Den's Tea

This is very good. I don’t have anything new to add to what others have said. After trying once, I recommend it.

I steeped it 3 times, always boiling, but a little longer each time, and a little less water. It barely lost any flavor, so it seems like a good deal; sometimes it’s disappointing or feels wasteful if a (loose leaf) tea only stands up to one good steeping.

The last of this year’s hashiri shincha!

I hadn’t tried it iced (at least, I didn’t remember if I had) so I got about 2oz water, put it in the freezer until it was almost at freezing (35F). I poured that into the side of the kyusu (which had a little more than 1T loose leaf), so that the leaves weren’t completely covered in water, more just sitting in it. (I of course steeped it more, one at 140, 160, and 200F…the 140 was awesome especially too).

It was so good; had as much umami and almost seaweed-like flavor that the Award Winning Premium Gyokuro had. This is definitely my favorite tea so far (with the Gyokuro coming in a close 2nd). I will miss it until next year; hopefully it will be just as good!

On the brewing instructions that they send out, Den mentions that his grandfather liked brewing hashiri shincha with boiling water, and that he likes it as well. The instructions go on to recommend playing with the parameters too, to see how it affects the flavor so you can find what you like best. The only rule of thumb is higher water temp = shorter brewing time, lower water temp = longer brewing time.

So I just had to experiment and try it with boiling water.

It was STILL excellent. The bitterness (or young/fresh flavor) was more pronounced, but not at all overpowering. With a low quality green tea, boiling water can make it undrinkable, but not with hashiri shincha. While it wasn’t my favorite brewing thus far, it was still delicious and I would definitely do it again. All of the previous flavors I’ve talked about were present and came through after the initial rush of young bitterness and then intense sweetness. Even an amateur like me can tell the difference; this is good tea and I recommend it to anyone who likes Japanese green tea!

Wow…wow…

I steeped this 3 times, and it was so good; I didn’t know tea could taste like this!
Before I say though, I looked more closely at the brewed leaves today, and they are such a nice even green (sometimes I’ve seen in other teas bits of stem or other parts of the leaf that shouldn’t have gotten in there; or, the roasting was done more unevenly and so there are more browned leaves in there, etc.). This tea is not that – almost all of it is made of whole leaves and the color is a very nice, even tone.

The first steeping (140 for almost 2 mins) and second steeping (160 for 1 min 20 seconds) were like a wave.
The front of the wave (or underside) hit with a little pleasant bitterness (young flavor).
The ‘crest’ of the wave was just a moment when the bitterness quickly transformed into sweetness. The best way I can describe it is exactly what I was thinking as I drank it – it tasted like the burnt sugar on the top of creme brulee. A bitterness that gave way to an intense sugary sweetness. This sweetness was not a sickening or rich sweetness, but more like a very thin layer of deliciousness. It REALLY surprised me, as it seemed to come out of nowhere.
The top side of the wave (or back) was a rich umami flavor. That sudden, sweet flavor quickly gave way to this, which filled my mouth.

The third steeping was also pretty incredible. As soon as I tasted it, the first flavor it reminded me of was baked ham. I didn’t believe it at first, I thought my tastebuds were being affected by something else, but I tried it again and again, and both times it tasted like ham or greens cooked in bacon. Almost as if you could eat it.
My description here is certainly stronger than it actually was; meaning, it still tasted like tea. I imagine reading a description of ham-tasting tea sounding disgusting. But it wasn’t, it really just tasted like pure richness.

I am SO glad I pre-ordered.
Had another cup this morning (well, make that 5 steepings of 3oz each, or 2 American-sized cups). It was delicious and worth every penny. I hope he manages to get his hashiri from the same farm next year.

But you won’t believe it – I just checked his website today, and he is ALREADY OUT!
He has 2 more Shinchas that just arrived as well…looking forward to trying the other one I ordered (Shincha Houryoku, which is a fukamushi) in the next week!

When I came home from work today, the leaves from the mornings 4 steepings were still in the pot. I decided to experiment and brew them again, so I did so (8oz water…original amount of dry leaf was 2 heaping tsp) at boiling for one minute.

The initial taste was, for just a moment, watery (though you can feel the tea and the color was still light green), but then gave way to very nice sweetness and umami. I was surprised and impressed. It was delicious.

I went ahead and brewed it a 6th time, with the same parameters, and though the sweetness/umami was weaker, it was still there.

This tea is REALLY good. And if you can get 5+ steepings from it, with developing flavor (each of which was positive for different reasons), then it is very good value too.
If you like green tea and are in the middle of deciding what to get, I recommend this while it’s still available this year.

So we wanted to try it with a little less briskness, to see if we could bring out more sweetness or umami. I brewed it more like a gyokuro, at 140 for 2 mins (as opposed to 160 for 1.5). It was milder, had a fuller (I guess umami) flavor, and was definitely less bitter/astringent than the first trial (when I say bitter, this tea was not so bitter that I did not like it, it is really more of a young flavor that, to me, is very good and not the kind of bitter you want to avoid).

I re-steeped this 4 times – the 2nd time was 160 for 1 min, 3rd was 180 for 1 min, and 4th was boiling for 1 min.

The 2nd time brought out more of the astringent/bitter/young flavor. It was cool to get two different flavors from this tea in such a short period of time (as the first brew was more mild).

I don’t recall the 3rd steeping having a lot of flavor. I was actually a bit disappointed thinking that perhaps it was already done after 2 steepings. However, I tried once more with boiling water and a whole minute.

The last steeping was delicious! There was no bitterness whatsoever, it brought out a new flavor, which I almost think was sweet and umami as well.

Really cool to see so many flavors come out of this tea and it to hold up to this many steepings.

