Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Tea Description:
A brightly herbaceous guricha-style sencha, with a gentle sweetness with fruity highlights — apples, melon, and white wine grapes — as well as citrus notes and a hint of jasmine. [Note that this is not jasmine green tea; the hint of jasmine is naturally present in the tea.] Made from yabukita tea plants grown in the rolling hills of Kuma County, tended and crafted into tea by artisan Kazuo Watanabe.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf of this tea looks and smells like a Japanese Sencha. Deep, dark forest green leaves that look a bit more like bits of freshly cut grass than leaves (only these leaves are much darker than any grass I’ve ever seen!) The aroma is grassy with notes of fruit.
Oh wow! This is a remarkable Japanese Sencha! Sweet! The fruity notes as suggested in the above notes are there! I’m tasting notes of apple, melon and grape! A faint note of citrus toward the tail – faint but it really brightens the cup. This is not as “buttery” as many Sencha teas I’ve tried, instead, this is more of a crisp, sweet tea with fruit notes that are interwoven with notes of vegetation.
Often with Japanese Sencha teas, I notice a bittersweet type of note and there is a gentle balance between the sweetness and that savory bitterness. I’m not getting that here though. There are some savory qualities to this, particulary with the vegetal notes, but there is absolutely no bitterness. Just sweet flavors with a slight hint of tartness from that citrus note at the tail.
As I continue to sip, I pick up on the hints of sweet jasmine too. They are much more delicate than the fruit notes and I think that my palate needed to become acclimated to the fruit flavors I was experiencing before it would let me explore some of the other layers of this tea.
Even though this tea focuses strongly on the sweet flavors and not so much on it’s savory elements, I’m finding this tea to be very satisfying and well-rounded. It’s very smooth from start to finish. As the citrus notes approach the palate, I notice a slight astringency.
Subsequent infusions proved to be a little more vegetal than fruit-like, but, I could still taste those fruit notes. The floral notes emerged a little more. The second and third infusions are definitely worth the effort with this tea! I found these cups to be more soothing and rejuvenating.
A really enjoyable tea! If you’re looking for top-notch Japanese teas, Mellow Monk is a great source, I highly recommend checking them out.
Guricha Ureshino Green Tea from Chado Tea House
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Chado Tea House
Tea Description:
Asamushi Guricha from Ureshino, Saga prefecture. Ureshino city has been the biggest Guricha producing center. Located south in Kyushu island. Their geographical location seemed influenced the tea making method. It has sense of Chinese tea feeling as well, though, the base is Japanese tea. Traditional Asamushi, lightly steamed Guricha tea. mild and sweet. Good everyday tea for Guricha lover. Click the image to see the tea leaves and color.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Guricha Ureshino Green Tea from Chado Tea House is really lovely – it’s so mellow and pleasantly sweet. I drank this tea after dinner, and found that the first couple of sips were pretty difficult to taste but once my palate had been “washed” by the tea, the flavors really started coming through very well. 
The flavor is light, there is a certain crisp, clean taste to it that makes it a nice choice after dinner. It is vegetative with flavors that are somewhere between kelp and mild green veggies, with hints of grassy undertones. I could taste a vague “saltiness” to the taste as well … which is why the “kelp” immediately came to mind. As someone who typically doesn’t care for seaweed, one might think that my description “kelp” might indicate that I don’t like the flavors coming through but that isn’t true. While I don’t care for the strong flavor of seaweed (like the sheets you might buy in an Asian market) I find that seaweed notes in a tea to be rather intriguing. And I do like the hint of salt here, it adds a nice contrast.
But as I mentioned before, overall, the flavor is light, nothing really smacks me over the head here … it’s very lush and mellow and easy to drink. The sweetness is really delightful – and I think that’s why I’m finding it especially enjoyable after a meal … the sweetness is knocking out that sweet craving that I often have after a meal. I don’t have room for (nor the desire to eat) dessert, so this tea is making a nice alternative to something sweet. No, it’s not a “dessert alternative” … but it does offer a little sweet something for those times when I don’t want something too sweet or dessert-y … but my palate wants something a little bit on the sweet side.
A very refreshing tea – light, sweet, and enjoyable! Then again, Chado Tea House never fails to impress me with their quality. They’re a great company, and this is a great tea!
