Sencha

I got a pot of this while eating out with my dad today after he helped me move a few things. It was very good. Nice grassy taste with a little bit of sweetness to it.

I love Japanese green teas. I remember this is one of the first sencha’s I’ve tasted when I first started out on tea.

Leaf quality is expected, a mis of broken, small leaves. Very delicate, and it’s beautiful smell. It’s fragrance remind’s me of polished rice, after is was done drying.

I steeped this in my 200ml Tokoname kyusu. A little over or under a minute, I can’t remember. I’m afraid I have become to used to eyeballing my water, but it’s somewhere around that temperature, where steam rises, and a fair amount of small bubbles.

The taste is clean, crisp, vegetable like, with a mouthwatering bittersweet finish. Refreshing. All the basic characteristics of a decent Sencha.

I realized that after drinking tea for a long time, I guess you become to used to the ritual. Some may say you’re being lazy, but learning to make good tea without being overly pretentious, and exact is a pretty cool thing to me.

Alone, this tea is too “green” for me. I wanted to love it. I just started drinking loose leaf tea (threw in the bag!) relatively recently and wanted to add green tea with all of it’s health benefits to my repetoire.

I gave this a low rating —BUT WAIT -- with Teavana Samurai Chai Mate (blend of 3/4 tsp each steeped at 1.25 minutes at 170) this is actually a fave for me! What a difference. So it’s not 100% “green” but I’ve drank about 48 oz of it this evening alone, so I’ve made up for that!

Used less leaf than last time (2 Tbsp for about 3 cups of water) and I like it better this way.

This was one of my first forays into green tea. I remember thinking to myself “If all green teas taste like grass then I don’t think I like green tea.” I quickly learned most Japanese green teas taste grassy because they are steamed, as opposed to a variety of Chinese green tea which is pan fried. The moral of this story is if you like fresh grassy tastes that pop out at your taste buds then you will love this tea. If you like tea that has more subtle flavor that is less grassy in taste go for a chinese green tea instead. I can’t give this tea the worst rating because it is good quality for the type of tea it is, I just don’t like steamed green teas.

I expected a more pronounced seaweedy taste from Sencha, but this one was more on the mellow side. Quite pleasant aroma and smooth buttery taste

I really wanted to drink some green tea but this was way too grassy for me. I couldn’t finish it but I did try it several different times hoping to change my mind. Both smells and tastes like something that fell out of my lawnmower.

A good green Sencha if you like to taste/smell how green it is. My first attempt was with recommended serving size. I could only finish half the cup ick. Second attempt I went down to 1tsp for 1 mug of water. A dab of honey added and mmmm amazingly opposite experience! I was able to steep the same leaves twice also which was nice. Still get some green notes to it with a light vegetable type aroma but it combines well and isn’t over-powering. Moral of the story? Great tea if you find the proper balance.

The 2nd steep for me is love like a chubby kid and biscuits. Like he wants to stop for health benefits but the addiction is too high and he cant simply stop on his own. So what does he do? he calls for help. That’s right. He found the magic conch and called the sea gods to have them explain the addiction of SB. What they told him changed his life forever… But yea strong grassy taste which i enjoy.

So this is what I’ve been missing with years of bagged green teas? This one was my first attempt at a self-brewed loose leaf sencha, and I’m not sure what to think. That vegetal aroma takes some getting used to – more so than the taste – and I preferred it on second steep. Think I’ll make the water cooler next time.