Den's Tea

This is almost gone! :( Maybe 2g left?

I had tried this once a while ago at 140, but I must not have steeped it long enough that time, because the only flavor that came through (that I can remember) was an intense sweetness combined with some pleasant bitterness (not that warming soup-like-greens quality, that extra depth that I was hoping for).

This time I went ahead and steeped it a lot longer, for 90 – 105 seconds.

It really tasted like the most delicous soup broth (without the saltiness), but at the same time it is STILL tea, and doesn’t feel weird to have it with breakfast.

I am not a vegetarian, but the savouriness of this tea makes me a believer that one could find, in vegetables alone, all of the wonderful flavors that roasted meat, beef stock, or bbq provide.

These are just leaves! Yet, they have just as much heart-warming deliciousness as a savoury french onion soup, and a sweetness alongside that rounds the flavor so nicely.

The 2nd steeping was almost as good as the first too… I’m going to miss this tea!

So I recently tried 5 different fukamushis, took notes each day, and now I’m ready to post the results and rank them! I used as equal parameters as possible to eliminate factors that could have affected the flavor or results. I am no expert or scientist; plus the results pretty much lined up with the cost of each tea, so there’s no big suprises here either!
(I’m going to put only the tasting note for each tea involved under the steepster profile of that tea, but the results I’ll include on each one).

Shincha Houryoku
6 oz + 2 heaping tsp leaf
1st – 160, 30scds: The brewed leaf was a really pleasing, beautiful color; it looked like fresh leaves just picked (though it was very small pieces of course, because the steaming breaks it up like that). The initial flavor was almost exactly like the hashiri shincha, that young, somewhat bitter then sweet flavor that tasted very fresh. This tea seemed at first just like a more mature hashiri shincha. However, this gave way to a pure, powerful, mouth filling, broth-like umami, which was very different than the hashiri. Don’t imagine it tasted like ramen broth, but imagine it tasted like delicious tea, and had the same wonderful feel and effects of the most delicious, (even sweet) broth you’ve drunk. Yes, I could describe it the same many do, ‘vegetal’, but it was still tea. It was like all the richness you get from cheesecake or some other dessert, without being sugary, or giving you the feeling that you’d get sick after a couple of bites. You could drink cup after cup and experience that delicious richness without becoming sick in the process. So good!
2nd – 180, 15scds: I got 5 steepings from this, and 2-4 were also very good. The flavor slowly changed in each one, but was good for different reasons. I remember the 2nd having still a lot of that pure, almost thick flavor…almost as if you could eat it. It wasn’t as powerful as the 1st steeping, but had a bit more of the lingering sweetness at the end. By steepings 3 and 4, I remember the initial flavor being excellent, a delicious bitterness that quickly transformed to intense sweetness. After that dissipated, there wasn’t much flavor left in the taste, but was overall very good for being the 3rd and 4th steeping.

Drumroll please…

1. Shincha Houryoku (Den’s)
2. Fukamushi Sencha Yame (Den’s)
3. Sen Cha (Sugimoto USA)
4. Fukamushi Sencha Special (Den’s)
5. Ocha-Zanmai Fukamushi (Yamamotoyama)

I love this tea. It has such a nice underlying toasted quality to it. As others have said, it isn’t a sweet-based sencha, but rather very heavy, strong umami and grassiness. It satisfies the same desire you have when you want a bowl of warm stew. No, it isn’t savory, but it has that same delicious, satisfying effect.

So I recently tried 5 different fukamushis, took notes each day, and now I’m ready to post the results and rank them! I used as equal parameters as possible to eliminate factors that could have affected the flavor or results. I am no expert or scientist; plus the results pretty much lined up with the cost of each tea, so there’s no big suprises here either!
(I’m going to put only the tasting note for each tea involved under the steepster profile of that tea, but the results I’ll include on each one).

Fukamushi Sencha Yame
6 oz + 2 tsp leaf
1st – 160, 45scds: The leaves were small (as to be expected), but were a very consistent shape and color (a darker green, it seemed, than the other fukamushis I’ve tried). As soon as I poured the water over the leaf, it let off a delicious, sweet smell…I knew it was going to be good. The color of the tea was a beautiful, clear green like matcha (in powder form, not the whisked tea). It had that glowing brightness, without the dark cloudiness that matcha has. Just by the look and smell I was guessing it was going to be very good.
It was. It came across first as a little sweetness mixed with just a hint of bitterness. There was no astringency at all. After the initial taste (which, did taste like that delicious aroma that arose when it was steeping..mmmmm), it quickly filled the mouth with such that familiar umami flavor…yet it was unique in some way that is hard to describe. It was like that to the last drop.
2nd- 180, 15scds: I don’t remember anything in particular about this one, other than it was also delicious. The umami wasn’t as strong but was still present.
3rd – 212, 15scds: A little yellower, as seems to happen with subsequent steepings. The flavor was more subdued and the mouth-filling/vegetal/umaminess wasn’t there, but it had a subtle sweetness to it. This was completely yummy in its own way. Really cool to see the different flavors this tea gave in the multiple steepings.

