Review: Gold Mushroom Tea - World Heritage

Type: Powdered/Instant Herbal
Producer: World Heritage (?)
Origin: Hiraizumi
Brewing Parameters: 2 g of powder, 8 oz of boiling water
Appearance: Very light brown/beige colored powder with chunks of dried mushroom and flakes of gold
Rating: D | 64/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Very interesting tea today– apparently, a cultural tea from the area of Hiraizumi, Japan. I'm not really sure on the producer since my Japanese isn't that good (and the package is in all Japanese; really, the only things I could pull out were "use 2 grams of the powder" and "mushroom gold tea"). When I did brew this tea, however, I could tell that this was going to be a very different tea, to say the least.

Essentially, the dried powder smells like Funyuns or any other onion-flavored snack food with a bit of mushroom added. However, when it's added to water, the mushroom smell becomes overwhelmingly strong (to the point where I gag when I smell it)– and it lingers, too. When I got a bit of the powder on my hands, the smell wouldn't come off until I washed them very thoroughly twice. Oh, the packaging also had a cute little spoon that was measured for exactly 2 grams (if you only got powder), which was nice.

Now, to be honest, I'm not that much of a fan of mushrooms. This tea didn't help change my mind. While I'm writing this, it's hard for me to take even a second sip; I didn't like the first taste that much. It did get a little bit better when I kept drinking, though. The only thing I can compare it to is the broth of, say, tonkotsu ramen. It's a lot like drinking straight soup, with the mushroom taste lingering in your mouth and eventually permeating into your nose. The texture is very thick, and it leaves a slightly sweet, vegetal taste in your mouth very long after you drink. Now, I get that this is a historical tea and everything, but honestly, I can't stand it on its own. It might be good if you add it to food or use it in cooking, but it is not a tasty tea. You might like it if you enjoy mushrooms, but this is not for me.

Other Notes

Crunch time now! For the week, I'm going to rush through my summer homework so I can spend August relaxing (and studying) for the most part. I don't really have much to say here today since I did my updates yesterday. Come back later today or tomorrow for more reviews!

Today's album was Petal Port Music Vol. 2.
(I think I'll bring this back too, just because I thought it was a decent addition to the reviews)

Review: Kuromame Cha - Kaneido

Tea Info
Type: Herbal/Tisane
Producer: Kyoto Sanjo Kaneido
Origin: Japan
Brewing Parameters: 5g, 100°C,  3-4 minutes – loose leaf/beans
Appearance: Whole, light tan beans (maybe up to 1/3rd inch in length) with a cracked black shell; the beans without the shells actually look a bit like peanuts
Rating: B+ | 89/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Oh no, I'm almost done with all of my Japan teas! The only ones I have left are this one and a powdered mushroom tea with gold (and to be honest, I feel like that'd taste more like a broth/soup instead of a tea).

Anyway, this tea seems much more high quality than the first one I drank. The packaging is a nice paper envelope with gold tape, with the tea in a plastic bag. As for the actual tea, it's the full bean in its shell instead of chopped up pieces with mostly shells. The smell is very similar to peanuts instead of the roasty smell of the other tea.

Watching the tea was one of the coolest things ever, actually. You know when you put grape skittles or something with food coloring in water, and the food coloring kind of emanates from it? Well, that's exactly what happened here. For some reason, the tea was a reddish, black color– like diluted red wine– which was interesting. If you remember the last black bean tea I had, it was a dark, yellowish color. I hope they didn't actually add any food coloring or anything.

The flavor was much more light and nuanced compared to the other one I had. Despite the confusing color, the main taste was the roasted, savory, and slightly sweet flavor of the soybeans. There was also a peanut butter flavor, with a creamy/smooth texture. I didn't really notice an aftertaste other than a very light roasty taste, but I did notice a bit of a waxy texture on my tongue after. The tea didn't really last very long; the first brew was very dark and somewhat strong (3 min.), but in the subsequent brews, the liquid was very light with not that much taste (4-6 minute brews). Overall, I actually enjoyed this one very much (much more than the other tea I had); the only issue I really have with it is the lack of durability/small number of brews.

Other Notes
Well, this has been a very busy two weeks, and March is going to be a very busy month. In the past two weeks, I've done a ton: applied for next year's Competition Civics, turned in most of my applications for summer internships (got 1 more, gonna write it today), won 3rd place in the Ohlone College Biotechnology Quiz Bowl, won 1st or 2nd (not announced yet) place in the county for Journalist in Mock Trial, and finally had the Science Alliance (that one club with that guy that's a huge pain to work with) approved.

