Sencha "Chiran"

I haven’t always been a big fan of sencha but when I saw this at the Lupicia store yesterday I got curious about it, since it supposedly has a lingering sweetness like sweet potato I figured it would not come with the astringency I normally associate with sencha.

I am pretty fond of this – it is very bright, smooth and vegetal. There is a definite sweetness here which reminds me not of sweet potato, but of corn or sweet peas. This is a very flavorful green tea! I was told by my salesperson yesterday if I like this I will like the gyokuru yame, but I decided to wait on that one for a while since it’s $32.00.

This was a bit of a mess for me to make in the office in an infuser mug since the leaves are so small and very absorbent, I might try a tea sac next time. I was able to get 3 infusions out of this before I gave up on it.

This was pretty enjoyable for me and I will definitely get some more. I’m not a sencha expert so your mileage may vary… ;-)

This tea made me happy today! I think this is the last of my Lupicia tea bag samples. I was hoping it wasn’t flavored, and it wasn’t! This is a nice, smooth sencha. I saw the spiky dark green leaves and I was happy! The scent was like nori and fresh and light. The brew was a nice yellow-green. The taste was mellow and refreshing. There was no astringency at all, and it went down smooth! Delicious! This is a nice sencha that has a sweet aftertaste. It is fresh and green.

I probably wouldn’t connect the aroma to sweet potatoes if they hadn’t said so.
To me, it just smells like authentic green tea.

I’m actually on the verge of dislike. (I generally dislike senchas though. I’ve only recently started enjoying them). I can drink this one cup, but I wouldn’t drink it all the time.

But if you’re an avid sencha lover, you’d probably love this tea.

Maybe I’m just not as good at tasting the subtle difference between senchas as I ought to be, but this basically tastes like Kanaya overall. It smells sweeter, though, and less like nori, which isn’t bad! at all! They’re just delicious in different ways.

There’s something interesting going on at the back of the mouth, though, that Kanaya didn’t have. They both have the astringent kick (I guess this is just a sencha thing, all you Japanese tea aficionados can laugh at me now), but this is sharper. I think it’s just a fuller flavor without being overpowering.

I’m going to have to try more types of sencha to see if I can learn to separate their flavors better. This is another tasty one, though! Too bad my only sample is gone now.