Yuuki-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

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Yuuki-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by Chip » Dec 17th, '09, 15:07

NEW! Official Japanese Green Tea Vendor Guide: Yuuki-Cha.com. Consider this a perennial topic for Japanese teas from Yuuki-Cha.

http://www.yuuki-cha.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/Yuuki-Cha

Official Japanese Green Tea Vendor Guide. Let's see what happens with this wild and crazy idea. You can view the main Japanese TeaVendor Guide here: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11556 and the main TeaVendor Guide here: http://www.teachat.com/viewforum.php?f=60

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Dec 18th, '09, 23:50
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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by iannon » Dec 18th, '09, 23:50

This Vendor and Zencha are the two I keep going back to right now. I have honestly enjoyed every organic tea and matcha i have tried from here. I also like their selection of tea ware and cannisters. I bought a few ;) and both myself and my daughter have kyusu from here.

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Dec 21st, '09, 01:22
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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by Tead Off » Dec 21st, '09, 01:22

Their Kagoshima fukamushi yutaka is an interesting sencha. I tried this in the spring and reordered in the fall. The difference of just sitting there for some extra months in their storage was remarkable. When it was very fresh, this tea had a flavor that I like very much. After some months, the flavor changed into a more nutty, roasted, quality that I found less agreeable, although still interesting. There is no lack of flavor in this tea. This is an organic that blows the theory of needing more leaf to get a good brew.

The Gyokuro Tsuyuhikari from Shizuoka was not to my taste. I found it difficult to really get at the flavor of this tea. Very delicate with faint sweet floral and buttery mouthfeel. If only it gave more generously with it's flavor.

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Jan 5th, '10, 17:10
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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by teaisme » Jan 5th, '10, 17:10

This is my favourite site for japanese green teas.
Everything I have ordered has been delicious, plus there is the added benefit of it being organic. As mentioned by others, their tea tins are great.
They have a very nice selection of quality teapots too, ranging from expensive to budget.

Shipping is more expensive then some vendors, but the tea and teawares are well worth it.

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Jan 11th, '10, 06:13
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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by Oni » Jan 11th, '10, 06:13

What is the actual problem with organic gyokuro? Does it lack the great umame, or you need to use high concentration to get the result?

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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by Chip » Jan 11th, '10, 09:07

Oni wrote:What is the actual problem with organic gyokuro? Does it lack the great umame, or you need to use high concentration to get the result?
It has been almost a year since I tried the Gyokuro from Yuuki-Cha. It just tasted off to me, like there were unpleasant elements to the flavor profile that muddied up the base flavor which seemed good. I remember talking to a couple members at the time and they concurred.

I wish I had more to experiment with, having only enough for several sessions at the time, and perhaps it is different today as I suspect the learning curve for producing organic Gyokuro is longer than for Sencha.

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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by Chip » Jan 11th, '10, 09:14

Tead Off wrote:The Gyokuro Tsuyuhikari from Shizuoka was not to my taste. I found it difficult to really get at the flavor of this tea. Very delicate with faint sweet floral and buttery mouthfeel. If only it gave more generously with it's flavor.
Chip wrote:Organic Gyokuro seems to be a big challenge to produce. Might take a while til they figure out how to effectively produce it. I think the biggest problem is that Gyokuro is generally very heavily fertilized ... hard to duplicate on an organic level.

And yet, Organic Kabuse is being produced and is pretty good from my limited exposure.
These two statements seem to relate ... Seems that the difficulty in adding enough nutrients to the soil, organically, is likely to produce a lighter brew as an end result.

Tead Off, when did you have this Gyokuro?

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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by Tead Off » Jan 11th, '10, 09:20

Chip wrote:
Oni wrote:What is the actual problem with organic gyokuro? Does it lack the great umame, or you need to use high concentration to get the result?
It has been almost a year since I tried the Gyokuro from Yuuki-Cha. It just tasted off, like there were unpleasant elements to the flavor profile. I remember talking to a couple members at the time and they concurred.

