280 Tasting Notes
This reminded me of Hong Yue/Ruby Black (oolong-like black tea from Taiwan… both Rishi Tea and ATR carry it), but with very small leaves and some dust.
But the flavor was similar; instead of a malty, astringent, strong black tea, this was fruity, but more like the fruity flavor of certain green teas, rather than that buttery oolong fruity flavor. If that makes any sense.
I did even detect some taste in there that definitely reminded me of Sencha. I can’t put my finger on what that flavor was, because it was suddenly there and tasted really good, but disappaited quickly. But it definitely showed that this was related to Japanese greens, rather than other kinds of black tea. If there was more of that elusive, sweet-like flavor, this would be awesome.
As is, I think I like it almost as much as the Hong Yue, it just gets negative points for not being as beautiful a leaf (having a lot of smaller pieces and powder, after all).
Preparation
I received 10g of this, as it was recently the “sample of the month”. 10g is such a big amount of tea to give away for free! It’s enough for at least 4 (4oz) cups!
Anyway, the matcha makes this tea very intense. I can see why I’m not a regular matcha drinker — not that I don’t think it’s delicious, because it is — but because as soon as I took the first few sips, I could already feel it!
The matcha adds a nice, intensity — sweetness and even marine flavors — to the already well-balanced sencha. The 2nd and third steepings were yummy too. I try to limit caffeine intake, so I’m not sure I’d buy 2oz of this, but I’d consider it, because it’s like two different teas in one and I enjoy both. (Plus, its an easy way to get to drink matcha without having to buy all the other fiddely tools)
Preparation
4g, 4oz water
Well, after the first trial, I wasn’t sure this was any different than Sencha Zuiko.
This time, I’m positive it is better . . . at least, I thought it way more delicious!
That could be attributed to the fact that it is aged, or, more likely, it could be because when I bought Sencha Zuiko earlier this summer, I got it on sale because it was the 2009 harvest being phased out to give way to the 2010. Even though it is kept in cold storage, it still is older than this ‘aged’ sencha by a year, and that might explain the difference.
Anyway, it had a lot of flavors going on that were really good. Slightly vegetal, lots of pine, slight (but yet very good) bitterness…
That flavor of pine (or something like that, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it) was really good. But this had a new flavor in sencha that I’ve never tasted before… as I exhaled, it filled my mouth with lemon! It came out of nowhere and was unexpected. I just kept exhaling to taste the lemon to see if it was really there…wow. Yep!
: )
Preparation
I’m not sure I can quite tell the difference between this and Sencha Zuiko by Den’s (I know it is the same tea essentially, but this one is the aged version).
However, my initial impression was that it was slightly creamy, a tinge bitter (in a very good way), and delicious!
If you’ve considered trying a high quality Sencha from Den’s, this one is a good deal… $16 for 80g (nearly 3oz)…. his regular high quality Sencha is actually more expensive ($19.50 for 2oz). I don’t know why this one is cheaper, but it might even be better. I’ll have to compare the two side by side at some point and see…
I wonder if this went bad? There are hardly any flavors (especially sweetness, which I assumed gyokuros were known for) present…except a strange starchyness.
The first infusion was almost really good; it had hints of very refined sweetness (like I’ve tasted in the ice brewings), kind of like a shincha or something. I enjoyed the first infusion, at least the first few sips. I was excited because I thought perhaps I had figured out a better way to brew it (heaping tsp (2+g) 2 oz water, 2.5 mins)…. unfortunately not.
I want this tea to be good, but it simply didn’t meet my expectations, nor was it worth the cost. What a contrast to their Kuradashi Gyokuro Premium! (That’s their normal, aged gyokuro, which was very very good).
I have a sample of this; I chose it because, as others have described, it LOOKS like an oolong (very long, twisted leaves), and a black tea/oolong hybrid sounded interesting and different.
I’ve had it 3 times now, the first 2 I took their suggestions for 2 minutes at nearly boiling. It tasted like a black tea with a hint of cinnamon. It was good, but I didn’t know why it didn’t seem anything like an oolong, and so I didn’t think it was very remarkable. But I didn’t want to just give up on it, so I tried it for 3 minutes today…
It was much better! I was getting all kinds of fruity oolong flavors on top of a high quality black base. I knew it wasn’t possible for it to be made in Taiwan and look like an oolong and yet not taste like one!
So if you give this one a shot, steep for at least 3 minutes.
Preparation
I realized this morning I hadn’t tried this according to the exact suggested parameters…so I decided I needed to try them.
2g, 2oz water, 140 for 2.5mins.
I have a bit of a cold, so that may have softened the flavor a bit, but nonetheless it was great! Again, a little less sweet than Bird Pick’s Gyokuro, but maybe that’s a good thing. I like this almost as much. I’ve upped the rating.