First off, let's talk about the quiz bowl. Our school has 2 teams, and I was put into the team that is admittedly less smart than the other (my friends were in the group, so I didn't mind). We ended up losing our first round, but made it to Round 3, meaning that we were the wildcard team in the semi-finals. We lost there too (since we went against the team that beat us at the start), but we got enough points to win third place. It was super fun since our team did not practice at all– the other teams looked like they have been prepping for weeks– and we just made jokes and played with our teacher's kids.

Next, mock trial! I competed a while ago, but I got the results at semi-finals (Tuesday this week). All of our team's artists and journalists (including me) are advancing to the state competition, which means that we are all in first or second place. I'm pretty hyped about that, but I'll have to be practicing my journalism-ing now– the competition is on March 18 at Sacramento. The main team, however, isn't advancing. We won semis and had the highest win percentage with no losses, but we ended up losing to the current champions at finals. Oh well, there's next year and we have a lot of potential– it's just that a few of our members don't put in the effort.

Finally, March! Busy month. I got my last internship application due on the 4th (unless I find another internship, which means I'll be applying to five in total), an English speech arguing against child support on the 11th, the science fair on the 12th (set up is on the 11th), and Mock Trial state on the 18th. If I feel confident enough about my project, there's a second fair I should sign up for; applications close on the 11th (I might just sign up though for the hell of it, but my project is honestly way too simple/basic to compete). Gonna be a fun month.

Oh, and also, it turns out my girlfriend (and best friend) is going to be moving in six months. It sucks.

Tea Review: Mystery Tea (Genmaicha?) - Unknown

Tea Info
Type: Green
Producer: Unknown
Origin: Japan
Brewing Parameters: 5 g, ~80°C, 30s – Cupping
Appearance: Large, flat brown leaves with popped rice, stems, and I think roasted soybean shells
Rating: C- | 72/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
I'm a bit sick today, so this is going to be a quick and probably not that in depth review. To be completely honest, though, I have no idea what this tea is. Because it has popped rice, I'm assuming it's genmaicha, but the leaves and presence of stems makes me question that. There were no labels on the container it came in, too; the only sticker on the container just stated in Japanese that it's a tea caddy made of ABS plastic.

The smell is interesting, to say the least. When the leaves are dry, it smells of soy sauce, but when they're wet, it smells like marijuana smoke. The liquid, on the other hand, was still smokey, but more indistinct and less like marijuana. The color of the tea was a dark amber color, and there was very little sediment even without using a strainer. It tasted how it smelled, with roasty and savory notes of smoke, nuts (cashews?), and wood. It was a bit sour, too, with complimented the smoke taste, which lingered in the mouth long after drinking. The texture was generally smooth, but dried the throat very slightly for a few seconds. Overall, I don't know how I feel about it; the taste is alright (it's unique, in a word), but I can't stand the smoky smell and strength.


Other Notes
No school today! Since I'm sick (sore throat, nasal drip, runny nose, the works), all I'll be doing is homework and catching up on stuff– mainly just homework, studying, applications, and the science fair. I kind of spent the whole weekend playing Total War Shogun 2, which I'm a bit obsessed with now. 

As for last week, it was pretty eventful. On Monday, I watched our competition civics team practice in a dress rehearsal (since I'm trying out for the team next year); Tuesday, I did work and a bunch of homework; Wednesday, I had my mock trial competition, and Thursday I submitted my work and studied. Friday I just chilled and I ended up getting sick on Saturday. I'll need to start getting my shit together since the internship applications are due in less than two weeks (I'm applying to three), and the science fair is a month. Wish me luck.

Tea Review: Corn Tea - Ito En

Tea Info
Type: Corn (tisane) tea bag
Producer: Ito En
Brewing Parameters: 1 tea bag (~3.3 g), 100°C (?), 1 minute – Western style
Appearance: A pyramid teabag, with chopped corn kernels (reddish, brown, and yellow colored)
Rating: C | 76/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Well, I finally got around to reviewing this. Like the mulberry tea, this one is more of a unique tea that I'm drinking for the novelty. As such, I'm going to make this a quick review since I have quite a bit of work to do today and I'm only starting now (1 PM). There's also the fact that I'm a bit sick right now, which might affect my taste.

Anyway, this is a very aromatic tea. The liquid was a cloudy yellow, with visible sediment accumulated at the bottom. The smell was distinctly corn (as in, popcorn kernels), with notes of roasted nuts and a tiny bit of chocolate. The only tea I can really compare this to is probably a houjicha, black soybean tea,  or any other roasted tea. At its forefront, the flavor is roasted corn with a bit of a spicy kick and sour aftertaste. The texture is creamy, but is  also a little bit drying to the throat. Overall, it's not a bad tea, but also doesn't have too much going for it– I'd prefer a different herbal tea (like one of the ones I mentioned above).


