Sorry Pekko Teas. I was really looking forward to reviewing this tea. I haven’t had a straight sencha in a long time. I opened the pretty golden pouch and removed the fresh looking leaf. I thought it smelled a little off. Steeped it up and sipped. Yep, I accidentally contaminated this. I had a highly fruit flavored sample I opened and put in the drawer. The next morning when I opened drawer all I smelled was fruit. I removed the fruit tea and put it far away. Apparently too late. This was unopened and it still leeched in to it. Be warned to keep strong odor teas away from more delicate teas. Sorry again Pekko, I’m sure this would have been really good.
Fukujyu
This Fukujyu is in the sencha category and is rated as one of the better export sencha teas. The green leaf, which goes into this
tea, only comes from the first and second flush. Additionally the plucking cycle for this tea during the 1st and 2nd flush is every
4 days. This produces a tea that is mainly comprised of young tender shoots. After plucking the tea is steamed to denature it
and stop any possibility of fermentation. After the steaming process the tea is rolled and pan-fired. (You can see the effects of
the pan firing – the leaves take on a sheeAn). Sencha tea generally yields clear, pale-green cups that carry many of the same
vegetal, grassy notes common to all Japanese teas. Historically this taste was not popular among westerners, but in the past 10
years or so western tastes have begun to embrace the taste and the commensurate health benefits of Japan’s green teas.
