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).
Ocha-Zanmai Fukamushi Sencha
6 oz + 2 tsp leaf
1st – 160, 30scds: A little yellowish (more than I expected for the first steep). It had the astringency and pleasant bitterness I expected, leaving the tiniest bit of sweetness as an aftertaste. But it did not fill my mouth with umami, and the only intensity came from the astringency. While I very much like astringency, it’s much easier (I would guess) for a tea to be powerfully astringent, than for it to be intensely sweet or full of that cooked greens flavor. It was good, but seemed fairly standard.
2nd – 180, 15scds: For some strange reason, the bitterness of this tea came through in a way more strongly than I’ve ever tasted. I happen to like bitter, and I think for Japanese tastes it would be just fine, but I think for most Americans it would have been just a little too far on the bitter side. It did leave a very pleasant sweet aftertaste that made me want to make another cup though. This aftertaste is one of the best things I’ve noticed about Japanese green teas. They often leave this lingering flavor that is so subtle but so delicious.
3rd – 212, 15scds: I don’t remember this steeping very well, but it was (again) a more yellow color, and I think the astringency and bitterness had subsided. It seemed not very full of flavor, but did leave a nice somewhat sweet aftertaste.
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 had 2 cups of this tea this morning.
The first cup had a strong but pleasing astringency with a little sweetness underneath.
The 2nd cup had a lot less astringency, a little more sweetness, and was just yummy.
This is a good green tea.
I’m really looking forward to doing a big comparison soon, as I (by chance) have 5 Fukamushis to try!
-Ocha-Zanmai Fukamushi (Yamamotoyama) (originally was a 5oz bag)
-Fukamushi Sencha Special (Den’s Tea) (Sample only)
-Fukamushi Sencha Yame (Den’s Tea) (Sample only)
-Shincha Houryoku (Den’s Tea) (Brand new 2oz bag)
-Sencha (Sugimoto USA) (Sample only…they only make one kind of Sencha, and it is Fukamushi)
So I will try each one of these side by side, review and rank them! I just need to finish up some more of my other teas before I do this, since I don’t want to have too many open at once…
So I had already steeped this twice, and I wanted to try an experiment. (otherwise, I probably would have simply discarded the leaves). For the 3rd time, I wanted to bring out less astringency and more sweetness, so I steeped it at 140, for a while (I’m guessing between 1-2minutes).
Actually, it DID taste sweet. Well, it was very watered down and not particularly strong, but the sweet fukamushi taste was definitely there, and it was good.
Glad I experimented!
I brewed this for a large group at a friend’s house, but didn’t have any proper things to do it with (just a thermometer and a kettle). So once the water was the right temp, I put in all the leaf directly in the kettle, and once steeped poured it into the cups.
For some reason, it almost tasted like genmaicha…very strong, toasty, very good. Not really what I expected from fukamushi.
Had a 6 oz cup this evening…man it was so good, sweet, astringent, almost thick.
Had a cup of this yesterday…the astringency was very nice, and it was followed by a fuller flavor, made it almost feel like a snack rather than tea.
I’m starting to notice more of the different flavors people mention when they talk about tea, and green tea in particular. This was the first time I noticed the astringency as such, and very much enjoyed it.
Brought some to work today..mmm…so nice to have on my desk.
Put some 3 tsp of this in a bag in 16oz water in the fridge last night.
This morning I had a very yummy bottle of tea waiting!
I shared some with a coworker, who said it tasted like mango — I had never noticed a fruity taste to it, but sure it enough, it had a very fruity, mango-like flavor. It was very refreshing and a fun way to brew this.
