Kukicha

I've had kukicha tea before and this doesn't disappoint. I looked at several UK tea shops for this and Shibui had the best prices. The tea is good quality, and the packaging is classy too.

Bit of a strange one this. Wonderful flavour but no flavours that even resemble traditional tea. I've had stick tea before but it was green and transmitted that green tea essence. This does not. It does have an almost oily mouth feel and a wonderful nutty smokiness.

The tea is rich in texture and its aroma is reminiscent of fresh herbs and nut butter. It offers a good balance between strength and delicacy. The reason I only gave it four stars is that I personally prefer more floral and fruity undertones enhanced by woody and malty notes.

I have had hojicha and love the taste. When I first saw this I went, its toasted stems of the plant hojicha is made from. I think I might like this. I was wrong. I love it!!! The tea has a woody, toasted, umami and slightly sweet taste. This is the perfect tea to have on cold night. This is made better by the fact that it has even lower caffeine than hojicha, which already only has a fraction of the caffeine of most teas. It is slightly on the pricy end, but ohh it is worth the price!!!

On a side note, the seller ran out of the wonderful plastic free tubes so they sent me a resealable 250g packet instead of the two 75g tubes I ordered. They even sent some sample teas and a small personal note to appologise. Quick delivery, good price, awesome customer service and amazing tea! There is nothing to complain about.

I bought some of this interesting tea for my son as he is a bit of a Japan fanatic. I've never really been a fan of green tea, being very much a black tea sort of guy, but when I tasted this stuff I was a changed man. My normal standard cup of tea is PG Tips with milk and sugar ( I know, I know) so I didn't expect to really like this, but it's amazing. It has a sweetness and roasted nuttiness that is absolutely delicious and it's as satisfying as any tea I've ever drunk. When you google it's properties you will also find it's full of vitamins and calcium and actually really good for you. Perhaps the best thing (particularly for my waist) is that unlike PG tips I never feel the need to have a biscuit with a cup of Kukicha, so the health benefits are even greater* So get some, it's lovely and the packaging from these people is cool and the customer service is excellent and they are a nice independent company based in Edinburgh, that ticks a lot of boxes for me. *Please note that I firmly believe biscuits are incredibly important for any normal humans mental health, as Marcus Aurelias once said "If something is missing from your life - It's probably a Jaffa Cake" however at 52 I have to moderate the biscuit consumption if I am to keep my natural good looks and athleticism ! ( is there a prize for best review ?)

Its predominant toasted flavour carries undertones of grassiness, nut and smoke, weirdly giving it a coffee like twang!

I enjoyed this first thing in the morning. Despite not liking actual coffee, the similarity in essence was the perfect kick in the morning.

Fore more on tea: www.TastetheTea.co.uk