Genmaicha

Maura has informed me that she would appreciate a cup of tea every morning before she heads off to work. This is not an unreasonable request as she earns an income, and I do all (or most) of the housework. Lately, she's decided that genmaicha is her favorite of the Japanese teas, so I've been preparing a lot of genmaicha in the mornings. So much so, that we quickly ran out of our initial supply. Genmaicha was originally invented as a means of stretching out your tea supply by adding puffed and roasted rice and some popped rice to sencha. It has the classic greeen tea flavor, plus a little bonus nutty overtone, and can tend towards either brown or green in color.

Instead of buying more when we ran out Maura decided to try mixing her own. We've recently come into a windfall of sencha, and one of the tea shops sells packages of just the puffed and popped rice. I can't tell you what ratios she used, because she probably just mixed them together until they looked right. Also, one of the genmaichas we really liked had matcha mixed in with it. We have some matcha that's a little old, as the stuff doesn't seam to age well. So she added that in as well. It turned out to be an excellent mix, and I've been preparing it the last couple of days.

For preparation instructions: In a Japanese teapot, fill the basket about one third full of genmaicha. Heat the water to just below boiling, where fish-eye sized bubbles are just starting to jump to the surface. Fill two drinking teacups with the hot water to warm them and to cool the water slightly. Wait 10-20 seconds, then add the water from the teacups to the teapot. Allow the tea to brew for 30 seconds, and then pour it out into your teacups, and enjoy.

Tokyo Adventures

This past weekend we traveled down to Tokyo for a friend's wedding, and planned to make a side trip to Yokohama which is known for it's China Town. Well, that fell through, but Maura tracked down a great tea shop in Tokyo to visit. The Hua Tai Tea Co. had a gorgious selection of purple clay, and glazed porcelin teapots, water heaters, slop boxes, utensils, and of course Chinese teas. It's located near the Shibuya station on the JR Yamanote line, at 1-18-6 Dogenza, Shibuya-ku. The first floor contained tea and equipment with pots starting around $20. The second floor contained more expensive gear and tables where you can order from a large menue and drink in comfort.

I'll let Maura describe what she got, but I went for a Kazou Pu er. You'll have to forgive my spelling because it's a translation in to Roman charaters from a Japanese phonetic translation of Chinese. The tea was aged 15 years and they brought it out in a dark purple clay teapot. It only takes half a minute for the first brewing, and even the sixth only took sixty seconds. Let me tell you what it smelled like. Walk into an ancient forest. Kneel down and brush away the top layers of dried leaves. Then dig your fingers into the black loam benieth and raise it up to your nose. Take a big whiff, and you'll know what my pu er smelled like. The initial flavor is much that same, but there is almost no astringent taste. Also the finish was extreamly clean, like water drawn from a mountian spring.

We came away from the shop poorer in wallet, but richer in tea. We grabbed a selection of oolongs to try, and you'll certainly read more about them as we open them up. We also acquired a cute little taveling tea kit. Maybe I can convince Maura to post a photograph. It's got a zippered, padded case, six small teacups, a mixing bowl, and a brewing cup. All are plain white glazed porcelin.

Quick Reviews

I keep meaning to write detailed reviews of the Japanese-style Adagio Teas I ordered. But, for the sake of timeliness, I'm simply posting a quick review of all those I've tried so far.

Gyokuro
This tea is the essence of Japanese green tea. The flavor, color and aromas all remind me of every cup of tea I've consumed while living in Japan. From the most elegant of Matcha served in a beautiful garden tea ceremony, to the cup of tea-bag sencha prepared by fourth grade students at a local elementary school. This simple cup of tea brings them all to mind. I's amazing how a simple cup of tea can do that. That being said, I must admit that I don't believe I have ever been served gyokuro while living in Japan, so I can't compare it to what is available locally... something I'll have to remedy. But, if you try only one kind of Japanese green tea, let it be this one. The aromas off the empty cup are actually reminiscent of a nice oolong.

Preparation notes... Adagio's recommendations seem to be a bit simplistic. Rather than treating each tea as unique, they seem to lump most green teas together. Gyokuro however is an extremely delicate tea, and benefits from cooler temperatures than a heartier sencha. As I don't currently have a thermometer, I can't tell you what I used. Again, something else to remedy! But, other sources recommend 120deg, rather than the 180 stated by Adagio. Just something to keep in mind. This tea also stood up to a second brewing quite well (with slightly warmer water). I haven't quite worked out the optimum brewing for this tea, but the second brewing was more pleasant than the first. Whether that's due to the human factor, or the nature of the tea, I can't say.


