Chicago Tea Garden's Zairai Estate Japanese Aoyagi Kamairi Cha (Review)

Name: Zairai Estate Japanese Aoyagi Kamairi Cha

Type: Green Tea

Form: Loose leaf

Review: I love these oddball teas that my tea-friends keep coming up with: Tony Gebley and Erin Murphy of the Chicago Tea Garden once again surpassed themselves and tapped their tea connections to bring us this lovely and unusual pan-fired Japanese 2010 shincha green tea.

The leaves are tightly twisted and a dark, pine green. A sniff reveals an unusual briny note, which gets even more odd when said leaves are added to a warmed teapot or gaiwan. Then the nose turns to buttered popcorn. Remarkable.

After the tea infuses to a medium yellow green, its liquor continues to have a distinct salty note. The Chicago Tea Garden compares the taste of this tea to buttered green beans, and I think that a very apt description. The tea also has a mouth-tingling freshness that lingers long after the tea is sipped. I also agree with the Chicago Tea Garden’s observation that this tea has remarkable thirst-quenching properties, which I find rather unusual given its salty flavor and brothy quality.

Incidentally, Zairai Estate Japanese Aoyagi Kamairi Cha is in limited supply, and given that I think much of its charm is due to its freshness, it is probably a good idea to grab some now while you can.

Brewing Tips: This tea is very flavorful, but can get bitter and disagreeable quickly. I’ve found that gaiwan preparation, with 190F water, for steeps of 20 seconds at first are best. The tea needs the hot water to bring out its nuances, but can only withstand the short steeps. Enjoy!

Sample Provided by Retailer?: Yes

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