For those who read Japanese, Mr Hiruma has a website where his approach is explained. He is atypical in selling his own tea directly to consumers (Japanese tea is usually marketed by retailers, and is more often than not blended) and while mostly operating in Japan, he occasionally ships tea to the West with Paypal payment (contact him directly through the website for details). (See also this thread about Mr Hiruma on Teachat).
For all the teas below I have followed Mr Hiruma’s recommended brewing parameters. They are quite extreme, and crucially influencing the teas’ perception. While Japanese tea is usually brewed with medium-low dosage (2–3g of leaf per 100–150ml being the norm), Mr Hiruma advocates dosage as high as 5g / 50–60ml for some teas. That does make you raise an eyebrow. As an example, for the 3rd Prize Asamushi Sencha described below, it’s 5g / 60ml / 60C / 2 minutes. But actually only 34ml of liquid can be drained from the teapot (I’ve weighed this on an electronic scale), so it’s more of a ‘maceration’ than an actual brewing. It’s an approach that I’d call the gyokurization of sencha: a controversial policy, although it admittedly showcases the teas’ intensity and complexity on an unparalleled scale. Retrying some of the teas with more human parameters (usually 2.5g/100ml) yielded different results so please bear in mind that the below tasting notes are all taken with the Hiruma recommended parameters.
I started with two competition sencha teas. One Asamushi is a regional blend of Saitama and Mie leaves (Yabukita cultivar; two photos above), good-looking, sweet-vegetal, balanced, clean, voluminous with a fair bit of sweetness when brewed normally. With the recommended brewing parameters, the infusion is incredibly concentrated, magnifying the interplay between umami, sweetness, fatness and mild bitterness (the latter more pronounced as the tea cools down). The 3rd Prize Asamushi (also unblended Yabukita) is a more impressive grade, with immaculate short-steamed leaves that are extremely well-sorted. Little aroma in the cup with the recommended dosage of 5g/60ml, this is really outrageously concentrated with an explosion of flavour, dominated by sweetness over umami, later rounded off by some bitterish astringency; sweet over vegetal, long finish; there positively seems to be an added dimension of purity and intensity in this over the other competition asamushi.
One of the most memorable moments of these sessions was comparing four single-cultivar sencha teas alongside. Some of Mr Hiruma’s teas are blends of these (and several others), and it’s usual practice in Japan to operate a blend, unless your tea is from a wider-known variety such as the ubiquitous Yabukita, Yutakamidori (see a review here), Saemidori etc. Not only some of these Saitama-grown cultivars are fairly obscure (at least to me), but here is a rare opportunity to try them unblended. Put briefly, the differences in flavour and style are huge. The Fukumidori is processed as a rather highly fragmented fukamushi, with a strong spinach aroma and a Sauvignon-like profile of kiwi and lime; it gives a nicely tangy, zesty first brewing but fades quickly:
The Hokumei is sweeter, floral on nose and palate, almost milky in expression, with a very long finish; tasted blind I wouldn’t be sure this is sencha, it is so un-vegetal. The Sayamakaori is a chunky asamushi grade with kiwi tang and tannic potency in the flavour; more structured than charming, less sweet than the other varietals, this is a grown-up sencha that I’d qualify as austere. The most extraordinary, however, is the Yumewakaba: yielding a concentrated, creamy, almost almond milk-like brew with no astringency whatsoever, it is absolutely delightful.
Apart from standard sencha teas I’ve also tasted several oddities here, including a top-grade 2009 Kukicha Fukamushi Honeppoi Yatsu (pictured above and right) that combines the familiar high-roasted flavours of kukicha (stem tea) with echoes of umami green tastes so typical of fukamushi; and the 2009 Sencha Asamushi Chakakacha that has some flower buds added to the blend contributing to a very elegant, juicy, fruity, mildly floral tea.
One of the most peculiar creations of Hiruma is the bihakkou sencha, a tea that’s allowed to wither for a very short time before being processed like a sencha. The result is a very slightly oolonged green tea whose aromatic register shifts from the vegetal towards the floral. In fact the orchid and lilac notes come very close to a Taiwanese Baozhong, and there is no bitterness or dryness whatsoever in the flavour.
I tried four of these: the Seikakou (Sayamakaori cultivar; bottom photo above) starts very flowery and also emulates the buttery texture of Baozhong but is a bit simplistic and coarse (recommended brewing temp of 90C might have caused that); the Hanayaka (Hokumei cultivar; top above photo) is the most floral of the three, and very smooth on the palate with a low-key, elegant flavour; the Tsuyayaka (Yumewakaba cultivar) is less floral, chunkier in style, but has a very pleasant sweet baked bread expression, and a successful fukamushi-like cloudy second brew; the Kobashicha (Yumewakaba cultivar) sees a higher roasting. These are very distinctive teas for Japan, and inexpensive @ ¥2,500 / 100g. (All Hiruma teas are very well-priced, generally speaking). Mr Hiruma recommends a lower dosage here: 3g for 90ml (70C). I’m told he also makes a full-throttle oolong style called hanhakkucha – now that would really be interesting to try.