Drumroll please…..

1. Shincha Houryoku (Den’s)
2. Fukamushi Sencha Yame (Den’s)
3. Sen Cha (Sugimoto USA)
4. Fukamushi Sencha Special (Den’s)
5. Ocha-Zanmai Fukamushi (Yamamotoyama)

OK, so I just don’t get why anyone would cold brew except in the case of an iced chai emergency… but my quest for the perfect pear green tea makes me do weird things. It was on sale a month or two ago, so I “had” to try it.

1 bag/18oz cold water in the fridge for 1 hr.

The liquor is a very yellowish green and just a touch cloudy… almost like lime juice.

The flavor is very light like I expected it to be, but is very vegetably w/ a bit of matcha-esk qualities to it… and… lime? huh? I’m tasting lime instead of pear. Could all of my pear fataliTEAS have totally screwed up my perception of what a pear tea should be?

Well, now that I have prepared this correctly I must say it’s a very good tasting iced tea and a very sweet and healthy green tea. It’s very, very green in color…almost like a wheat grass health-juice looking thing. It’s very refreshing but at the same time the peach it’s very strong. It’s very green tea tasting and VERY very light on the peach…I would have loved some more peach flavor but this will certainly do for a pleasant taste and the yummy factor is there.

WHOA…
I soooooo read this wrong! LOL
I let sit for 60 secs not 60 mins!
Well, I did pour into a glass but will try the real deal in an hour…stay tuned…

WOW. I’m the first to log!? Surprising…

This is a no non-sense type tasting green. It’s fairly strong and sweet but almost on the verge of grassy towards the end of the sip onto the aftertaste. Mostly it reminds me of buttered veggies…broccoli, maybe!? Or Asparagus!? Regardless…pretty good.

I wasn’t too excited about this year’s Shincha season because I ordered Shincha from O-Cha last year and I wasn’t that impressed.

I tried Den’s this time because they have never failed me before… and they still haven’t.

The taste is delicate, super sweet, and smooth. Hardly any astringency – only when I get to the bottom of the cup does the dryness start to build. No bitterness… just the silky smooth grassy flavor. Hands down, one of the sweetest green teas I have had to this point.

I’m upping the rating on this one since I have yet to find a Grape Sencha I like better than this one yet. I’m having a cup before sending the rest to LiberTEAs.

Method: My New Libre Teas Loose Leaf Glass – now that I have watched a video on it I prefer the loose leaves in the main part/glass and then pouring into another mug VS the way I was doing it before with infusing the leaves in the top and flipping it upsidedown. I am working on a full review for SororiTEA Sisters so I will have some notes thru-out for a while…

The aroma of this is wonderful! The color of the loose leaf mixture is gorgeous! I’m so excited to try this! Yup! YUM! This cup is HOT but I’m seeing a ICED one in the near future as well! This is lovely! The dry leaf smell tops the taste but the taste is sure up there too! Taste-wise mostly green tea – a sweet green tea – with lovely grape and cranberry notes. I can barely taste the raspberry tho. Regardless…very nice!

This smells great for a Genmaicha – roasted rice almost like a soy sauce type stir fry thinger-muh-jig. The taste is more mellow than I expected but still good. I would drink this again but don’t know if I would buy a large quantity

I’ve been wanting to try this for a long while and recently got a sample from Den’s!!! I’m told this will change my opinion of matcha’s! :)

One thing I have found is…I have been using TOO MUCH while preparing! Well, that could do it, eh!?

It smells like buttery vegetables…in a good way. Yes, it’s creamy. That’s a plus. It’s NOT Chalky…a definite PLUS.

Um, yes. This is CERTAINLY better. MUCH. I now like Matcha. Thanks Den’s Tea. I’m a changed girl!

Cofftea is sure to be proud! :)

The more I drink – the more I like.

YAY!

THE BIG FUKAMUSHI TASTING CONTEST
So I recently tried 5 different fukamushis, took notes each day, and now I’m ready to post the results and rank them! I used as equal parameters as possible to eliminate factors that could have affected the flavor or results. I am no expert or scientist; plus the results pretty much lined up with the cost of each tea, so there’s no big suprises here either!
(I’m going to put only the tasting note for each tea involved under the steepster profile of that tea, but the results I’ll include on each one).

Fukamushi Sencha Special
6 oz + 2 tsp leaf
1st- 160, 30scds: clear/light green color. No astringency, no bitterness. First a little watery, but then quickly full of umami. Finished with a sweetness that hit the mouth very intensely, and then slowly dissipated.
2nd- 180, 15scds: darker/deeper green. More astringency, still flavorful, some umami. Not much sweetness or other flavor, a little uninteresting.
3rd – 212, 15scds: yellowish-green. A lot more astringency and bitterness, but still a very pleasant amount (more interesting than 2nd, good taste).

