This one from my Den’s sampler pack; it gives me a chance to compare it to their Fukamushi sencha. The dry leaves are dark and feathery light, and exude a clean vegetal scent with an interesting top note. What is that? It’s very clean, so clean in fact it reminds me of soap!
1st steep: 180 degrees, 60 seconds. Like lots of different green vegetables all rolled up into one. I taste broccoli and spinach, slightly sweetened. Den’s tasting notes indicate a slight bitterness, but I’d go so far as to say very slight. There’s also a slick background of roastiness – one coat of paint on the walls of the room the veggies are sitting in.
2nd steep: boiling, 15 seconds. It’s amazing how far these leaves transform themselves during the short second steep. They are now bright green and easy to make out as large pieces of torn up tea leaves. Beautiful! The aroma is great – I want to put butter on that scent and serve it up with brown rice. The taste: much more pronounced astringency this time, sweetness toned down, vegetables still very much present.
I like this tea, slightly more than their Fukamushi.