Great article !Mr Fortunato's "working" hard to diffuse Mr Hiruma teas !!!Also, i was really surprised to see a link on an article i wrote (in french) 2 tears ago in my previous job for Modern Nippon Project ! Someone red it ! yeah !Just one thing, the "norm" for sencha's brewing is 70 ml for 5 g… (3 g if more than 2 persons).ps. sorry for my poor english.
Anonymous, the address is hirumaen[at]ictv.ne.jp.Be warned that I haven't had contact with Mr Hiruma yet, so cannot comment on how the ordering process goes. I've received this address from Fortunato.
I would like to ask you for Mr Hirumas email. I could not see his email adress on his website, it was a problem with my computer. Thank you in advance.
Hi Flo, thanks for the comment, when I receive the 2010 teas from Mr Hiruma I will review them here and give feedback on the ordering process.
hi Nerval,you enquire order via email and then may pay via paypal (unless he has changed his process, which I doubt).automatic translation from his website is not possible (except for html links), because images are implemented for text areas.good place to buy from (kaburagien also offers hand-rubbed greens) A member from Teachat who lives in Japan has a long relationship with Mr Hiruma, and apparently mentioned him to fortunato, which was a very fine idea./alan logan
I am eager to read about your further impressions ! By the way, I have also found a Sayama tea on umami-chaya's website, I ordered it yesterday so I could not yet say much about it. It is not hand-rubbed,(while I am at it, let me specifu-y that Kaburagien does not carry Saitama origins to my knowledge.)In a differnt field, have you ever tried yellow chinese teas ? reading you it occurred to me that their profile might be of interest to your palate.(flo stands for my actual first name, alan logan is my profile nickname on teachat, it just occurred to me that as I have not written on the forum yet and as you got on it recently you may have wondered)
By the way I pay with PayPal with Hiruma-San since the 1st time I ordered his tea, because I sent myself in Japanese to Hiruma-San how to create a PayPal account and he also ask me how to send me goods because he's not trained to send to overseas excepted in Japan…Just need to order by e-mail to Hiruma-San what kind of tea you want, as I said, he's not trained to sell to people outside Japan, just need a little time, then he will send you by e-mail the whole invoice with EMS shipping fees and then a PayPal money request if you are OK…
Fortunato, why worry ? we all get our information from somewhere which does of course not demean efforts for further researches and there is no exclusive paternity to a source, Ochametaiken simply stated his mentioning Gokuchanin to you –as he probably would have to anyone else for that matter, and talked about Mr Hiruma as his source in Saitama. He does not seem to have any problem with this, nor should anyone either.Kaburagien is not as convenient regarding payment, so anyone reluctant to pay by credit card out of encrypted context may hesitate.
long story short, just as stated.:D
Nerval, have you decided on your selection ?
flo said : Fortunato, why worry ? – I'm not worried at all, it's only because you mentioned my name.flo said : we all get our information from somewhere which does of course not demean efforts for further researches and there is no exclusive paternity to a source- Agreed, it's a NO prob for me when it happens, my door is still open to learn from othersI tasted maybe 90% of Yoshiaki Hiruma teas ! Then I thought I should share with others that is possible to get real japanese tea by a true artisan as Yoshiaki Hiruma and I sent samples to a few friends or tea lovers, tasted with friends at home, I talk about on internet etc.. That's all…flo said :Ochametaiken simply stated his mentioning Gokuchanin to you –as he probably would have to anyone else for that matter, and talked about Mr Hiruma as his source in Saitama. He does not seem to have any problem with this, nor should anyone either.Sure NO prob again, I contacted myself Ochametaiken because on teachat he wrote this :"Again, my source in Saitama has a good selection year-round, of not just his own temomi but award winning lots from many artists. However, he tends to sell by 3g. I look to him for his innovative new styles of tea, more than temomi… =\"So I sent him a PM because I was sure he was talking about Yoshiaki Hiruma, his answer was yes and etc.. etc.. etc..End of the story…
oh, a bit off topic, sorry : Nerval, how would you translate "vin de paille" into english ? I can't seem to find any translation that sounds 100% wine langage, or maybe the expression is used as such in french and not translated ?
What an animated discussion!
Flo,vin de paille =straw wine, and it's quite commonly used (well inasmuch as vin de paille is ever mentioned, which is rarely: it's a dying species).
I am still waiting to hear from Mr Hiruma following my PM but am planning on ordering various price levels of temomicha, surely the famed hanhakkucha, surely I'll stock up on the 100% Yumewakaba sencha which is a stunning tea… details will depend on the prices. I'll update you here or on Teachat when this happens.
Re: Chinese yellow teas, I did review one here, I occasionally taste some, and recently had a very good one from Darjeeling (Gomtee 2nd Flush from Thunderbolt). But I've yet to taste one that would stun me.
Nerval,yes, animated… and now also quite a wink
Never mind. anyone can delete their own comments with the blogger profile option, as fortunato did for his comment posted 3 may 23:37 which expressed certain worries. (thus this edit for better understanding).I'll follow your updates, you are in my g-readerdon't feel compelled to anything though, I'll be happy with any new topic!