Bancha Suruga

Thanks to whoever recommended this bancha from Den’s tea, I forget who you were… :)

I think they do recommend boiling water for this one, but nevertheless I believe I steeped mine in around 190F for 60-90 seconds. This is very vegetal and marine, I am also picking up a bit on the buttery quality others have mentioned. It’s pretty rich in flavor although more savory, not much on the sweet side. I was worried after reading the description that said it was more astringent than sencha, I am not really picking up on that much in the first steep.

My second steep was around 208 F and here I am picking up more on some astringency so although still delicious, I think I prefer it at the lower temp.

It is raining today in San Francisco and this robust green tea seems very comforting. It’s also nice to have at least one green tea you don’t have to worry about steeping with a thermometer, which will make this a nice one to have in the office.

I’m starting to wonder why I even bother buying flavored green tea because I actually like the taste of green tea and more often than not the flavoring kind of ruins them in my opinion… I think this is a good value especially for the price.

This is an excellent Bancha, one of the best that I’ve tried (I should mention that I’ve not tried a lot of Bancha, but I’ve had a few). It has a very robust flavor … strongly vegetative, with hints of butter and I am getting a strong savory quality to this too … it kind of reminds me of miso broth with a teensy bit of seaweed in it. But, I like this MUCH better than I like seaweed (which I don’t really like at all, to be honest). But it has that same salty, savory, briny kind of taste to it.

A very satisfying cup.

The dry leaf looks like tiny grass clippings. Faint grassy aroma. Steeped 1 ½ tsp for 1 ½ minutes at about 180d. The liquor is clear with a faint green tint. The leaf unfolded to reveal shredded pieces. The wet leaf smells like stew beef, it’s making me hungry. Poured into the cup this takes on a faint grassy aroma.

The sip is vegetal – like broccoli and spinach maybe, becoming grassier as it cools, but never a heavy grassiness. There is the tiniest bit of bitterness. The aftertaste has some fruitiness in it. Cups 2 and 3 were equally tasty.

If green is your thing, this is an easy one to love. Interesting, complex, and you don’t have to work at enjoying it. A wonderful tea. Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sharing this one. It is a winner.

I’ve been drinking a lot of the 2011 Shincha version of this Bancha Suruga and have to say I am very impressed. It has a hearty herbaceous flavor that stands up well to drinking alone, or pairing with food. The brisk and lightly astringent character sets it apart from the more delicate Senchas, and it has a pleasant umami flavor that remains even when cooled. Inexpensive, high quality and medium complexity. Highly recommended.

Sweet grass and buttery yet very clean is what I am getting from this one! It’s very satisfying and is good both hot and cold. D-Lish!

Am I the only one who thinks this tastes like melted butter? It is very delicious. Crafty Den’s put it in as a “sample tea of month” with my first order and now they are forcing me to buy a full order because this stuff is the Shi-shi! Has the faint taste of a good sencha, but mellowed down with absolutely no bitterness.

Oh man, I love this tea. Got it as a sample with my last order, but I think I’ll have to buy some more next time I’m near Den’s. The leaves smell something like green beans, especially when they’re wet, and the tea itself tastes of mild vegetables, but bitter and buttery at the same time. I could easily drink this tea every day.

This was one of the sales last month and I needed more matcha so I decided to place another Den’s order. My 1st Bancha! Steeped as suggested, except I lowered the temp just a bit so I didn’t kill the health benefits.

Does anyone else think astringency has an aroma? The raw leaves smell quite a bit like Kukicha so I’m wondering if that’s from the astringency.

The liquor is a pretty yellow color and the aroma is that of the raw leaf, but quite a bit lighter. I can definitely see the similarities between this and Kukicha although this is quite a bit lighter and sweeter. Given the choice between this and Kukicha, I think I’d go w/ this.

This is a good tea, even better iced actually.
Its easy to brew, turns out well at 170, 180, and boiling… probably other temperatures, too. It isn’t bitter (at least in my experience), but has a nice fresh, grassy, semi-sweet flavor, that’s a little astringent.

(This is definitely worth the price, though, if I was looking for a tea from Den’s at this price range, I’d probably go for Green Kukicha instead, as that is even better!).

I used my Ingenuitea teapot by Adagio Teas for brewing. I had a sample of the loose leaf format of this particular tea. It tastes like any other Japanese green tea with all of the familiar tasting notes.

Aroma: Vegetal, grassy, spinach and bright.

Taste: Vegetal and spinach. It taste of soaked grapeleaves; very vegetal and spinach. There was a sweetness and an astringency to this tea. The astringency came only because of the steeping time, since I like strong tea, I steeped it for five minutes rather than for three; if steeped for three, then this tea would be sweet, bright (not too astringent) grassy and vegetal with a clean, bright finish.

Aftertaste: Spinach (with none of the grassy, vegetal “full-thickness” mouth feel), sweet (doesn’t linger), clean and bright (the little astringency clears the palate).

I would recommend this tea. It is a cleaner, brighter, palate cleansing tea for after a meal. This is a very nice everyday green tea. It is more vegetal than grassy. Bancha is a little more vibrant than it’s older siblings, Gyokuro or Sencha. I really enjoy this tea. To me, it has all the combined characteristics of Sencha (brightness and a little astringent), Kukicha (sweetness), and Dragonwell (cleansing).

Once again, an enjoyable everyday green tea!

Simple and easy to brew. Affordable and still tasty.

I figured I’d try something different while waiting for all the Shincha to be released. This is actually pretty good for the price. Not quite sencha and far from a houjicha but still pleasing to my taste buds. Doesn’t have the grassy or marine like element that most sencha has. This would make a good everyday tea for the price conscience.