Simpli-Special Japanese Sencha Kukicha | Green Loose Leaf Tea | Japan Stem and Twig | Low Caffeine, High Antioxidants for Natural Wellness | Enjoy Hot or Iced (100g in Resealable Pouch)

A nice tea at a good price. These teas that come from Japan and India rather than an English source are always much better. Would buy again.

This kuki or leaf & twig loose tea arrives in a metallic resealable pouch so you can keep that freshness in there.When you open the pouch it has a strong vegetal aroma which I enjoy; though I know some don't.I enjoy the act of brewing tea as much as drinking it, its a relaxing ritual that for me marks the end of being busy & lets me unwind into the evening. You use one teaspoon of loose tea per cup[plus one for the pot], I like to use a teapot so the leaves & stems have time to move around. I like to pre-warm the pot, add the tea, then pour over 70°C/158°F water [if its too hot the tea becomes bitter]. Then I leave it to mask for 3 to 5 minutes. [There's no need to do a rinse with this type of tea]. Then pour into a cup & drink, you can sweeten with honey or sugar if you like, but milk really doesn't go with it. Though there is no need to do a rinse with this tea you can re-brew the leaves a couple of times, you'll get a gentler, more subtle flavour with subsequent brewing.You can also cold brew this tea if its a hot day or just your thing, it will result in a sweeter taste. You can also freeze the brewed tea to make refreshing ice-cubes for adding to some drinks. It also makes a lovely green tea granita or sorbet.At £8.40 its not expensive for a speciality tea & you're unlikely to be drinking gallons of the stuff all day long. I look on it as an evening treat & a way to relax.

As a tea fanatic, I was left disappointed by this tea.£8.40 for a pouch of 100g is not the most expensive in regards to tea (I've had 50g pouches cost £6-10 for Japanese/Chinese specialty teas) and 100g will certainly last a fair while, unless it's the only thing you drink.I used it as-is and let it steep for around 5 minutes (bag says 3 minutes is enough) and despite the pungent aroma that was given off the by tea, which many could find off-putting, said aroma was far more pungent than the taste, which was incredibly subtle.Now, this is not to say it's terrible or tastes disgusting, but I do like a tea with a bit of body, whereas this gave the impression I was drinking slightly flavoured water. I do know green tea is usually subtle and mainly used for health benefits, but this was still a little too subtle for my preferences, especially when compared to the more premium specialty teas I mentioned earlier.I will continue drinking this until it's gone and I'll also try steeping it for much longer in the future, to maybe see if that helps bring out more flavour, otherwise, I don't think I'll personally be purchasing a refill.

As my wife is Japanese, she always has a cup of green tea every day and loves it. She knows a thing or two about Kukicha, having sampled it in her home country back in the day.These are her thoughts on this Simpli-Special product.This Kuki cha is good. It's not as strong and actually quite mild compared to the leaves of green tea.茎（くき）- Kuki means 'stem' so you can see lots of stems rather than tea leaves only.If you love a strong green tea, it may be better to have just the normal leaves of green tea however you can choose the water temperature such as if you use a hot water, it makes for a sharper and stronger taste, or if you use cold water, it makes the taste a little sweeter and less bitter (you need to leave the stem and leaves a bit longer to make a cold tea).In Japan, Kuki cha is slightly cheaper than the leaves tea but nutrition wise it's the same as normal green tea so that's why it became so popular in Japan. I'm glad I found this one here on Amazon UK because no supermarket in my local area sells this.My wife says it's a great combination with Japanese meals or many other Asian meals or snacks as it has no strong flavour and also has lots of nutrition such as vitamin C and minerals. The other good news is there is less caffeine so that's why she can drink it in the evening too.Over all, 4 stars for 'she likes it' - she's enjoying this gentle, mild and pure green tea without worrying about taking too much caffeine. It's healthy, too.

This tea arrived in a compact and resealing bag – it feels really secure and airtight when I close it after use.Cha, or Ocha, is Japanese for tea and I believe this variety is roasted to give it the subtle but unique “toasted” flavour that you can taste. It tastes very similar to some tea that I brought bag from Japan in teabags rather than loose.I brewed this in an individual diffuser – about 2.5 grams per 200mls of water and found it produced a much better flavour than the recommended amount. I also remove the diffuser after 2 minutes, leave it out for about half a minute and then put it back into the water for another minute or so.It has a light yellow-green colour and because the tea is produced from the stalks, I don’t get much residue in the cup.I prefer my tea sweetened, but I tried this without sugar first. It’s not too bitter unless brewed for too long and I can taste the nuttiness.

This is an interesting tea. Made from the small twigs and shoots left on the tea plant after the leaves have been picked. When you open the pack you see lots of little green twigs instead of the usual leaves.I drink Japanese Sencha daily. The colour is not to dissimilar to it. The main difference is the smell. This Kukicha smells toasted like peanuts or popcorn, quite pleasant but I wouldn’t want my green tea tasting of either. Happily it does not. It has a pleasant mild taste which is very refreshing.It would have been handy to have some instruction on the packet - water temperature, how long to steep the ‘twigs’ and whether they can be reused (which I do with my other green tea leaves).Green tea can be quite astringent if you leave it too long. I tend to give it no more than 2mins.Anyway, an enjoyable tea I’ll look forward to drinking each day.