NaturaliTea #17: Sencha Green Tea, Fukamidori, Shogun's Tea

This was a very interesting and different tea that I greatly enjoyed sampling. I’ll most definitely be acquiring some to have on stock in the future.

I started off with 5g of tea. The dry leaf was not uniform at all. There were pieces that looked like small flakes, needles, and just powder. Some leaves were light, but most were a deep green. The aroma was very nice. Very typical sencha. Sweet and vegetal with a slight acidic side.

After steeping for 1 min with 250ml of 160 degree water the leaves took on a wet seaweed appearance. Fuzzy and hay like. All clinging together. A light green color. The aroma was typical sencha with a tendency towards acidic and sour notes.

The liquor of the first infusion was an even pale, dirty green. A nice puke green, but in an appealing sort of way. I know, it sounds weird. The aroma was very faint, but my sinus’s were congested as well so that could have been part of it.

The taste was very different and unique. My first impression was umami, but with a strong astringency as well. Lots of bitterness, but not overpowering. It was a strong yet enjoyable bitterness. There were also very very slight notes of earthy smokiness maybe. Not sure exactly. I’ll have to try again when I try this the second time around.

The second infusion was stronger, more bitter, with hints of smoke and sourness. Still easy to drink. Not overpowering and very enjoyable.

Ratings (from 0-10)

7 – Dry Leaf Appearance
8 – Dry Leaf Smell
5 – Wet Leaf Appearance
6 – Wet Leaf Smell
7 – Liquor Appearance
7 – Aroma
8 – Taste
9 – Value (Is this taste, aroma, and overall experience worth the cost.)

= 73.5 = 74

Rating Multipliers

0.5 – Dry Leaf Appearance
0.5 – Dry Leaf Smell
0.5 – Wet Leaf Appearance
0.5 – Wet Leaf Smell
0.5 – Liquor Appearance
3.5 – Aroma
3.5 – Taste
0.5 – Value (Is this taste, aroma, and overall experience worth the cost.)

This was a free sample received from my last Yunomi order.
My cat kyusu arrived today and I’ve been looking forward to using it.

Instructions from Yunomi via website:
Leaf – 5g
Water – 80ml
Temperature – 60c
Steeping time – 2 minutes

The leaves are very shiny and a mixture of both medium green and light green colours.
Also some are finely chopped while others are roughly 4mm in length.
They smell like sweet grass and butter. A lovely and pure scent.

Once steeped the tea is cloudy yellow and has a sweet grass and mineral scent. Like brocolli grilled with butter.
Taste is sweet and buttery to match the scent but in a more mild manner. Getting a nice low level broth flavour too which adds some savoury to the sweet.
Overall it’s medium strength and with just a touch of astringency in the aftertaste along with some dryness.

A further re steep of 2 minutes 30 seconds reveals an increase in umami and astringency. Preferable to it’s first steep.

This is nice Midori but I have had nicer, from Naturalitea too. But for the price I would consider stocking this in when I place another order.

This is a refreshing, rustic, and simple tea. It starts out with balanced sweetness, savory, and it’s surprisingly smooth, with later infusions becoming more astringent. If brewed with slightly less leaf and water is just above lukewarm for the first two steeps its flavor profile is elevated with proceeding steeps. Great price for tasty organic tea!