Other Notes
Now that finals and the SAT are done, I have to start getting my shit together for this new semester. (If you're interested, I've done pretty well for the majority my finals– I've kept all of my As in my classes and have gotten an A on the finals except for English. The only class I'm still waiting for a grade is AP Stat, but I'm not too worried since I'll have to score pretty low to lose my A and I've already gotten 93% on half of the test. As for the SAT, it was much easier compared to my last time).

My plan today is to work on the science fair (draw up a map of my county), finish English homework (15 paragraphs!), and do those application essays that I've been procrastinating on (maybe rewrite my Japanese one because I'm not satisfied with it yet, write the Stanford one, and edit the Arthritis Foundation ones). As for my semester goals, I'll want to keep good grades, do well on the AP tests, and get some new extracurriculars. I need to talk to the public library about getting a tea class set up before summer, so hopefully that becomes a thing.

The next tea I'll be reviewing will probably be Celestial Seasonings' Caramel Apple Dream, another black soybean tea (this one is actually whole soybeans instead of just shells), powdered mushroom tea (it has real gold in it!), some mystery tea (I think it's a genmaicha, but it has a smell like soy sauce), Bali from Dammann Freres, and possibly some others. Thanks for reading!

Tea Review: Kandy Black Tea - Unknown

Tea Info
Type: Black tea
Producer: Unknown - obtained at Kirin Beer Factory
Origin: Sri Lanka
Brewing Parameters: 2.5 g, 100°C, 2 minutes - Western style
Appearance: Very small, broken up very dark brown tea fannings
Rating: C+ | 78/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Morning! I said I'll be brewing corn tea for the next review, but it turns out I lied. Instead, I'll be brewing this mysterious black tea my sister got at the Kirin Beer Factory that appears to have a hand-drawn (or copy of) picture, with an orange label that says KANDY on the packaging. The back of the package only says Black Tea (in Japanese), with a total weight (60g), origin, and expiration date. There is some other info I can't read, which I'm assuming is brewing information and company information.  Just as a note, I tried this tea right before the review with milk and sugar for breakfast.

Anyway, since these are fannings, the tea will brew very strong in a short amount of time– hence the 2 minutes. In fact, after two minutes, the liquid was a surprisingly dark reddish amber; it was so dark that I wasn't able to see through it unless I put the cup up to some light. The smell, of both the liquid and the leaves, was very similar to Irish or English Breakfast tea (moreso English)– that is, nutty, earthy, and a bit smoky. The flavor was on par with other black teas, with slightly sour and spicy wood notes. The aftertaste, like the smell, was smoky with a slight bit of astringency. Overall, it's an enjoyable tea, but average too. I suggest it with milk and sugar, or possibly used in something like chai.

Other Notes
Well, today marks the beginning of finals week! Wish me luck– starting today and tomorrow, I'll be spending at least an hour studying each subject (tests start on Wednesday). For the most part, the only class I'll really need to work my butt off for is AP US History, since I'm at a 90.8% (which means I'll have to get a 85% on the final to keep an A-).

 I'll also probably do the review for the corn tea today too, just so I can warm up writing for some more application essays. My plan is just to do the corn tea review, study every class, write/edit essays, and redo some of the paperwork for my science fair project, since I changed from an environmental science project to an engineering project.

Tea Review: Kuromame Cha - Takeya

Tea Info
Type: Black soybean tea (Herbal/Tisane)
Producer: Takeya Japan
Brewing Parameters: 3 grams, 100°C, 5 minutes
Appearance: Chopped black soybeans; primarily shells
Rating: B | 86
# of Brews: 6

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Hey there! I'll be writing this quick review tonight just to warm up for an application essay and get my weekly review done. I'll be using a standard tasting set for this, without adjusting time; water temperature, however, may change as brews go on. I'm doing this because 1. I can't read the recommended parameters, because they're in Japanese, and 2. I don't want to drink a lot of tea, since I had some Ta Jin Xuan earlier. Today's album is the Django Unchained Original Soundtrack.

Just as a note, I've tried this tea only once, when my sister came back from Japan. Before even brewing, it has a very strong smell– it's essentially very smoky miso soup. On the first brew, the liquid was a dark amber, with very little particulate. As I poured out the tea, the soybean smell overpowered my nose. The flavor was mainly savory, with a little bit of bitterness. It was like a broth, with soybean as the primary flavor and possibly some chocolate and mushroom. The second brew was much less strong, as the color was more of a very light dull brown. It had lost the bitterness, and in its place, had gained a bit of an ephemeral sweet aftertaste. The soybean notes were definitely still there, and the tea was moving towards more of a caramel-like houjicha flavor. It was surprisingly smooth, going down my throat like water; I found myself gulping down the tea quite fast. I did notice, though, that I became a bit thirsty while drinking, despite the texture of the tea. On the third brew, the tea began to lose even more color, but retained a bit of its flavor– it became a bit sour, which was interesting. I stopped at the 6th brew, where the tea had lost almost all color– it was a very light, cream yellow, almost the color of water– and had somewhat of a brothy taste. Overall, a pretty interesting tea which I enjoyed quite a bit; you could also eat the beans after, but they're a bit tough and bitter. If you cooked or microwaved them to make them softer, I imagine they'd taste pretty good.

