This came as a free (unexpected) sample, in my first order from Thes du Japon.
(Actually, they included 3x this tea, and 4 others!). I love free samples. But, I guess, who doesn’t?
Not surprisingly, this tea reminds me very much of ‘Fukamushi Sencha Yame’ from Den’s Tea. It has that familiar, slightly-roasted aroma and flavor, that I love so much. This tea is apparently light-steamed, though the leaves are more broken up than what I’ve come to expect from a typical asamushi (ie from Uji or Honyama, etc.). Anyway, perhaps it’s on the ‘deeper’ end of light-steamed teas.
The aroma continues to be strong, and very enjoyable through three steepings. As their description states, I think anyone new to green teas, who likes a strong flavor, would enjoy this. It doesn’t have any of the typical bitterness that can turn people off of green tea.
For a first impression, this is definitely a good one. So far, I like teas from Yame, the extra ‘hi ire’ that seems to be typical of their Sencha (I think that’s the word for the roasting) is unique, and I just happen to really enjoy it.
