Country of Origin: Japan
Leaf Appearance: small, yellowish-green
Steep time: 60 seconds
Water Temperature: 175 degrees
Preparation Method: Tokonami kyusu
Liquor: bright green, slightly cloudy
And the winner for the longest tea name award goes to…Yoshino Tea Garden: 2020 Horai Kincha Single Cultivar Sayama Golden Sencha Green Tea! 😂
I had been on the hunt for ‘golden’ sencha after seeing rows of gorgeous golden tea bushes on Instagram. Thankfully I finally tracked some down at Yunomi (along with a few other goodies). There were a few hiccups due to COVID and preorder delays, but Ian provided fantastic customer service as always. Similar to Anji Bai Cha, golden sencha is made using varieties with pale-colored leaves.
Horai Kincha is a proprietary cultivar that the Yoshino Tea Garden developed themselves. Yunomi’s website explains that Horai refers to an island in Japanese mythology, and Kin refers to a type of weaving called nishiki where golden threads are woven with other colors.
Leaf
The dry leaves were typical in size and shape for a Japanese green tea, but the color was definitely unique. They looked surprisingly dark at first. I actually double-checked the packet to make sure that I had opened the correct tea. Under my photography lights, I was able to see that some of them looked almost chartreuse.
I followed Yunomi’s recommended brewing parameters to prepare this tea: 175 degrees for 60 seconds. There wasn’t a ton of room for experimentation because I only purchased a small amount. It would be interesting to see how this tea comes out with an even lower water temperature or even cold brewed.
Liquor
Yoshino Tea Garden: 2020 Horai Kincha Single Cultivar Sayama Golden Sencha Green Tea brewed up a brilliant green color with a slightly cloudy appearance. The taste was incredibly sweet, so much so that it was almost like candy. Yunomi noted that this cultivar is higher in amino acids, and I think that came through in the thick, broth-like mouthfeel. It did have some umami but in a very subtle way.
As the tea cooled, a fruitiness popped up that had not been there before. Crisp green apples came to mind. It was not vegetal at all, so this tea is a great choice for those who might not normally enjoy sencha. The pale-colored leaves almost give the effect of gyokuro without required quite as much delicacy in preparation.
Have you ever tried a golden sencha? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Yoshino Tea Garden: 2020 Horai Kincha Single Cultivar Sayama Golden Sencha Green Tea purchased from Yunomi.
This tea sounds so interesting! I’ve never had a Japanese green tea that was sweet and candy-like, so this sounds like quite a unique experience. Also, those steeped leaf kind of looks like avocado!
It definitely is a unique experience. I hadn’t even realized it but you are so right, they do look like avocado leaf tea!