This is a beautiful Japanese tea. I got this in my sampler from Den’s (yay!) and I have just enough left to share a pot, so the s.o. can tell me I am right. I followed the ‘traditional’ parameters as best I could, but doubling the volume of water and tea to accommodate the Americanness of my current teaware.
This tea has a humid vegetal, roasted seaweed nose that I can’t get enough of. Humid seems like a crazy thing to say about a smell, but I know what I mean! ;) It smells how I always thought rainy Japanese coasts would smell when I was a kid, based solely on National Geographic photos. It smells actually quite close to the roasted seaweed snack it just inspired me to open, though without the sesame oil.
HAH! Oh yeah, and it tastes good too. Three steepings in and I am quite happy, pleasantly buzzed, and still trying to figure out how this can have a little bitterness in the finish without being unpleasant. It actually adds quite a bit to the overall character of the tea, just a touch of bitter, a touch of sweet, and a richness to the mouthfeel that I associate with umami.
Oh, and ignore the prep details at the bottom, they are wrong. I am on my iPad and it refuses to play nice with the sliders on here.
