Tencha-Kuki Houjicha

So I’m looking at my notes from the last time I wrote about this tea. Apparently I wasn’t all that impressed with it. Well, things have changed because now I find it deliciously comforting. It’s toasty grains and somehow savory. It’s like the crunchy browned rice at the bottom of the pot. These days, my family uses rice cookers, so no more crunchy browned rice for me, but man, that stuff was tasty. This tea tastes like that. I’m going to miss this tea. That was the last of my bag. :(

I’m working from home this week (Thanks Sandy!) so I’m able to drink down my tea faster. I’m missing my tea at work though.

Throat feeling crappy. :(

This is my first Den’s Tea and I’m REALLY excited. I’ve been wanting to try Den’s for a while! Dry loose smells like gently toasted nuts or oats, even. The liquid post infusion is even more gentle in scent. It’s very light in color. It a bit on the mellower-side than I assumed…which isn’t a bad thing…just an observation, really. It’s a toasty, semi-sweet, honey-like flavor with woodsy aftertastes to it. This is a pretty solid Houjicha! I have had some ‘iffy’ ones but this makes me want to voluntarily try more and start even liking them more than before. Well Done.

Sigh. I am going to fail in my quest tonight. But 4/8 isn’t too bad. (I realized after that there are two teas I haven’t tried from Amanda, so that one didn’t count. Sigh.) I guess I’ll get to the other four tomorrow.

Anyhow, this one’s from Mercuryhime, and I did a bad thing and brewed it up prior to my run, so didn’t drink it until probably 2 hours post-brewing, all total. The re-steeps of a couple other teas I drank didn’t handle that two hours of sitting so well, but this one actually did! It was sweet, nutty, and roasty, reminding me of genmaicha. Also, there was a lovely green tea-ish aftertaste. I actually really enjoyed it! I am going to enjoy a re-steep of it shortly, as I push through my exercise-fuelled exhaustion to package up at least some of the swap samples I have yet to do. I am such a swap delinquent!

ETA: I forgot to note that the second infusion of this one was pretty delicious too, and I drank it cold (room temp). Third infusion suffers only from the leaves having sat too long; I think they could go a lot farther than this if fresh! This tea is delicious.

I really love this one. It’s nutty and roasty but there’s an underlying sweetness that mellows out the whole cup. I wanted to warm up after being outside (2*F air temperature) and this was the first thing I reached for. Something about the roastiness warms me right up. Mom also loves this one, so I may have to restock when it’s gone!

I had this again yesterday evening, and I noticed something for the 2nd time that really impressed me.
There is an underlying umami that comes out of this tea, especially in the aftertaste. It is a really unique flavor I’ve only found in green teas, almost marine-like, but it comes through at the roof of the mouth and in the nose at the very end (again, the aftertaste). It is a little sweet, too. Anyway, I was surprised that this came through in a roasted tea, and so wanted to give this one another thumbs up. That doesn’t seem like something that would come through in any roasted green tea….I think it probably has to do with the fact that these are tencha, rather than bancha or some other low quality leaf.

Today brewed this as a ‘tea in a hurry’: dumped a few teaspoons into the bottom of a quart thermos, added hot water from the water cooler tap, and went to my meeting. An hour and a half later, it is still delicious: no bitterness, astringency, still just sweet, toasty, delicious.

I was so excited to have this tea again that I burned my tongue on the first sip. Drat (whoa where did that word come from?). Anyway, I can still taste the nice roasted grain taste from this tea. It’s also a bit sweet, which makes for an overall very comforting tea for me. Because I’ve banned myself from making any new tea orders for a while, I will cherish the rest of the sample that bluebelle sent me!

I’ve been drinking Den’s Tencha-Kuki Houjicha before bed (or whenever I need to unwind) for the last couple weeks now, and I’ve grown incredibly fond of its subtle brew. Unlike Den’s traditional Kuki Houjicha — which has a darker, more robust roast — the Tencha Kuki Houjicha is lightly roasted and produces a more delicate, golden liquor.

Other reviewers on Steepster have mentioned the natural honey-like sweetness of these stems, and I have to agree. It still has that vegetal, “fresh green beans” taste that I remember from the green kukicha, but it’s much more “woodsy” thanks to the light roasting these stems undergo. Out of all the “green” teas I’ve tasted, this is probably the most “white.”

On the package for this tea, it comes with a single suggestion: “Brew casually.” After trying various states of boiling water and different leaf ratios, I have to agree. Throw a couple scoops of tea in your pot and add some boiling water — I’ve yet to mess this one up. It might not knock you off your feet at first, but there’s something immediately soothing about the Tencha-Kuki Houjicha

Sweet. The instructions say boiled water for two minutes, but I just poured boiling water into a room temp gaiwan, which dropped the temperature down to about 180F. Then I tossed in a large pinch of the tea.

I love how the dry leaves smell like cocoa.

I was going to go for a second round, but there are magic elves in my house that whisk away used cups and dishes as soon as you leave them somewhere for more than two minutes. (Hi, Mom!) I’m kidding. Off to get a new cup to compare whether I like it better with boiling water, or cooler water.

EDIT: Def better with hotter water. Also: not that tasty when chilled. Because I made some extra and popped it in the fridge overnight and the next morning I poured it out and it was, uh. Hm. Sticking to this one taken hot. :P

Definitely one of my favorite teas- I come back to it over and over. The flavor is kind of sweet and toasty. It reminds me a little bit of the flavor of honey. My husband thinks it tastes like brussell sprouts, which I think is kind of strange. It’s an easy one to brew- temp and steep time will not adversely affect the brew. Good for me, the tea killer.