I was surprised to see that Ito En also carries some Chinese, Indian and other teas besides just Japanese green tea. I thought this sounded interesting so I took the plunge and bought some. Smelling the dry tuocha, it reminded me of the smell of Verdant’s Cornfields Shu Tuocha which I absolutely LOVE. So I brewed up the tea, let it cool a little bit and started sipping. I’ve gotta say that I was a bit bored by this tea. I’m sure there are other people who would enjoy it because it did seem to be good quality, I’m just not sure I’m a big fan of sheng pu-erh. It tasted like a typical mellow Chinese green tea with a little bit of a salty taste to it along with the flavor of rice cakes and a little sweetness. Now that may sound good on paper, but to me it was just “meh”. Like I said, this is a quality tea and I’m sure that other people would enjoy it, it just seems a little boring to me. It’s the oatmeal of the tea world.
