Equusfell Send Message

54 Followers / 58 Following

73
drank Japanese Green Tea (tea bag) Sencha (Green Sampler Pack) by Den's Tea
122 tasting notes

Yay! My sampler pack is here!
I thought that my first introduction to Japanese green teas should be the classic, so I chose this sencha in a teabag for a first try. I chose the teabag version over the loose leaf because I wanted the save the latter since my tastes may be off from my particularly oniony lunch.
The smell of fresh green leaves, with an edge of sweetness, hit me the moment I opened the bag. The first steep of 60 seconds was a pleasant pea green, with a fresh veggie smell. It tasted slightly astringent, like raw collards, especially when hot. It definitely got sweeter once it cooled down, but the astringency never left, just got less dry. It’s a unique kind of astringency that I haven’t experienced in tea before. It makes your mouth water, like sucking on a penny does. The feeling and flavor of this aftertaste reminded me of the feeling in my mouth after I have just finished eating an artichoke.
The second steep (15 seconds, as per the directions in the nice booklet included with the sampler) is a touch fishy! I had heard that many Japanese greens have umami notes, but it is strange to experience it! There is little sweetness and no astringency. In fact, most of the flavors and scents from the previous steep are absent entirely! It reminds me quite a bit of my seaweed crisp snacks, minus the salt. I’m getting sesame, seaweed, and a hint of bok choy (cooked in broth). Interesting!
Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
3 comments
Edit
Osmanthe13
Delete

Thanks for the lovely review. I was just thinking about ordering the Den’s sampler and this really pushing me to do it now. :-).

Equusfell
Delete

Thank you! You should definitely order it! It’s only 3 bucks and no shipping! May I also suggest Verdant Tea’s 5 for 5 sampler? Great stuff in there and also free shipping!

Osmanthe13
Delete

I ordered Verdant Teas 5 for 5 sampler on Sunday :-D.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Comments

Osmanthe13
Delete

Thanks for the lovely review. I was just thinking about ordering the Den’s sampler and this really pushing me to do it now. :-).

Equusfell
Delete

Thank you! You should definitely order it! It’s only 3 bucks and no shipping! May I also suggest Verdant Tea’s 5 for 5 sampler? Great stuff in there and also free shipping!

Osmanthe13
Delete

I ordered Verdant Teas 5 for 5 sampler on Sunday :-D.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I started drinking something other than Sleepytime in my first year of grad school, 2011. Enabled by a few decent local tea shops in a big city, I amassed a small cupboard of teas that I now find harsh and bad (haha, I’m getting in too deep!). With my move back to the US and subsequent geographic isolation from tea shops, I recently discovered the world of online tea vendors.
My cupboard is slowly growing but still small. Regardless I am interested in swaps, if you find something in my collection that you would like to try, ask away! I just can’t guarantee yet that I have a lot of it!
I’m very into Jade oolongs and anything that has a floral character (especially jasmine, rose, violet, and lychee scented things!). Most green teas, excepting the extremely bitter, are good in my book, and again I seek sweeter, fresher, greener types, though nutty/savory teas have their place (as long as they don’t tip over into salty!). I then to shy away from smokey or overly roasted teas and for this reason and the fact that I am not a fan of chocolate, everyone’s favorite blacks and wuyi oolongs tend to fall flat for me. White teas are alright but I don’t tend to reach for them unless they are floral scented. I rarely drink herbals, chamomile and I do not get along, but a basic vanilla rooibos, or some flavored green rooibos’ can be interesting.
In general, it could be said that I tend toward floral and sweet oolong, sheng (as well as moonlight whites and yabaos), matcha, and green teas.

As of now my rating system follows the school grading scale in terms of how well the tea performs and how well I like it (100-90 A, 89-80 B, etc.). Anything above 90 will eventually end up in my cupboard, though it’s fine to keep a B student around for daily drinkers!

Location

Athens, Ohio

Following These People

See More

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer