Tea: Organic Karigane
A Kukicha from Mighty Leaf Tea
| Brand: | Mighty Leaf Tea |
| Style: | Kukicha |
| Region: | Japan |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Loose? | Loose |
| # Ratings: | 1 View All |
| Product page: | Organic Karigane |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 6 of Kukicha
✓ 219 of Green Tea
✓ 23 of Mighty Leaf Tea
✓ 65 from Japan
Review of Organic Karigane
May 13th, 2017
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 7 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 76 of 100 |
| Very Good | Good | Reasonable |
Thank you to Mighty Leaf for this sample! Overall I haven't been as impressed with the green teas from Mighty Leaf as the black ones, but I like this one a bit more. This was a very atypical example of a kukicha / twig tea, much more full-flavored than I expected.
I was intrigued by how the leaf smells...it smells potent and variable, unique among kukicha (Japanese twig teas): fruity, with some pungent, slightly skunky notes, a hint of straw, and some bready notes too. I don't really know what to expect, but the smell suggests a bold, almost sour flavor.
Just like I expected from the dry leaf, the cup has a bolder flavor than typical for this type of tea, and is more sour. The flavor is pleasantly tangy and savory (umami). Like the sencha, I found this much more flavorful than aromatic, but there was more aroma in this cup...it had a deep, sort of skunky pungency, it reminded me a little of coca leaf tea actually, and was quite unlike other Japanese green teas except for a hint of straw. There are also some interesting spicy notes like cinnamon, nutmeg, or clove.
Steeps quickly, I did a 2 minute initial steep followed by 5 minutes, and the first cup was too strong and the second too weak. I found a first steep of about 1 minute worked best, that produced a cup of perfect strength, and I was then able to resteep it, 5 minutes yielded a cup of perfect strength. Brewed this way, some interesting aromatic notes came out in the second cup...the second cup was a bit astringent but pleasantly so.
I liked how I felt after drinking this tea. It didn't feel very caffeinated and I found it rather calming.
This was on the expensive side though, I was much more wowed by Mighty Leaf's black teas, especially the two Assams I sampled, both on their own, and factoring in their price. This tea is in a similar price range to some really top-notch senchas from a number of other companies and as much as I enjoyed this, I can't see picking this over either those other green teas, or Mighty Leaf's black teas.
