Sencha Ashikubo

It’s been a very long time since I’ve had this tea. I used my frequent steeper points to pick up 50g :)

I’m sorry to say, but this one did not wow me. It did not have the grassy taste of Japanese sencha I like, nor the “buttery” taste it proclaims it has (gyokuro is much better for only a few dollars more). It’s just a mild green tea that is prone to bitterness if too high of a temperature is used. This is supposed to be a premium tea so I feel bad for not finding it better.

My significant other got me this tea, and I added it to my pure green tea collection. Let me start off by saying that the taste is almost similar to the Gyokuro Yamishiro Tea. Take a little vegetal taste away and it is much more milder. I enjoy this it is a rich almost creamy vegtable broth. It smells of fresh cut grass and taste like sweet green beans. I really do like the after taste that lingers on the pallet hard to put a exact taste to it, but I’d say somewhere between bok chow or fresh collard greens. Something very deep and rich in green color and it doesn’t disappoint.

This tea did not taste like Japanese Sencha, but is supposed to taste more buttery and less grassy. I liked it the time I had it, but I would not repurchase because of its high price compared to the degree of satisfaction.

If you like grassy or astringent green tea, this one won’t appeal to you. Since I don’t, I loved it! I will get a quantity of this one.

Day #7 of tea! I’m surprised I liked this one as much as I did – normally straight up greens aren’t, pardon the pun, my cup of tea (sorry, I had to…). But I voluntarily went back for a second mug, and then I read that it’s milder and less grassy-tasting than regular senchas. This blend’s a little pricey to have as a regular in my tea stash, but it will definitely get consideration as a once in a while.

Sipdown! 133/365!

Yummy sipdown – smelled a bit old but tasted good. Kind of odd, but oh well.

Started my day off with this one. Sweet, creamy and buttery. Yummies. It’s a sipdown, and while good, I don’t think I’ll re-stock it any time soon. Too many other tea’s I want to try.

Interesting. I did a comparison between this and the Japanese Sencha by David, as I bought 10g of each to sample. Both teas were steeped as recommended by the David’s Tea Thermometer – 74C for 2mins 30seconds. I made them at exactly the same time in identical mugs, water from the same pot and all that jazz. Only thing is I forgot to give either of them a rinse!

The Ashikubo’s liquor was a shade darker, slightly murkier. It is very vegetal, kind of bitter, with slight nutty notes, and a lot of astringency (which I hate). I’ve tried it before and felt meh about it.

The Japanese Sencha’s liquor was lighter in color and clearer. Lighter in flavour too but not in a bad way at all – light vegetal base, very slight sweet floral notes (compared to Ashikubo), very smooth with no astringency. Really pleasant to drink. I’m not a green tea person because every one I’ve tried so far is too astringent (besides genmaicha) and I really don’t dig that, but this changes things.

Anyway, final result is – I don’t like the Ashikubo. I wouldn’t freely decide to sit down with a cup of it. If you dislike astringency, like me, this isn’t for you! Go with the Japanese Sencha. Funny how I like the cheaper one….

Edit: Retrying this tea for the millionth time, trying to get it to work and…. its just not happening. Ever. I’ve just been consistently decreasing steep times and temperature and it just doesn’t want to work for me. I even rinsed it then sat it in some cold water for 10 seconds and all I got was bitter, bitter, bitter. I’ve steeped it at 58C for 25 seconds, for chrissakes! And its still bitter! I can taste some butteryness in the background but then the bitterness just coats my mouth and destroys everything. Undrinkable. Is it my water or something? This definitely isn’t a bad batch, I hope, as this is the second time I’ve bought a sample, at a different store many months after the first attempt. Does my water hate green teas? Why?? WHY?

This is a great tea. The scent makes it seem like it would be slightly bitter but when I taste it the bitterness is so mild it’s almost unnoticeable. It has a sweet, very grassy, vegetal flavour. The aftertaste is fruity – can’t pinpoint what kind of fruit exactly. Perhaps, grapes, or pomegranates. Actually exactly like pomegranate seeds (the white seeds without the actual fleshy red/pink fruit)
The grassy bitter-sweetness increase as it cools so I’d recommend a small cup. I drink each cup in three sips. Strangely enough the light fruity aftertaste of this tea is more enjoyable than the actual sip. Next time I might use less leaves and try it in 160°F to decrease the bitter-sweetness. Perhaps this will grow on me more but as of now it might be too sweet and too vegetal for frequent drinking.

Pale yellow chartreuse with the cloudy look of a light unrefined olive oil at quick glance. The density of the color well represents the viscosity of the tea which is rich, full and almost buttery.
Vegetal and nutty with a mild astringency that builds to med/high which lingers in the finish becoming more of an annoyance than a pleasure after 8oz+. Mental effects (on first impression) are typical of slight over-extraction, but that’s what you get for ordering a cup of tea at DavidsTea. A proper steeping may yield a slightly better result, but not enough to change my review. A bit clunky in comparison to finer Japanese green teas, but I don’t think subtlety was a goal in its production. Overall it is a solid cup, but lacks the depth and acidity of anything really special.