Ocha & Co. Organic Genmaicha Tea - Loose Leaf Japanese Green Tea - Genmai Matcha Roasted Brown Rice Blend - Premium Sencha Green Tea, 100g/3.5oz.

TL;DR: It's really good tea, it ships faster and cheaper than anything from Yunomi, and often ships faster than Amazon estimates (I credit Ocha & Co. with being quick on the draw when it comes to mailing orders). I've tried many of the price-per-gram comparable sencha on Amazon, but this has been my primary tea for the last year. The following contains detailed descriptions as well as my brewing methodology. In terms of flavor, you can tell when a manufacturer has actual concern for the quality of their tea. You can buy bulk "sencha" for dirt cheap and en-masse, sure, but it will taste like garbage. No matter how you brew it, bad tea tastes bad. Paradoxically, the wrong brewing can also make good tea taste bad, and fukamushicha is a highly temperamental type of tea. This is problematic for many making their first forays into the world of drinks like matcha, sencha, and its many derivatives. In decent swaths of the west, particularly the United States, the most complex your average tea gets is dropping some boiling water on a tea bag, waiting a couple minutes, and calling it a day. I would caution anyone reading this and considering buying this tea that if you treat it like black tea, you will ruin it. I shudder to think how many people have tried teas like this one only to brew them wrong and be turned away from it forever. This tea is, for lack of better words, amazing. The care that goes into its production is apparent in the flavor, a rich brew with minimal to nonexistent bitterness and fantastic umami when brewed correctly. Speaking of how to brew this tea... After a lot of experimentation, I've discovered that my favorite brewing method is 2.5-3g of tea per 100mL of water. This is because I opt for a water temperature on the lower end between 61 and 63 degrees centigrade, and steeping time of 45 seconds for the first two brews. If "two brews" sounds strange, and it may to those unfamiliar with the particulars of teas like this one, it can be brewed repeatedly to produce as many as 5 pots of tea from one pot worth of leaves. In my experience, after the first two, an additional 1-2 degrees and 5 seconds will help to maintain strength and flavor. The third brew, with these specifications, is a little more complex in flavor, but a bit milder than the first two. Subsequent brews will be noticeably milder. Overall, this is a remarkable tea for the price. For anyone looking to make a first venture into the wonderful world of sencha, this is an excellent starting point. If you feel a little under-equipped, I highly recommend a look at Hario's teaware, which can also be found here on Amazon, as well as an accurate thermometer and a scale capable of measuring at .1g increments. This is also an excellent tea for those like me who might be willing to splurge on a more expensive brew for special occasions, but have to make some considerations about the cost of our daily drink.

So I admit, this is my first Gyokuro. I drink a ton of green teas and matcha. I always try to get higher end brands. I used to drink a lot of store bought teas, which could be $3 a bottle (and also loaded with sugar usually, which I don't want. But, unsweetened bottled tea tastes horrible). Since I am saving money not buying bottled, I figured I mine as well get high quality teas to make myself. There was some Gyokuro that was double this price. But, this brand has great reviews, is organic, and the price was acceptable to me. So, overall, this tea compared to 'normal' green tea, has a much better flavor to me. Almost no bitterness, nice earthy flavor, with a good mouth feel. Gives me a nice boost throughout morning and afternoon as well. I brew the leaves two times (usually for 2 cups in the morning). You may be able to brew even more than twice, but, because part of the reason I drink this is for the caffeine, I want to make sure I am getting the most of that I can. I can see this becoming one of my favorites for daily drinking. The vacuum sealed bag I got is dated for a year past when I received it. Came in fresh. Inside the bag is all perfectly rolled tea leaves. No overly dry 'dusty' pieces. Very good quality. The smell is amazing! If you want to setup up your green tea game, this Gyokuro may be great for you!

Pretty good. Has a strong roasted flavor, with hints of dark chocolate. Not too much natural sweetness. It is very fine and sifts very nicely, but also has a very noticeable astringency that leaves your mouth feeling very dry. It is nice that it comes in a large size, however.

I’m a hojicha virgin and this one did not disappoint! It has a toasty roasted taste, umami and rounded taste. Almost like herby chocolate milk! I love it! Best with oat milk with maple syrup! I literally drank this before bed and I was able to seep. Whisks easily, creamy and the color is vibrant brown.

I've enjoyed tea and coffee my whole life. I drift back and forth for seasons between them. Recently, I've been on a new tea kick: rediscovering some, giving some a second try, and trying some for the first time. I'm new to reviewing teas, but I know what I like and do not. If you like the earthiness of green tea, this is an exceptional drink. It sounds like it would be bold, but it remains delicate with a fresh floral grass flavor. It's very approachable to borrow wine lingo. The color is brilliant, and the steeped tea reveals the fresh nature of this product. I've heard that better Gyokuro teas are available at higher prices, but this is a sublime tea for me, and I'm not sure I'd know the difference (yet, anyway). The tea was in a nice tight, vacuum-sealed foil bag with a beautiful aroma out of the gate. The expiration is clearly printed on the package, and I have almost 12 months to open and enjoy it, but I'm sure the tea will be gone long before then. This tea seems the very definition of umami. Well done. If I'm formulating a Top 10 of Teas, this is in it.

Before I bought this brand, I reviewed the AprikaLife Hojicha as the best I could find. It was good, but this is much better. I find the taste to be stronger and more caramel-y than the AprikaLife brand. There are mixed reviews on this product, because people seem to not like the taste of Hojicha, which is subjective. Sometimes, I prefer the taste of this to matcha which can be more earthy and grassier.If I had to describe the taste of Hojicha, I would say that it tastes more caramel-like with roasted tones, similar to Thai tea. It doesn’t have the strong grassy notes of Matcha. I use this powder to make a latte every morning. I add 1 ½ tsp of Hojicha powder to whole milk and whisk it on the stove while heating it up, then I add monk fruit sweetener as desired. The mixability is much better than matcha, I find that the powder dissolves very easily, no clumps and barely needs to be whisked. Another reason to consume Hojicha over matcha is that it has an even lower caffeine content, with 5-10g of caffeine per serving as opposed to matcha which is 30-45g of caffeine per serving. I am sensitive to caffeine so I feel like I don’t need to worry with Hojicha since the caffeine content is so low.

So let me set the standard here. I went to Japan back in April/May to visit my brother (who is an avid tea drinker.) I’ll never forget my tea experience, especially my first time trying first-pick Gyokuro. We went to Kawane and visited tea farms and factories and saw the process first hand. And the tea was incredible to drink! So the bar was set high to say the least. That’s what I was hoping for when I bought this tea. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! The package arrived SUPER Vacuum sealed. It was as stiff as a candy bar. And when I opened it, the leaves were in great shape! Little to no crushing or dust. And the smell was great! I brewed 10g of tea with 100ml of water at 50 Celsius for 150 seconds. As soon as I took that first sip, it was like I was standing in the tea fields of Shizuoka again. Especially for this not being a first pick tea, this tastes SO GOOD. It has a very strong umami taste and it feels like drinking broth as soon as it hits your tongue. Unless my brother ships me more tea, THIS is going to be the bag I continue to order.

I've ordered this tea multiple times. This batch seems a little lower quality than previous batches