Shinobi_cha

First time having hashiri shincha — first impressions…
I noticed the loose leaf was a nice, dark green color, of mostly whole (rolled up) leaves. Little or no leaf particles. Once steeped, the leaves opened up fully and you could see many veins or stems (I don’t know if I can tell the difference between the two, but I’m pretty sure it was mostly the veins between the leaf and not stems (kuki)).
I steeped it three times for my wife and I, and experimented a little on the 2nd two steepings.

The first steeping I did according to instructions (3 oz water per cup for 1.5tsp leaf). It tasted SO fresh, brisk/astringent, with just a tad bitterness (not too much at all in my opinion, just on the edge). The main flavor was freshness though. I read on his website that they try to process it as little as possible to maintain its fresh flavor, but I had no idea how that would actually translate into the tea…yes, one wouldn’t be exaggerating to say it tastes like spring! (Yes, that is a very ‘artsy’ phrase that I don’t very much like, but it isn’t an overstatement). The description says this has a very young flavor, as if you were picking the tea and steeping it right in the field — though I am no tea expert, I don’t think it could be described any better! The flavor surprised me in that way, even though I was expecting a ‘fresh’ flavor.

The 2nd steeping, I wanted to have a little more sweet flavor, a little more full/umami flavor, so instead of increasing the temperature, I left it at 160, and left it to steep for 1.5 mins instead of just the suggested 30 seconds. It didn’t have as much fresh flavor/astringency, and had a hint of sweetness that was very nice.

The third steeping was good too (I think boiling for 15-30 seconds), but the flavor wasn’t particularly strong.

I look forward to trying this out more and experimenting with the brewing. But for a first try, I liked it a lot and am not disappointed. If I can extract more umami/sweetness from it, then I will be impressed by it’s range of flavor.

Resteeped, by adding less water (20oz first time, this time I think a little less than half that?) so that it would be stronger, and put it in the fridge. It is still good, just not as strong. Curious to try the 2nd steep with hot water or ice.

The last of this tea this morning. 12 oz, a little hotter (160) for the same brew time. It had a fuller taste, a little sweet, but I’m glad to have finished it off. Not that it wasn’t good, but that there are other teas I’d like to try (hashiri sencha!) and it wasn’t my favorite.
Now that I’ve finished it, I think I can give it a lot more rounded review, and I would say I don’t really recommend it in the end. It is good, but there are certainly better out there. I don’t regret buying it though.

I received this in my shipment yesterday!
I am now drinking my water with a tea bag in it…SO delicious. The pear is not overly strong/fake tasting, and it doesn’t just taste like pear-flavored water. The sencha clearly comes through and the two go together amazingly well.
I’m curious to try it hot, but this is a yummy way to have water. Glad I bought 2 packs (of 10 bags each)… I wonder if you can resteep?

Had a 6 oz cup this evening…man it was so good, sweet, astringent, almost thick.

No notes yet.

Had a cup of this yesterday…the astringency was very nice, and it was followed by a fuller flavor, made it almost feel like a snack rather than tea.
I’m starting to notice more of the different flavors people mention when they talk about tea, and green tea in particular. This was the first time I noticed the astringency as such, and very much enjoyed it.

By the time I finish this tea (there is probably just 2-3tsp left), I will have figured it out!
This morning, I did the same as the other day, 2 tsp in 14 oz water at 140 for 1.5 mins. Maybe it was 16 oz water. It wasn’t strong enough…but it still was good.
The 2nd steeping was 160 and it was stronger this time and much better.
I’m going to try it in less water, maybe a little hotter too, like 150.

Ok, they have a small amount left – Order while you can if you want to taste the best of the best green tea here in the US! (Ok, I haven’t tried it yet, I will let you know soon…my order is on the way!)

I think I had this a while ago (last year sometime), but I do remember liking it and thinking it was a good tea if you want something around Christmastime that is cheap.

So this morning I tried 2 tsp in about 12-14oz water, at 140 or so for 1.5mins. It was actually good! The flavor wasn’t too strong, it tasted sweet, and made me want to make a 2nd cup!
This tea might actually be a fairly decent sencha/low quality gyokuro that is worth it if you don’t want to break the bank. Perhaps those other really bad times were operator error?

Part of the problem is that I think it is fairly delicate, and I either had the temperature too high, or I tried brewing it more to Japanese tastes (more tea, around 3-4tsp, and less water, 6-8oz). When the temp was too high, it was very bitter, and when I had too much leaf, the color turned so dark green and it smelled like grass and dirt/mud it was so earthy.

Anyway, I’ve almost finished this off; I don’t plan on buying it again, but only because there are too many other things I’d rather try first. If I can get it to taste like this again, using the same parameters, then I will raise the rating.

This is my favorite tea right now…

Like the other Republic of Tea I’ve had, this also smelled very good. But I have to agree with others here…the idea is good, but the black tea is pretty strong and the expected vanilla almond flavoring barely comes through. I still like drinking it, but in terms of finding a good tea that has vanilla almond flavors, there are probably better alternatives out there…

It tastes mostly of jasmine…at least, I’m pretty sure what that flowery smell and taste were. It is good, especially for bagged tea. White tea, in my experience, doesn’t usually have a very strong flavor, and I think the addition of jasmine was a pretty good idea.
When you open the canister, it does smell very nice…that was probably my favorite part of this tea, though the flavor was very good, relaxing too.

Brought some to work today..mmm…so nice to have on my desk.

2nd steeping….160 for 30 seconds, was delicious this morning. How can one tea go from being so bad, to fairly good? Operator error I suppose. :)

(If you can’t tell, I’m trying to drink this stuff up…I’m expecting more tea in the next week and don’t want to have too much at once, since it will all go bad!)

I might be getting closer….
Tried 2 tsp tea, 16 oz water, at 140 for 1.5 minutes…This time the flavor started a little weak, then very earthy with a hint of sweetness. Hmm, well, it is a step up at least!

I’m upping this a little – it is SO good. Had a cup yesterday morning and again this morning…Always delicious. I should have bought more than just 2oz. …when I run out I’m going to have to wait until next spring :( !

Someone please drink and rate this tea! It sounds delicious…too bad the company is all the way in the UK. Any US distributors?

Tried this a couple of times hot-brewed, never liked it. It had a little too much astringency/sourness, and the lemon flavor was too strong.

However, I recently tried brewing it the shinobicha method, and it was delicious. It was sweet, lemony, very much like lemonade. I think this tea is meant to be drunk iced.

Had a cup this morning – delicious! as always. Cherry, flowery, buttery, full-mouth feel.

Really looking forward to the Hashiri Sencha shipment next week! I’ve also ordered Pear Sencha iced-tea.

2nd steeping, after doing the ice-brewing yesterday. It’s a very dark green color (160 for only a few seconds was how I brewed it), the flavor isn’t very strong, but it is good at least….

I made a small cup of this (maybe 6oz) with 1/2 tsp of matcha…it was better than my first attempt. I have just been using a small whisk in my tea cup (not ready to really get into it with all the proper tools/matcha bowl, etc), so that could effect how well it mixes and tastes.

However, my wife and I had vanilla icecream the other day and I sifted a heaping 1/8 tsp of it onto the top of each bowl. That was very good, though I probably could have used even more since the vanilla flavor was so strong.

Based on the look of the picture and the description, this sounds exactly like Gyokuro Blend Sencha by Yamamotoyama. The leaves have big pieces in them, that look like Kukicha/Karigane (the twigs and bottom parts of the leaf), but also a lot of very very small leaves, which looks like Fukamushi (deep steamed) which breaks up the leaves further into smaller pieces like that. I’m curious now to see if it is the same….