for my liking.

Rating: 7.5/10

20g tin of Matcha Gold by Cha Ginza

https://yunomi.us/shop/11434/clearance-best-by-feb-28-cha-ginza-matcha-gold-20g-tin-id-11434/?ref=5

Colour is bright green and foams wonderfully.

Flavour is smooth and very creamy, lightly grassy and sweet. Very light in strength, incredibly easy to drink and wonderful sweet grass tones in the after taste. The last sip had light umami tones.

The powder blends well with the water and it makes each sip consistent in flavour and texture.

I think this is the smoothest Matcha I have tried, it’s taste and colour is stunning. No chemical flavours or astringency at all.

Rating: 10/10

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Until next time 🙂

Happy Steeping!