Drumroll please…

1. Shincha Houryoku (Den’s)
2. Fukamushi Sencha Yame (Den’s)
3. Sen Cha (Sugimoto USA)
4. Fukamushi Sencha Special (Den’s)
5. Ocha-Zanmai Fukamushi (Yamamotoyama)

Ahhhhhhhhh! PURE Fresh, Pineapple! Perfect scent of Pineapple
If you like Pineapple…check this out!

Before, During, and After it’s all about the freshly cut Pineapple Smell…once you infuse add the fresh Pineapple smell to a Green Tea and there you go! It has a typical Sencha type color and the taste is refreshing and creamy, yes, creamy! I was shocked it was creamy…I mean it says it’s creamy but I didn’t believe it for myself until I tried it. AND it’s still all about the Pineapple! YUMMY Juiciness! The Green Tea Taste is still true as well!

This is a darling of a flavored green sencha tea!

Almost forgot to log the other day…enjoyed it more than before upped my rating on this one…see my other notes :)

This is my first Den’s Tea and I’m REALLY excited. I’ve been wanting to try Den’s for a while! Dry loose smells like gently toasted nuts or oats, even. The liquid post infusion is even more gentle in scent. It’s very light in color. It a bit on the mellower-side than I assumed…which isn’t a bad thing…just an observation, really. It’s a toasty, semi-sweet, honey-like flavor with woodsy aftertastes to it. This is a pretty solid Houjicha! I have had some ‘iffy’ ones but this makes me want to voluntarily try more and start even liking them more than before. Well Done.

Another yummy tea from Den’s. I really want to roll around in their tea fields! Brewed as stated in the instructions, comes out perfect. This reminds me of a Chinese green tea. A lush tea. And at first, it wasn’t my favorite tea. Once I had it 3 more times, I am in love with it! I am looking forward to trying it iced.

I would buy this again.

I’ve had genmaicha in the past and was greatly turned off. They always have a burnt flavor. Well, not this one! Brewed as stated, and it was perfection. Nutty, light, and sexy! Second brew was just as tasty. I will try iced next time, but loved it served hot! I tasted peanuts it in, too! Truly an awesome tea, will have it again!

I love this tea!!! I first had it at a sushi restaurant and saved the wrapper to remember to buy it. I finally found that wrapper and bought a box. It’s lush and very green in appearence. I am in the process of trying the novice pack from Den’s Tea.

But this tea changed what I thought was green tea was. Kind of like listening to the Beatles for the first time in your life.

Yummy for breakfast, with my PB&J sammich. I actually left my packet of Sencha Fuka-Midori at a friend’s house and only recently retrieved it, so for almost a month I was drinking mostly chinese greens. Today, reunited with my tea, I was reminded why there was a time early this year when I just HAD to have my morning sencha at the office. If not, I’d get really snappy by 9:30 a.m. You do not want snappy. I have pointy objects in reach at my desk.

To be completely honest though, I can’t really tell the difference yet between this tea and my cheaper Japanese supermarket sencha. Can’t afford the premo stuff now either, which is a shame, what with Shincha season around. But for now, I love this for what it is: a good staple.

And oh crap I forgot to try this out with my banko houhin. (d’oh!) Next time.

PS. I have to make a not-so-secret confession. After my second steep I peered into my kyusu and those slices of leaves just looked so delish so I reached in a pinched me a bit and gave it a nibble. heh-heh… It’s actually not bad. But I still felt sheepish about it, for some reason. But why should I? I’ve read you can really eat the leaves anyway. So there’s nothing wrong with me, right? Right?? Gah. Joins Tea Leaf Eaters Anonymous

Tried this for the first time this morning. Towards the end of the cup, the sweetness definitely came through.

I am curious to try it with a lower temperature, to see if I can bring out the sencha flavor. So far with every genmaicha I’ve ever tried, the roasted/popped rice flavor overpowers the sencha. This is a nice flavor, but I wish I could taste it in combination with sencha.

On the 3rd steeping, of course the matcha flavor is gone, but has been replaced by an almost houjicha-like roasted sweetness.

My last serving of this from the Den’s sampler. I like this one and will probably order more. It’s got such a nice balance between the vegetal and roasty flavors, and a lovely level of natural sweetness to it. And, I’m finding it equally good in the afternoon as it is in the morning – gotta love versatility!

Felt like a toasty morning tea – it was between this and Den’s Houjicha, and this one seems to be hitting the spot. I’m tasting less of the vegetal element this time around than last, though it is still there. Since trying this the first time, I still haven’t gotten around to ordering a straight matcha to experiment with, but tasting this is renewing my determination to do so. I went to a great little shop in San Francisco when I was there a few weeks ago that specialized in all kinds of Japanese things (just had to pick up some forms for making sticky rice into star and heart shapes!) and they had some nice looking teas – unfortunately I didn’t take the plunge and buy any of them. I know there is matcha in my future though…