Guricha Kama-Tenka by Chado Tea House
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Chado Tea House
Tea Description:
Premium Guricha-‘Kama-Tenka’. The given name of Tenka in Japanese refers ‘the best’ in English. In general, Guricha stays in casual side, does not show luxury feeling like Gyokuro,or Sencha. This premium Gyokuro ‘Kama-Tenka’ proves Guricha is another sophisticated tea. Sweetness as expected and the richness remain in your mouth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I first opened this pouch, I was surprised with just how fresh it smelled. The aroma reminded me of the smell of freshly cut grass … or … imagine mowing the lawn one early spring afternoon, and then that night, it rains. The next morning, the rain has cleared, and the sun is shining brightly. That fresh, spring morning smell with the fragrance of rain and grass still lingering in the air. That’s the smell. It’s vibrantly “green” smelling. Very fresh and exhilarating.
After it’s been brewed, the aroma softens somewhat, but it still smells amazingly fresh and sweet and grassy. One would expect the flavor to be just as grassy as the scent, but it’s not. Sure, I taste a vegetative note here, but it isn’t an overpoweringly bitter grassy taste. This is a lightly grassy, very sweet taste in a delicate broth.
It reminds me a bit of a very high quality Japanese Sencha … just a bit. It has a vaguely similar flavor, but I find this to be somewhat lighter. Not quite as aggressive. Not that I find Sencha to be aggressive, but this one is more nuanced. It is less broth-y, not quite as thick in consistency as a Sencha, but the broth-y quality is still there. It’s just a little lighter and cleaner on the palate.
I love the sweetness to this, it’s very pleasant and it doesn’t overwhelm the palate. It’s really quite refreshing. It’s one of those quiet teas that you can enjoy while reading a good book or enjoying conversation with friends. It doesn’t require much of you except a thirst and this will quench it with lovely flavor.
Another excellent tea from Chado Tea House! They have really impressed me with their selection of Japanese teas!
Monk’s Choice Tea from Mellow Monk
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Product Description:
Monk’s Choice™ is the grower’s most popular tea among his Japanese customers for its full herbaceous flavor complimented perfectly with brisk citrus overtones and a subtle berry-like sweetness. This is truly a tea you can sip all day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is one of the nicest Guricha teas that I’ve tasted in quite a while.
It has a delicious earthy/vegetative tone, complimented with a slight roasted nutty flavor in the background and hints of fruit throughout. The above description depicts notes of citrus and a berry sweetness, and I get those notes too. It is a very flavorful tea.
There is no bitterness to this tea and only a moderate amount of astringency toward the tail that ties in well with the citrus notes. The sweetness is remarkable, it doesn’t taste like sugar, or honey or caramel or any of those other descriptive flavors that I often use, it really does taste like a fruit-sweetness. Even in the aftertaste, I have just a hint of that berry tangy note on the tongue. That is indeed interesting!
If I had to choose only one word to describe this tea, though, I think I would choose the word mild, because even though it is not what I would consider delicate or light in any way, it has a soothing character to it – mild and relaxing – as it mildly and calmly recharges the batteries, so to speak.
It has a smooth tone to it, making it incredibly easy to sip – a perfect every day kind of tea that goes well with meals or just any time of day when you want a green tea pick-me-up. And it is very reasonably priced, making it incredibly easy on the pocketbook!
Satsuma-Midori Sencha from Chado Tea House
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Chado Tea House
Product Description:
NEW Product! This Satsuma-Midori Sencha green tea is from Kagoshima in Kyushu island. We added this Sencha tea to our Everyday green tea series; our long time favorite Sencha Everyday is from Shizuoka and this new Sencha is from Kagoshima. The both of them are about the same grade though the taste is bit different. This Satsuma-Midori has pleasant Guricha like aroma.
Taster’s Review:
In the above product description from Chado Tea House’s website, this tea is described as an “everyday” Sencha. It is my understanding that the “everyday” Japanese green teas are typically the teas that are of slightly lesser grade than the prized teas that they’d save for ceremony and special occasions. But, this does not taste like a lesser grade tea. This tastes incredible. If this is what they’re serving every day, count me in!
The flavor is sweet and buttery with a vegetative background. Vegetative, but not what I’d consider grassy. It is a bit more like steamed spinach, but even milder in flavor. It has a light, creamy kind of taste and texture. Almost like a light broth.
There is so very little astringency to this cup, that if you weren’t paying attention, you’d not even notice it. The aftertaste is lightly sweet, but does not linger. A very pleasant tea to sip along with a meal, or just any time you want a tea to brighten up your day. This tea will do that for you!