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Not a bad tea per se, but the roast is certainly too dark for me. Really distinct smokey, charcoal notes, especially after a few infusions. Too much for me.

Surprisingly sweet for a roasted oolong, muted fruit notes like plum or tamarind. Not to much in the way of the charcoal-y smokey notes you can sometimes get from roasted teas, which is welcome.

Update: Changed my gong fu brewing to 95 degrees Celsius and 4g instead of 3g per 100mL – brew was great! Would definitely reccomend.

Solid genmaicha, not quite as good as the Ippodo genmaicha’s in my opinion. I’m under the understanding that Ryouen is known mainly for their Hojicha, so this may just be indicative of that. Flavor is nice and light, although there are some savory, almost saline notes that I don’t love. Still, this is just personal preference.

I did make a cold brew with the pot after I was done and that was great!

This Hojicha slaps. I find that more often than not, Hojicha’s flavor becomes an afterthought since the leaves are roasted. Not so with this. The leaves still retain a slight greenish tint that comes out in the brew. A really nice umami, nutty, taste but still with some lingering green tea notes. Some Hojicha’s have a bit of a bitter aftertaste but this is nice and smooth. I wish it was more readily available in the States!

Awesome quality jasmine tea, powerful floral smell, and just enough sweetness. The green tea quality is also very nice.

Really nice, light genmaicha. Genmaicha’s sometimes get the short end of the stick in terms of leaf quality but not this guy. The flavor is nice and complex, not too sweet or too bitter, and the roasted rice rounds out the flavor nicely. I’ll be eyeing Ippodo for genmaicha in the future.

Fantastic quality hojicha. Roasted teas can be a bit of an acquired taste and tend to be a bit one-note as a result of the roasting. That being said, the flavor profile and warm chocolatey notes from this are a treat.

Definitely one of the more green oolong teas I’ve had but still oxidized enough to cut back on the vegetal/grassy taste. Really nice clean taste, especially after a few steeps.