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Alex Zorach

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Member since Sep. 1st, 2009. Reviewed 1448 teas.

Reviews of Teas & Herbal Teas from Japan

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Picture of Sencha Superior

Sencha Superior from Rishi Tea

Style: Sencha – Region: Shizuoka, Japan

63 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 2/5
Nov. 3rd, 2010

Brews a clear golden color, less opaque than most Sencha. Aroma seaweedy and vegetal, and only slightly grassy. Relatively smooth flavor, with a little astringency and bitterness. Overall this is a very typical sencha. Nothing about it stands out.

Rishi's brewing instructions result in a cup that on the weak sid...

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Picture of Bancha

Bancha from Rishi Tea

Style: Bancha – Region: Kagoshima, Japan

81 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Oct. 30th, 2010

I found this tea to be very different based on how it is brewed.

The light, flat quality of the dry leaf reminds me of dragon well, but the similarity ends there. This tea brews a very clear greenish-yellow color. Regardless of how strongly you brew it, it comes out completely transparent: there's almost no opacit...

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Picture of Organic Japanese Sencha

Organic Japanese Sencha from Two Leaves and a Bud

Style: Sencha – Region: Japan

47 / 100 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 2/5
Oct. 18th, 2010

This tea was interesting; I brewed it for 3 minutes at 180 degrees. I found it was only good for a single infusion, which is why I settled on 3 minutes. Longer steeping made it too bitter and strong for me, and many people may like a shorter infusion.

Two Leaves and a Bud describes this as "brisk", and I think thi...

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Picture of Kukicha Green Tea

Kukicha Green Tea from Arbor Teas

Style: Kukicha – Region: Japan

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Sep. 22nd, 2010

Very fresh, more vegetal aroma than most kukicha I've had. Liquor is exceptionally clear, flavor is exceptionally smooth, sweet even. Less twiggy, yet also less sencha-like. Very mild, but very pleasant. Very little astringency.

This is not the most complex tea I've had, but it's certainly very balanced. Beside...

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Picture of GOLD GENMAI-CHA Brown Rice Tea

GOLD GENMAI-CHA Brown Rice Tea from Maeda-en

Style: Genmaicha – Region: Japan

50 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
May. 30th, 2010

A fairly strong, but light aroma, mostly of popcorn, a sort of light, toasty quality. Much less nutty than other genmaicha's. Very little tea presence in the aroma, even using a generous quantity of leaf and brewing longer than recommended. Flavor has an oddly strong savory (umami) quality...almost no bitterness and...

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Picture of Organic Ho-ji Cha Kamakura

Organic Ho-ji Cha Kamakura from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Hojicha – Region: Kanagawa, Japan

70 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
May. 13th, 2010

Noticeably different from TJ40...more heavily roasted (tending toward the dark side among all hojicha's I've tried)...very dark brown cup. The aroma is not overwhelmingly roasty, however...there are still a few of the fresh green tea tones present.

Flavor is sour...which I don't like, although there's also a hint o...

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Picture of Japanese Ku-Ki Ho-Ji Cha (Roasted Ku-Ki Cha)

Japanese Ku-Ki Ho-Ji Cha (Roasted Ku-Ki Cha) from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Hojicha – Region: Japan

77 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 23rd, 2010

Aroma powerful and enticing like a dark roast coffee. This tea foams when brewed, and the brewed cup is clearer and lighter in color than you'd expect from the aroma and dark color of the twigs. Unlike some kukicha, this tea seems to be made exclusively out of twigs with not even a bit of leaf.

Surprisingly, relat...

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Picture of SEN-CHA Green Tea

SEN-CHA Green Tea from Maeda-en

Style: Sencha – Region: Japan

57 / 100 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 17th, 2010

Aroma mostly of sweet corn. There's a hint of roast in there too...but it's not always pleasant...it almost resembles the stale coffee aroma you get if you run hot water through a coffee machine that hasn't been cleaned in a while. Slightly sweet and also with some pleasant bitterness, and very little astringency. T...

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Picture of Roasted Tea Hoji-cha (16 ct.)

Roasted Tea Hoji-cha (16 ct.) from Yamamotoyama

Style: Hojicha – Region: Japan

63 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 9th, 2010

These teabags are strong, with a generous quantity of leaf. The roast is noticeable but light, and this hojicha has a fresh, crisp quality, more like green tea. It's not terribly complex, but overall, I think this is a very good tea that offers outstanding value, especially among teabags.

These teabags are versati...

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Picture of Organic Hojicha

Organic Hojicha from Traditional Medicinals

Style: Hojicha – Region: Japan

57 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
Mar. 7th, 2010

On the heavily roasted and dark side, more coffee-like in aroma and fewer of the green tea qualities come through. Good, but not terribly complex.

There also isn't the most generous quantity of leaf in the teabag. The company recommends 8 oz. of water per teabag, and a long infusion. I brewed it this way and it w...

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Picture of Organic KuKi Cha Green Kamakura

Organic KuKi Cha Green Kamakura from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Kukicha – Region: Kanagawa, Japan

73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Feb. 10th, 2010

The aroma of the dry tea is straw-like, but the brewed tea is a lot more like sencha, including a hint of the characteristic seaweed-like quality. In many ways it's typical for a Japanese green tea. There are a few woody tones in the aroma but they have a very different character from the woody qualities present in s...

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Picture of Japanese Supersencha Kamakura

Japanese Supersencha Kamakura from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Sencha – Region: Kanagawa, Japan

83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Jan. 26th, 2010

This one surprised me; Upton threw it in as a free sample. I probably would have not bought it on my own because of the price, but now that I've tried it I think it offers pretty good value, although it is still expensive.

When brewed, this tea is opaque, less so than matcha but more so than most other sencha that ...

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Picture of Japanese Ho-ji Cha

Japanese Ho-ji Cha from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Hojicha – Region: Japan

73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Oct. 14th, 2009

A rich roasted aroma, fairly mellow flavor, with only a little bitterness. Exactly what I would expect of this style. Some hints of the freshness of green tea remain. Moderate level of roast. A few mildly objectionable tones in the aroma...hard to describe...like a slight stale quality (even though overall the tea ...

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Picture of Organic Hojicha

Organic Hojicha from Mighty Leaf Tea

Style: Hojicha – Region: Japan

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Sep. 26th, 2009

This is without a doubt my favorite tea from mighty leaf and one of my favorite hojicha's that I've tried--definitely my favorite that's available bagged.

The aroma is rich and roasty and has some nuances. There's a bit more bitterness than some hojicha's, which I like, but there is little astringency or sourness; ...

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Picture of Japanese Green Tea

Japanese Green Tea from Kirkland Signature / Costco

Style: Green Tea – Region: Japan

27 / 100 Aroma: 2/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5
Aug. 30th, 2009

After generally being impressed by the quality of Kirkland's other products, I was disappointed by this tea.

The aroma was weak and stale; there was little complexity and in particular, none of the fresh grassy or vegetal tones that characterize many Japanese green teas. The flavor was weak too.

I found the brew...

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