Bought this while strolling through the hood on my way to my favorite lunch place for dan dan noodles. Bright green leaf in bag with no obvious aromas. Brewed to instructions in smallest gaiwan, the aroma is really intense with cooked spinach. Not that over boiled nasty spinach smell but the gentle parboiled fresh smell as you squeeze out the juices. The liquor is a bit cloudy, thick and not as vibrant as i would have expected, more of a muted yellow. The flavor is dead on spinach and asparagus at first with a hint of seaweed. As you continue to sip, a noticeable bitter approaches but not enough to scare you off. After about 2 minutes the aftertaste yields from bitter to sweet. The one thing I observed in my reaction was I didn’t feel like I had drank a tea. Knowing my way around a kitchen and being one of those who wastes nothing I have been known to drink my spinach water if I wasn’t using it it in a recipe, and that’s how I regarded this tasting. I would have given it a better rating but I am new to Japanese greens and will need to revisit after I try a few more samples. Also the bitterness was noticeable and I don’t know if it is supposed to be part of the experience or just an expression of this tea alone.
Flavors: Asparagus, Seaweed, Spinach
