Fifth tea from the sample pack.
I have never tasted tea from Nara before so when I was preparing this, I was thinking that this tea should be a quite nice and interesting experience. And I was right – in a sense.
The tea leaves were a bit tinier than normal sencha leaves, but not quite like fukamushi leaves. Therefore I expected a quite strong sencha, not bitter, but strong and rich in taste. Instead I got a result very similar in taste to kukicha. The taste was both refreshing and sweet, including a slight touch of citrus. However, since I was expecting something stronger, I could not help to think that it felt really thin.
From now on, I will read Lupicia’s descriptions in Japanese, since they provide much more information than the English ones (that I tend to read since I am lazy and do not always want to translate and read Japanese). While the English description says “Tea produced in Nara prefecture. Thin tealeaves makes refreshing aroma”, the Japanese version also mentions, not only this, but that the tea will taste a bit thin. Apparently, it is like you can feel the silent night under the moon. Had I known this maybe the experience would have been a bit different.
The tea itself was quite good, but I am not sure if I would buy this when I can get loads of good kukicha for under the same price.
