Hier in #Japan hab ich Houjicha zu vielen Mahlzeiten und natürlich auch als Cold-Brew aus einem Automaten gezogen. Wer sich ein wenig Lust holen möchte, hier mein Eindruck eines Tees von einem kleinen Eiland südlich der Insel Kyushu aus einem Familienbetrieb.

https://www.huenerfuerst.de/archives/tee-des-monats-japan-bio-kabuse-houjicha-kou-un

#TeedesMonats #Tee #Roasted #Hojicha #Kyushu #TeeKontorKiel

Today's tea is a Kabusecha Shiho from Japan that I usually wouldn't be able to afford but got from my #TeeKontorKiel calendar. It's harvested in late spring on the island of Kyushu. Kabusecha is grown in half shade, covered with big nets to soften the sunlight. The emerald needles look and smell amazing, like an entire fruit cocktail! And the tea itself gets very sweet if you brew it carefully, yet never loses the distinct umami notes. Delicious! @tea

Guten Morgen! Eine Alternative zum sauren schwarzen Kaffee kann Tee sein. Vielleicht sogar ein Grüntee aus #Japan. Mein #TeedesMonats ist ein sommerlicher Festtagstee, der „Bio Sencha Tanabata“ vom #TeeKontorKiel. https://www.huenerfuerst.de/archives/tee-des-monats-japan-bio-sencha-tanabata #Tea #Sencha #Kyusu

The last days were too stressful for a mindful tea break, but today I get to enjoy the aptly named Formosa Honey Black from the #TeeKontorKiel calendar: a refreshing black tea with a very sweet scent and long wiry leaves. Its honey taste reminds me of a good oolong but it's a little lighter on the tongue and lacks the heavy milky texture and aftertaste. So, if black tea is usually too bitter or malty for you, yet you don't like the texture of oolong, you might wanna try this. @tea

Today's tea from my #TeeKontorKiel calendar is a Tamaryokucha. This Japanese green tea from the island of Kyushu isn't rolled but roasted, so the leaves curl into little hooks. It smells of sweet grass and almonds. I infused a few seconds too long but love the result: lively with a soft umami touch it turns sweet on the tongue but never quite loses that almond note (probably from the roastig process). The second infusion is even better. Look! So green! Have a wonderful day everyone. @tea

Today's tea, as always courtesy of the #TeeKontorKiel calendar, is a Formosa Honey Oolong Gui Fei from Taiwan and it's quite the experience. The Gui Fei method was accidentally discovered after the 1999 earthquake when cicadas bit the tea leaves and started the fermentation process early, turning it super sweet. The dark pearls still hold some air, so when they unfold in water they float and release tiny bubbles. Such a fun tea. Amazing roasty honey taste as well. I'm in love! @tea

Today's tea from my #TeeKontorKiel calendar is a Darjeeling Singbulli, which is a very easy type for early mornings. It's an almost prototypical black tea with playful silvery tips, an intensely sweet scent and surprisingly smooth taste. On a whim I added a tiny spoon of honey, because I needed something extra this morning. Have a great day (or night), everyone. @tea

Today's tea from my #TeeKontorKiel calendar feels really special because this Nepal Shangri La Second Flush is my first white tea. The silvery leaves (so pretty!) smell ridiculously sweet and float on the water until the second infusion turns them into stalactites. The final tea has a shy vanilla scent and before the honeyed aftertaste unfolds it tastes like wild herbs. It intensifies with a second infusion. This is a tea for dreaming of mountains. @tea

Today's tea from my #TeeKontorKiel calendar is a Sencha Kirishima Yabukita. Unlike last week's gyokuro, this Japanese tea wasn't kept in shadow. The beautiful dark needles smell like fresh fruit and hay. The tea smells just as sweet and has a pleasantly fresh taste with an afterthought of pear juice. It's what I'd imagine grass tastes like to a cow, delicious and familiar. The second infusion gets a little stronger with a hearty base that's not quite umami yet. @tea

Today my #TeeKontorKiel calendar gave me a top quality Darjeeling Puttabong first flush. It's my first black tea in a while and the dry leaves smell kinda sweet but also earthy, as black tea does. I went for a mild infusion and the tea turned out soft yet very aromatic, with a flowery smell. It leaves a faint aftertaste of something like peach or apricot, some sweet fruit on the edge of sour. This intensifies with the second infusion. It's good. Very based, no bells and whistles. @tea

And for German speaking folks #TeeKontorKiel has a YouTube channel where you can watch them brew different teas and learn about their background. My first (utterly high brow) impulse was to find that super cringe-worthy but then I realized how accessible it makes the actual art of brewing fidgety teas that need special attention. https://www.tee-kontor-kiel.de/

Today's tea from the #TeeKontorKiel calendar is a Japanese Gyokuro Shincha Homare from 2022. Shincha means it's from the earliest harvest of the year and Gyokuro is a tea that's kept in shadow as soon as the leaves unfold. These beautiful dark green needles smell like mango. The tea itself is incredibly fruity and complex, a soft promise of spring with just a hint of bitterness (I may have brewed it too hot, though). I'm in love with this exquisite shadow tea. @tea

Today's tea from my #TeeKontorKiel calendar is a Formosa Dark Pearl Oolong. It's a modern tea creation from Taiwan, oxidated to a degree where it's almost black. Indeed, the pearls smell like a sweet black tea with a faint scent of dried fruit, which only intesifies as the tea brews. Its taste turns from a mild roasty note to sugary perfection in a way that's almost too easy. These leaves were designed for unsubtle sweetness and are great for beginners (newteas?). @tea

I started the morning with the most exciting little gift from my #TeeKontorKiel calendar: Zhang Pin Shui Xuan, an Oolong tea pillow. As it's Sunday, I decided to take the time and prepare several flushes. The first one was extremely mild and smelled faintly of flowers. I'm now having a fourth already and the smell has a mineral quality to it, but the taste has sweetened. Tiny fibers leave a fuzzy mouthfeel, not unpleasant but unexpected. What an adventure! @tea

Today's tea is from my #TeeKontorKiel advent calendar. Please don't laugh at me but this is my first pure green tea without added flavor or any extras. It's a Long Jing (dragon well) from China. The leaves smell like hay and the tea itself smells like roasted chestnuts (how??). It has that initial algae-like umami taste I associate with green tea but immediately sweetens on the tongue (again: how??). The pictures just don't do justice to its bright green shades. @tea