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drank Japanese Sencha (Organic) by DAVIDsTEA
894 tasting notes

Me and this tea are not having a cooperative morning.

My first cup I brewed 1tsp/8oz at 170F/75C for 2 min, and it came out so astringent that I couldn’t get through more than half the cup before drinking it.

Second steep of the same leaves I did for 1 min at 70C and it was less astringent, but still pretty astringent and otherwise pretty weak.

Third try is fresh leaf with 63C water for 1 minute. This cup is drinkable, yay! It has the nice vegetal and umami, with slightly roasty notes that I was craving. Still a touch astringent, but not bad.

It’s satisfying my morning craving, but this is super finicky and I’m regretting leaving my tin of gyokuro at my partner’s place.

Edit: NOPE. Half way through this cup and my mouth feels so dry I just want to brush my teeth. Time to make something new.

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Roasted, Umami, Vegetal

Preparation
145 °F / 62 °C 1 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
3 comments
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Fjellrev
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Ugh, finicky teas suck haha.

Anlina
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And I have other senchas (mostly blends, but still), that are nice and forgiving and that give me flavour instead of just astringency.

I meant to dump the rest of this cup but ended up drinking it by accident. It got less offensive as it got cold.

Fjellrev
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That’s good then. Usually when I come across an ultra finicky tea, I end up cold brewing it and it’s usually better.

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Comments

Fjellrev
Delete

Ugh, finicky teas suck haha.

Anlina
Delete

And I have other senchas (mostly blends, but still), that are nice and forgiving and that give me flavour instead of just astringency.

I meant to dump the rest of this cup but ended up drinking it by accident. It got less offensive as it got cold.

Fjellrev
Delete

That’s good then. Usually when I come across an ultra finicky tea, I end up cold brewing it and it’s usually better.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

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Bio

I grew up drinking jasmine green tea with meals, but really fell in love with tea on a trip to Britain in elementary school. My first great love was Earl Grey, and I still adore it and all its variants.

I discovered the beauty of loose leaf tea much later, when, on impulse, I picked up a few teas that were on clearance at a home store. My introduction to loose leaf teas were Masala Chai and Provence Rooibos by the Metropolitan Tea Co and an unknown brand of kukicha and gyokuro (little did I know what a precious treasure I’d stumbled onto with that.)

At the time I was lucky to live in a place with multiple tea shops and several places to have afternoon tea, which is a delight I still miss.

Tea is part of my daily ritual and a nice, affordable way to appease the collector in me.

I enjoy distinctive whites, greens and oolongs, flavoured blacks, and herbals that are heavy on the citrus, lavender or mint.

Rating rubric, to give myself some consistency:
0-15 Yuck, not even drinkable.
16-30 Disappointing, not really inclined to give it a second try.
31-45 Disappointing, but maybe there’s potential? Worth one more try, prepped differently.
46-60 Mediocre, not terrible but not memorable.
61-75 Not bad. I’ll definitely finish what I have and might buy again.
76-90 Very enjoyable. Tasty, complex, it’ll keep me coming back.
91-100 BEST! I love everything about it and I will drink it forever.

Beyond tea, I’m a sex educator, polyamory activist, and radical queer. I love backwoods camping, abstract painting, baking & cooking, nail polish, cats, ceramic sculpture, and home nesting.

Location

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

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