Country of Origin: Japan
Leaf Appearance: small, deep green with some yellow green stems
Ingredients: green tea
Steep time: 1.5 minutes
Water Temperature: 175 degrees
Preparation Method: kyusu
Liquor: deep yellowish green

When a sample of this was up for grabs at a recent Steepster meetup, I couldn’t resist taking it home. I have been wanting to try Tea Wing’s offerings ever since I read about them on Kathy YL Chan’s blog. Karigane is type of kukicha that is made from gyokuro. The taste was wonderfully sweet and vegetal with tons of umami lingering in the aftertaste. A slight nutty note in the finish added a nice bit of roundness and kept it from coming off as too grassy. There was no astringency or bitterness to speak of and the mouth-feel was fairly thick. On a cold winter day a tea like this is like a brief moment of spring, just enough to life the spirits. I have expensive tastes in tea which can be a real bummer at times but this one makes an excellent substitute daily drinker substitute for gyokuro.

Karigane 22 sample was received at Steepster Meetup.

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