It’s shincha, baby! Woo! Guh. The smell kills me. So awesome. Faintly buttery, green, thick. It makes my mouth water. I’m seriously not one for much prep work with tea making because I’m lazy. But I will preheat a pot for sencha. Because sencha in a preheated pot? Smells deliciously awesome.
Last year this tea was a kind of sensitive to temp so I’m using the thermometer, not just the Zojirushi display. I really need a yuzamashi but lacking one, I’m using my tea cup. Water temp at 172° and into my pot it goes. Started the pour at about 35 seconds because this pot has a 10 second-ish pour. The aroma mirrors that of the leaves in the pot but milder. Not a super strong smell, but very nice.
Oh, the taste makes my tongue dance! It has a very fresh and clean taste for a deep steamed sencha. Almost citrusy. Grassy. Faintly buttery feeling, a faint hint of nutty (I read someone that mentioned sunflower seeds and can totally see that, which surprised me.) Just a faint hint of dryness left on my tongue after each swallow but that astringency just makes it seem fresher, no hint of bitterness. This strikes me as a very ‘typical’ sencha as far as taste profile goes but it’s not ordinary. It’s more regular sencha, amped up into, dare I say it? Perfection.
Ah, there is sencha in my pantry once again and I’m so pleased. Especially since this is such a tasty one!
Second Steep: 175°, instant pour. Much cloudier brew this time. Delightful fresh and citrusy, gently sweet. It’s a little bit more astringent than the first brew but I’m pretty sensitive to astringency and am still finding at a very pleasant level. So tasty.
3.6g/6oz