Houjicha
Unlike the Houjicha I've purchased locally, Adagio uses Bancha (a lower grade of tea, with larger leaves) as the base for their Houjicha, rather than sencha. As a result, the flavor is simply a bit weaker. Using Bancha however is a common thing here in Japan, just not what I've purchased personally. The flavor and aroma are right on the money, if a bit weaker. This tea is also worth a try. Brew it with water at a full boil, the leaves can take it!

Sencha Premier
I've been drinking this tea almost exclusively at school. It's a decent sencha, and worth a try. It still lacks some of the depth and nuances of flavor I'm accustomed to, but has a spirit that's all its own. I've read others mention that some Japanese green teas remind them of the ocean. The aroma of this tea, particularly off the hot steaming leaves, does in fact bring ocean breezes to mind. Off the leaves, it's not particularly subtle, but off the tea itself, it is wonderful. This tea also stands up to at least two brew cycles. If you want to try sencha, pass on the overture and give this one a try. It seems to be a good balance between the American and Japanese palates.

Genmaicha
I've actually only brewed this one once, and it actually needed more tea in the pot... But, my initial thoughts are that it was quite nice and got the flavor and aroma of Genmaicha right. Again, perhaps not as strong a flavor as I have found here, but certainly acceptable. I can certainly recommend it.

Interesting note, on both the Senchas I've brought to school, Yuri-chan has been surprised at how large the leaves are. She says they look like black teas (referring to size only), not the common Japanese senchas. In fact, when I look at the two side-by-side, there is a dramatic difference. Perhaps size does matter... I don't currently know enough to comment further, but I plan to keep it in mind as I explore the world of tea.

Happy sipping!

Yet more Sencha...

So, I decided to bring the Adagio Sencha Overture to work and ask my school's Tea Lady, Yuri-chan, to take it out for a spin. The results were similar to what I had achieved. My Japanese coworkers were highly amused by the concept of drinking "American" Japanese tea. They were underwhelmed. When I said that it reminded me of the green tea (from tea bags) served at the cheap conveyor belt sushi shops, they agreed.

Yuri's thoughts were that it was refreshing, and highly suitable to drink after eating fish. But, that's about all it was good for. She was actually surprised by how large the leaves were. They were far larger than what we normally drink daily. Interesting...

Next time, we'll be trying the Sencha Premier, which at first brew was decent. I'd love to see what she does with it, and get others opinions. Heck, this is fun!

BTW, the first brew of the Adagio Hojicha was promising. A bit weak, but the right flavor, color and scent. I'll be trying it again with more leaves in the pot. But, if you've been wanting to try Hojicha, this one seems worth ordering. Worth noting however, is that the Adagio Hojicha seems to be made from Bancha, rather than the Sencha base we reviewed below.

Tune in next time for more exciting tea review and analysis from your friends The Tea Tale Tellers.

:)

Sencha Review

Green tea, or sencha, is everywhere in Japan. You can find bottles of it cold in vending machines, in the drink bar at diners, sushi restaurants brew it by the liter. If anyone offers you tea, they'll probably hand you a cup of sencha. Since Maura's box of samples arrived from Adagio's teas this weekend, we've been doing side by side comparisons of their sencha's versus the local brew.

I have to admit, it's rather difficult for me to describe what green tea tastes like because I have so often. My knee-jerk reaction is well, sencha tastes like sencha, but I know that's probably not too helpful. Sencha has no bitter flavor that are common to black teas. It has no smoky or nutty flavors like the roasted teas. It's not fruity like sakura tea. It definitely has a distinctive aroma and taste, but my ability to describe it has completely failed me.

Anyway, we drank side-by-side cups of Adagio's Sencha Overture, their low end green tea, and the common Japanese brand that Maura drinks at work. The Japanese brand had the distinct green tea aroma, while the sencha overture had none. Brewed up, the sencha overture was much lighter in color, and the flavor turned out to be extremely bland. The Japanese stuff, however, was a bit darker, and had a complex sencha flavor. On the whole Adagio's Sencha Overture was unimpressive, and the best compliment I could give it is that it is mild.

Then we brought out Adagio's Sencha Premier and brewed that side-by-side with a high grade Japanese sencha that was given to us as a gift. These two were much more similar. The dry leaves of both were aromatic, and when brewed they showed similar pale green colors. Just a quick not on colors here. I have red-green color deficiency (colorblindness), so you should pay more attention to what Maura has to say on the topic than I do. They also had a similar smell and even flavor. They were certainly not identical, but they were close enough for me to say that adagio got it's Sencha Premier right. I was also surprised at how mild the flavor was on both of these. I actually think the lower grade of Japanese sencha had more "green tea" flavor, but that may just be my ignorance.

