Guricha Zaira
Guricha Zaira is probably one of my absolute favourite teas, sourced from Cha Do Raku.
As I wrote in my log in 2019: “This is one of the imported Japanese teas I discovered at Cha Do Raku this summer. It’s hard to describe how flavourful this tea is. First of all, it’s meant to be steeped for only 10 seconds at 95 degrees Celsius… any longer and you will probably get a caffeine headache. There is a lot of caffeine in this one — and for that reason alone I recommend not drinking it on an empty stomach. It has a flavour that reminds me of the smell mountains and grass in late summer (I nicknamed this tea my “mountain sencha” for this reason). It has a very distinct and almost herbal taste, though these almost-flowery notes never seem to unbalance the tea. When I poured this tea for the first time, it was in a clear glass, and I was blown away by how green the colour of this green tea is. (It works fantastically as an iced tea, as well, but short brewing times are a must even with cool (50-60 Celsius) or iced brews.)”
→ I mentioned this tea in a 2019 blog post.