95 Tasting Notes
This is a delicious and refreshing white tea — sweet, fruity, delicate, and light.
First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 90 sec..
Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 3 min.
Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
A very nice Chinese green, in both appearance and taste. The flavours move from sweet and fruity, to less sweet and more stringent, to pleasantly astringent at the end.
First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 2 min.
Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 3 min.
Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
Mildly-sweet and sweetly-mild, though the flavour is pretty much gone after 2 infusions. Nice enough, mind you, but nothing special.
First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 90 sec.
Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 3 min.
Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 75 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
A delicious and wonderful sencha. Not-too-intensely vegetal (cooked greens) in the first infusion, slightly less vegetal with a hint of stringency in the second, and pleasantly astringent in the third. A great value indeed for the price!
First infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 50 sec.
Second infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.
Third infusion – 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 55 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
This is a lovely and delicious white tea, with sugary sweetness and peachy fruitiness throughout infusions (albeit with varing levels of intensity).
First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 70 deg., 3 min.
Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 70 deg., 4 min.
Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 70 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
Interesting tea, as it is my first guricha. Honeyed & fruity sweetness in the first brew, mildly astringent in the second. A pleasant tea, very mild, and great value for the price.
First infusion — 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 1 min.
Second infusion — 3 g. per 8oz. water, 65 deg., 10 min.
Preparation
An excellent first infusion followed by a very pleasant second make this a great tea. The third infusion is nothing special, but third infusions rarely are for me in the world of senchas.
First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.
Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.
Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 5+ min.
Preparation
I would recommend increasing your temperatures and modifying steeping times a bit. Maybe 75*/90 secs for the second and 85*/120 secs for the third? I do recall the first and second steepings being the very best of this tea, but it’s been quite some time.
Yum! :)
Thanks for the feedback, Cole. I have tried various temps & times with numerous senchas, and it always seems that the third infusion is very weak and bland. Considering the success others have had with third (and fourth and fifth infusons), I think my taste buds are just plain weird! :-)
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Sencha from Chiran is, like many kyuushuu teas, famous for its sweetness, and steeping on 60 degrees is not a bad idea considering the extra amount of sweetness you will get from it. Have you perhaps tried increasing the amont of steeping time a bit? I usually use 6-7g for 1.6 dl. water and steep it on 70 degrees for about 50 seconds, but if I was to lower the temperature, I would increase the steeping time to around 1.5 minutes
I look forward to hear your thoughts on this matter. :D.
Thanks for the comments, Shadowleaf. Yes, I have tried increasing the steeping time. In fact, I steep the third infusion for 10 minutes. And it still turns out bland.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Brewed the new and improved version of this tea, made from a blend of Kyushu leaves. A very good tea, all round, with a pleasantly vegetal taste in the first brew, and a deliciously-grassy and astringent second brew. At the price, an excellent value!
First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 1 min.
Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 1 min.
Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 65 deg., 5+ min.
Preparation
This is an unusual tasting tea: brothy (in a chicken-noodle-soup way, rather than a fuka-type brothiness) with undertones of saltiness. Had to really play around with the brewing to get a half-decent 2nd infusion.
First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 35 sec.
Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 1 min.
Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 60 deg., 5+ min.
Preparation
Hmmm! Maybe use a bit more leaf? I usually use two rounded teaspoons (~8g) in my 8oz kyusu and steep a bit longer the first time.
Have to second the “brothines” of this, though! Perfect for warming up a rainy day :)
I have thoight about more leaf, but decided against it for 2 reasons: less leaf means my tea lasts longer; and a standardised 5g. for all teas means that I am comparing apples-to-apples (so-to-speak) when comparing the tastes of diffferent teas.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Touché! I, for one, appreciate your consistency.
I just brewed up some strong Fukamushi Sencha Yame (about 8g in 9oz), and the bitterness towards the end really caught me off guard. It’s fun to experiment sometimes, but sometimes standard is best :)
All the best,
Cole
I will experiment as well, but with brewing temp. and times, not amount of tea.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
P.S. Your cold-brew method for bancha has been a real life-saver for me, Cole. I have used with with several other teas.
Cole — Where did you purchase that Fukamushi Sencha Yame? Hope you post review of it.
Best wishes,
sherubtse
Den’s Tea!
A wonderfully strong veggie-tasting fuka. First rate! Gives a better second infusion than most other fuka-s I have had.
First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 35-40 sec.
Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 40-45 sec.
Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 5+ min.