If you only have access to US tea distributors, Adagio's Sencha Premier is a worthwhile tea. I won't tell you not to buy the lower grade Sencha overture, but I just don't think it's worth it. We'll definitely need to compare Adagio's stuff with what Tengu Natural Foods has, because they may be able to ship to the states.

Where to find green teas...

Someone asked me where they could find real Japanese green teas, so I've started digging around the internet to see what I can find. For the record, I haven't had ANY of these teas, so I can't tell you how good they are. But, they are actually selling Japanese tea.

This is a Japanese store, run by westerners, specializing in organic/health foods. They might ship outside japan. Click on fair trade coffee and teas, then look down to the bottom of the page.
http://www.alishan-organic-center.com/en/tengu/shop/index.htm

http://www.taooftea.com/shop89-Japanese_Sencha_Green_Teas.html
http://www.taooftea.com/shop87-Japanese_Green_Teas.html
http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/catalog.asp?begin=0&categoryID=33

Alternately, try your local asian/japanese food store. If you ask for Sencha, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Also worth noting is that the Adagio Sencha Premier was decent. Still a bit lacking, but not a bad introduction to the world of real Japanese Sencha. I brewed some up this morning for the first time, and while I was not blown away, I was also not disappointed. I'm looking forward to writing up the review.

I also want to bring these teas to work with me to see what my Tea Lady (yes, that is her job position!) can do with them. I can brew a decent cup of Sencha these days, but am no expert :)

Adagio Sencha Overture

Before I get into this too deeply, I should reiterate that I have lived in Japan for 19 months, and during this time have been served a lot of sencha. While, I'm certainly not an expert in Japanese tea, I can comfortably say that I know what sencha tastes like.

After last week's tastings, I decided to place an order with Adagio teas so that I could compare their offerings with what was available to the average Japanese consumer. I know that most of our readers don't live in Japan, and as such wouldn't be able to buy what I was reviewing. I'd heard good things about Adagio and decided they might be a good source of Japanese teas for our readers. To that end, I ordered samples of their six Japanese teas: Kukicha, Sencha Overture, Sencha Premier, Hojicha Fugue, Genmai Cha and Moonlight Gyokuro.

Here's the review I wrote for the Adagio website, FYI, I ranked it as "ok" or 3/5.

At first glance this tea looked promising with nice looking leaves and a great color. But, the leaves had no real aroma to them. The resulting cup of tea was bland, and lacking in true sencha flavor. In its favor however was its color. The color was the perfect green of good sencha. While it's several steps up from the green tea available in the supermarket, its flavor is far below even the least expensive loose sencha available in Japan. Heck, I've had sencha teabags in Japan with more flavor. If you want to try real sencha, spend the extra money and try the sencha premier, it's closer to the real thing.

In a quest for objectivity, I brewed this side by side with an inexpensive Sencha (the same one served daily at my school). The Japanese Sencha was literally the bottom of the bag. The leaves were broken, the bag had been open for months (although stored in a ziplock bag), the leaves were kinda dull and brownish... Looking at the two side-by-side I was cheering for the Adagio. There was simply no comparison in the beauty contest. The Japanese tea had one huge vote in its favor however, aroma! The unbrewed Adagio tea had next to no aroma. The unbrewed Japanese tea, even though it was old, was highly aromatic.

As you might have guessed from my review above, the Adagio was disappointing. If it were a choice between the Adagio Sencha Overture and American green tea bags, I'd pick the Adagio. If a tea newbie were forced to choose between the two, I'd again suggest the Adagio. But, that's about it.

I wonder if I'm being too hard on the Adagio tea. Is it fair to put it up against "real" Japanese tea?

I also wonder if they are choosing what varieties they sell based upon what they think American consumers expect vs. offering a truly authentic Japanese Sencha experience. In all honesty, this tea might have made me happy before I moved to Japan. Or, rather, before I knew the difference. I guess you can't go back....