First time having hashiri shincha — first impressions…
I noticed the loose leaf was a nice, dark green color, of mostly whole (rolled up) leaves. Little or no leaf particles. Once steeped, the leaves opened up fully and you could see many veins or stems (I don’t know if I can tell the difference between the two, but I’m pretty sure it was mostly the veins between the leaf and not stems (kuki)).
I steeped it three times for my wife and I, and experimented a little on the 2nd two steepings.

The first steeping I did according to instructions (3 oz water per cup for 1.5tsp leaf). It tasted SO fresh, brisk/astringent, with just a tad bitterness (not too much at all in my opinion, just on the edge). The main flavor was freshness though. I read on his website that they try to process it as little as possible to maintain its fresh flavor, but I had no idea how that would actually translate into the tea…yes, one wouldn’t be exaggerating to say it tastes like spring! (Yes, that is a very ‘artsy’ phrase that I don’t very much like, but it isn’t an overstatement). The description says this has a very young flavor, as if you were picking the tea and steeping it right in the field — though I am no tea expert, I don’t think it could be described any better! The flavor surprised me in that way, even though I was expecting a ‘fresh’ flavor.

The 2nd steeping, I wanted to have a little more sweet flavor, a little more full/umami flavor, so instead of increasing the temperature, I left it at 160, and left it to steep for 1.5 mins instead of just the suggested 30 seconds. It didn’t have as much fresh flavor/astringency, and had a hint of sweetness that was very nice.

The third steeping was good too (I think boiling for 15-30 seconds), but the flavor wasn’t particularly strong.

I look forward to trying this out more and experimenting with the brewing. But for a first try, I liked it a lot and am not disappointed. If I can extract more umami/sweetness from it, then I will be impressed by it’s range of flavor.

I’m raising this one up, it is really good and the flavors are amazingly blended.

Even though I had “steeped” this yesterday twice, I filled up my bottle with water a third time and left it in the fridge. Its not very strong, but the flavor is definitely coming through; it still tastes like pear, but the best words I can think of are blended and refreshing.

Another good value (3 steeps of around 20 oz each and still flavorful?)!

Resteeped, by adding less water (20oz first time, this time I think a little less than half that?) so that it would be stronger, and put it in the fridge. It is still good, just not as strong. Curious to try the 2nd steep with hot water or ice.

I received this in my shipment yesterday!
I am now drinking my water with a tea bag in it…SO delicious. The pear is not overly strong/fake tasting, and it doesn’t just taste like pear-flavored water. The sencha clearly comes through and the two go together amazingly well.
I’m curious to try it hot, but this is a yummy way to have water. Glad I bought 2 packs (of 10 bags each)… I wonder if you can resteep?

This is a sweet, vegetal sencha I’m drinking to start the day. Alternating it with the Sencha Shin-ryoku, it might have a bit more umami, but really hard to be sure. They’re very similar, and I prefer both to the Fukamushi sencha maki I bought previously from Den’s.

I’m still pretty new to the Japanese greens, first tried them just six months ago, so have only had half a dozen different senchas, mostly small samples, to compare this to.

I spent a couple of months alternating this and the Sencha Select from the Cultured cup as my daily first of the morning brew. It was very nice, but I prefer the brighter taste of the less-steamed tea to the stronger umami of this one. So with my next order, I went back to Dens regular senchas, and have been happier with them.

Opened up a fresh package this morning, and had a lovely series of infusions. I kept the temp low—150-160 degrees for the first three or four infusions, then raised it and enjoyed another four or five more at about 180 degrees. The later infusions were quite light, but then I’m a tea wimp who likes things dilute.

It was nice to remember how sweet and mellow this tea is.

Tasted this one again as part of a tasting session from another forum.

It is quite a lovely tea.

http://www.well.com/user/debunix/recipes/Asamushis11.10.html

I was finishing off some Den’s Fukamushi-Sencha Maki at the time that I opened a sample of this one, and I was so impressed by the bright sweetness in contrast to the more umami taste of the fukamushi that I ordered more, along with the Sencha Zuiko. So far, I can’t tell much difference between the two, except perhaps a little more umami in the Zuiko. When I do think I can tell a difference, I actually prefer the Shin-ryoku. It’s a nice morning cup of tea.

And yes, it is temperature sensitive. I do my first infusions at 160 F 30" and may let a 2nd or 3rd get as hot as 170 for a shorter time, but no hotter. I’m a bitter-wimp.

Today brewed this as a ‘tea in a hurry’: dumped a few teaspoons into the bottom of a quart thermos, added hot water from the water cooler tap, and went to my meeting. An hour and a half later, it is still delicious: no bitterness, astringency, still just sweet, toasty, delicious.

Finally opened this tea up, which I ordered as part of my first order from Den’s Tea. I was shy of bitterness in green teas, hadn’t yet figured out how to steep them, so ordered a little of this, a little of a gyokuro, and a green tea sampler. I figured out how to enjoy the senchas and the gyokuro, and now am drinking one of them nearly every morning, and then this tea got left in the back of the cupboard. But tonight I opened it up, am enjoying the toastiness, and am going to send a thank you to the tea-friend who suggested it as an entry to Japanese tea. It is a little more one-note than my favorite darker oolongs, with the toasted note over a mild herbaceousness, but still entirely pleasant, easy, mellow. I will doubtless pick up a little of this from time to time.

Sip down! Well I just ordered more online, so I should have it back in my cupboard in a few days. I was savoring this tea. I love the light floral slightly cherry flavors mixed with green.

I finished up my tin of sakura sencha. I love how light, floral, and slightly sweet this tastes. It withstands several steeps. Delicious! I will definitely be making a purchase again when its in season. :)

It was a great day to bust this one out. It was so nice and warm out. The beginnings of spring? This was perfect. The scent and taste were delightful. Sweet and floral.