Other Notes
One week until finals and the SAT! They start next Wednesday and end on Saturday with the SAT. I'm trying to study one class a day this week for maybe an hour until the three day weekend this weekend, when I'll be doing two classes a day for a couple of hours. Today, though, I worked a bit on the science fair project, (made the BART maps based off of the slime mold pictures), drank some tea, and studied the SAT. I'll be writing and revising some of the my application essays, and then ending the day with studying AP US History.

As for my applications, they're for the most part done; I just have one large essay to write for Stanford, and then I'll need to check the Arthritis Foundation and other Stanford essay. I have most of the letters of recommendation, bar one– I'll be asking my AP Statistics teacher for that. Other than that, I just have simple stuff like filling in test scores and GPA, which I can do after finals are done. Hopefully it all goes well!

Mock Trial competition (well, technically a practice round) starts this week too, so I'm a bit worried, since it's going to take up quite a bit of time and I don't really think I'm ready. We had a scrimmage on saturday, which went pretty well, but I'm not really happy with the article I wrote on it (which falls back on my notetaking; it has gotten better, but isn't as good as I'd hoped). Tuesday will be a struggle, though, since I'm going to go to school, and then immediately to BART and the courthouse, and I'll be getting home late (maybe 9?). Wednesday, too, since I get home anywhere from 6 to 8 because of team meetings at school. To add on, I'll have work right after school and then piano class on Monday. Here's to hoping I'm going to be good with managing my time!

See you guys next week. I think I'll be reviewing some corn tea as the next part of these Japanese tea reviews.

Tea Review: Fukamushi Sencha - Yuicha

Tea Info

Fukamushi Sencha (from Fukuoka?) by Yuicha/Tagashira Chaho - 150g bag

Recommended Brewing Parameters

(estimated) 80°C, 30 seconds, 5 grams

Leaf Appearance

(Dry) Small to medium sized dark green leaves, similar to blades of grass

Rating

C | 76/100

Tasting Notes and Thoughts

So, it turns out I can't really read most kanji (big surprise), which means I don't know the brewing information on the back. However, I ended up just brewing using my water heater's gyokuro temperature and guesstimating the brew time; it turned out pretty well for the majority, which was surprising (this tea gets points for ease of brewing). Keep in mind that I am eating dinner– marinated bangus– at the same time as this review, and I ate some Sakuma's Drops earlier (the roof of my mouth may be bleeding, heh), which means that my sense of taste may be affected. I also brewed in my new kyusu.

Regardless, this was a pretty different sencha than what I'm used to. Unlike most, this tea tasted a bit more roasty and umami rather than grassy. The flavor was a bit malty, with some fruits and vegetables, and it ended on a light grassy note. The liquid wasn't as bright green as a few other teas (it was more a really light green or yellow-green), and the aroma was a bit weak, but grassy and a little brothy. There was a bit of astringency, which left a slight burning sensation in my throat; over brews, it got worse, but that may have been due to the longer brew times. I noticed that I felt a lot more relaxed while drinking this, as I had a bit of pain in my shoulders when I started, but the pain had melted away by the time I finished. It did last for quite a bit of brews, but overall it wasn't that flavorful (maybe this was because of the water temperature?). I've had much better sencha, and this one was more run of the mill; it lacked any qualities that would have surprised me. 

Other Notes

Woo, first review of the year! My plan is to start with the Japanese teas, writing maybe one every week until I run out. Then, I'll be moving on to the other teas I've been waiting on, like that Bi Lo Chun by Red Blossom Tea Co., Bali by Dammann Freres, some instant teas, and a few others. Hopefully I can stick to this plan.

As for other stuff, like school, the year has started off pretty damn well in my opinion. I think I got an A on my history essay since my grade is back up to an A, and my extracurriculars are going well. The majority of my essays are done for the internships (just need 1 more essay for Stanford), and I have almost all of the letters of recommendation I need, barring 1. I just need to edit them, turn them in, and I'll be done. Mock Trial competition starts next week, and finals are in 2-3 weeks, so I'll be studying a different class each day, working on extracurriculars Mondays, studying the SAT Wednesdays, self-teaching chem and physics probably Tuesdays, and studying for finals the rest of the days. Wish me luck!