Guilty Pleasures

Okay, so I might be a bit of a tea snob, but a girl's still gotta have some guilty pleasures. So, here's one of mine. I actually enjoy drinking some teas that come in teabags! See, I said it was a guilty pleasure (as Maura hangs her head in shame). Fortunately however, I have no delusions that these teas are actually quality, or all there is to the world of tea. But, while I cringe at the thought of pouring my pricey oolong over ice (made from non-filtered water no less), making a huge pot of constant comment iced tea is wonderful. I also actually really like Celestial Seasoning's Blueberry Breeze Green Tea and Perfectly Pear White Tea. They're both enjoyable hot and cold.

So, what's your guilty pleasure?

Cooking with Tea: part 1, risotto with houjicha

As promised, I made my first, partially successful attempt at cooking with tea. The other night I made up some risotto with roasted garlic and roasted kuki houjicha. The tea flavor was a little weak, but that's because I added steeped tea instead of the actual leaves. The dish had a beautiful color and the roasted garlic added to the smoky flavor. The basis for the recipe I used was from Feed Your Family Fast, Healthy Meals on $10 A Day by Linda West Eckhardt. I know it's not the most authoritative source, but we happen to like it. So here's the recipe as I modified it:

Ingredients:
one head of garlic
a dollop of olive oil (maybe 2 tablespoons)
one onion, chopped
a dollop of olive oil (maybe 2 tablespoons)
one cup arborio rice
kuki houjicha
water
1 teaspoon Pensys Spices Chicken Soup Base
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
spices to taste

Slice off the top of the head of garlic to expose the individual cloves. Peel off the outermost paper layer of skin. Place the garlic on an oven-safe pan and pour a dollop of olive oil over the top. Throw the thing in an oven to bake for 30-45 minutes at 400 F. Since ovens are uncommon in Japanese apartments, I had to make do with a toaster oven which worked much better than I expected. Saute the onion in another dollop of olive oil. Once it's a little brown around the edges dump in the rice for about three minutes. While all of that is going on, prepare a large pot of the houjicha. You'll need 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Once it's steeped, dissolve the chicken soup base in the tea. Dump it all in on top of the rice. Pop out the individual cloves of garlic, they should almost squish into paste in your hands, and toss them in too. Put a lid on it, and turn it down to a low simmer for 15 minutes. At this point the rice should be cooked, and the liquid evaporated. Turn off the heat and add spices to taste. In my case, it was a bit of salt. I was going to add pepper too, but the grinder fell down behind our kitchen shelves at an inopportune moment. Mix in your cheese, and enjoy!

This was my first experiment cooking with tea. If you have any suggestions or recipes, please let me know. Thanks!

Houjicha Taste Test

This morning, I again brewed the two kinds of Houjicha side-by-side.

Brewing notes:
I used 7 grams of tea in each pot with similar amounts of boiling water (tap water filtered through a brita filter). I did not measure the amount of water however, and the pots were different sizes, so I guessed. In pouring the cups of tea, the first tea out of the pot was much lighter than that at the bottom. To overcome this difference in consistency I swirled the tea in the pot and alternated pouring into each of two cups, so that in the end the two cups were the same consistency.

As both kinds of teas are Houjicha they share many common characteristics. Both are nutty in scent and flavor. The process of roasting brings this characteristic to the forefront. *I don't actually know how they were roasted. I'd be interested to taste the difference between roasting over a charcoal fire and in an electric skillet.*

The Kuki (stem) tea had the stronger aroma of the two. It was really very pleasant and warming. It reminded me slightly of a campfire, but not too smokey - just a hint. The smokey characteristic also comes into play in the flavor as well. Although at first taste, the two teas are very similar, it is in the finish where they differ the most. The kuki version's finish reminded me of barbecue. Brian's response to this comment was to mention a mesquite-like flavor. It's really subtle, but it's there.. .it's the smokey flavor that many bbq sauces try to capture. But, again.. it's only really present in the finish and is not overwhelming. I'm not sure I'd have noticed it if I hadn't been paying attention. It's this characteristic however that makes me think it would be great to cook with.... I'd try pairing it with roasted garlic , carmelized onions, wild rice, barley, and chicken (especially dark meat).

The other tea, was more well rounded, with many different subtleties in flavor and aroma. Most noticeable however was its sweet finish. It's almost like a good oolong tea in finish. This tea was the more drinkable of the two and is the one I'm likely to turn to when I want the tea equivalent of comfort food. Its aromas and flavors are warm and inviting. It's like sitting in front of a roaring fire on a cold winter night.

BTW, the aroma created by roasting tea is wonderful. I've been fortunate enough to see/smell it done twice. Once by my tea lady at school and once at a shrine gift shop in Tokyo. I tried it once at home too, and had limited success, but it was fun, and I'd do it again.