I wish I had more to experiment with, having only enough for several sessions at the time, and perhaps it is different today as I suspect the learning curve for producing organic Gyokuro is longer than for Sencha.
The gyokuro that I had from them is a new product and you wouldn't have had this one, Chip. It's from Shizuoka. This one didn't taste off at all. It was a question of not being able to extract the kind of flavor and umami that you would expect in a good gyokuro. The owner suggested increasing the leaf to 10g per serving in a small kyusu. I tried it, a bit better, but, nowhere near what I have had from others. Ippodo also suggests 10g servings but when I did that with theirs, it was too over the top for me so I simply cut back and am continuing to enjoy it very much. I'm not sure if it is just a matter of organic vs not. I will try Hibiki-an's organic gyokuro as all the teas I've had from them have been very enjoyable.

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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by Chip » Jan 11th, '10, 09:37

OK, thanks Tead Off. This seems to lend credence to my other comment regarding fertilizing difficulties as it pertains to organics since conventionally they are very heavily fertilized.

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Re: "Official" Yuuki-Cha Japanese tea topic

by Oni » Jan 12th, '10, 01:38

I cannot afford to experiment, so I will stick to my well known suppliers of great gyokuro, and I will wait a few month until shincha season.

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Re: Yuuki-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by teashionista » Jan 28th, '10, 00:34

I just received my first order from this vendor: Organic Houjicha 3-pack. Customer service is impressive: the tea was shipped the day I placed the order and arrived within a week. The only tea I've tried so far (Uji Houjicha) is great!

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Jan 28th, '10, 15:35
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Re: Yuuki-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by teaisme » Jan 28th, '10, 15:35

Hey teashionista how does it compare to Houjicha from other vendors?
I'm interested in getting some and was wondering.

Also wondering about the dry leaf appearance. Are the pics on the site very accurate?

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Jan 28th, '10, 17:31
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Re: Yuuki-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by teashionista » Jan 28th, '10, 17:31

Churng, the Uji Houjicha (the only package I opened) looks exactly like it does on the vendor's web site (cocoa-brown stems, dark brown leaves with some greenish tips). I can only compare it to Sugomoto's and Lupicia's: Uji is more mellow, less roasted than the former, with more leaves and thinner stems. It also does surprisingly well on the second infusion. Lupicia's houjicha was much lighter in both taste and appearance, and didn't do nearly as well on second infusions.
I haven't had Den's, but I know a lot of ppl here love it.

Overall, the roastiness does not come off very strong or smoky, even out of the bag (which I prefer), but the flavor is still very round with no astringent undertones. Btw, my brewing parameters were: 7.5g leaves/350ml boiling water/1min for the first infusion, and 1.5 on the second (didn't time the third). This is less tea than I would normally use (1g per 30ml), but the color of the liquor was very dark even on the second and third infusions. I'll be buying this again.

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Re: Yuuki-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by teaisme » Jan 28th, '10, 17:46

Thanks for info, and quick reply.
I will prob make my next tea order with yuuki. Can't get enough of their organics, impress me every time.

Let me know when you break into the other bags and give them a go.

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Apr 8th, '10, 22:49
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Re: Yuuki-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by britt » Apr 8th, '10, 22:49

Yuuki-cha has become a preferred vendor when I place orders for Japanese tea. I particularly like their Saemidori and Yutaka Midori. My most recent order contained both of these and I was very surprised at how fresh they smelled when opening the bags, especially considering these were harvested almost a year ago.

I've tried other senchas, matcha, and gyokuro from them and all have been very good and fresh. Their Yame matcha, although not the best I've had, is a particularly good deal when purchased in the 100 gram bag for $32 versus 40 grams for $20. The biggest surprise was the exceptional quality of their Japanese black tea (Makurazaki Tezumi Koucha Hime Hikari). Brewed in porcelain this was at least as good as the best black teas I've had from China and Taiwan.

The quality of their matcha accessories (chasen, chashaku) is significantly better than some other vendors claiming to be selling the same product. This makes me wonder if some of those were actually Chinese rip-offs being sold as authentic Japanese Takayama's.

One thing I have noticed is that I go through Yuki-cha teas much faster than the others because I use more leaf with the organics. I don't consider this to be a negative, although some may think it is.

Yuuki-cha usually ships the same day and offers regular airmail as well as EMS.

I highly recommend Yuuki-cha's organic teas and feel that the stories about organics being inferior are untrue and unfair. I had the same expectations that they wouldn't be competitive but overall I think they are and in some cases they may actually be superior. There are terrible and great teas in both the organic and non-organic categories, and I don't think anyone should hesitate to make a purchase from Yuuki-cha based only on the organic label.

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