Uji Shincha

Sipdown! (8 | 53)

Back into sipdowns! I went through my physical tea cupboard yesterday and organized it a bit, pulled out a few things that were low, and re-organized the clear acrylic bins I have on top of the counter, with small packets and teas to be sipped down. And then today, I added a few missing teas to my spreadsheet and then synchronized my Steepster cupboard with it. So I’m good to go!

I do have 8 sipdowns already, but a few of those were old teas that got dumped. I guess I could call them “trashdowns”? XD But I’m still counting them, so there!

This tea was actually a small swap sample from a sweet Instagram friend, and it’s the 2021 harvest. I was feeling a Japanese green and figured I would “kill two birds” so to speak, by also getting a sipdown. We’ll ignore the fact that I somehow managed to pick up the packet upside down and dump the leaves all over the counter and floor, much to the delight of two snorting puglets below…

Steeped for 60s and then 15s in a gravity steeper, and combined both steeps in a mug because I’m lazy. It’s always amazing when I haven’t had sencha for a while and then try one, because I forget how deep and complex of a flavor they have. It’s really unlike any other type of tea IMO. This one is thick with vegetal flavors, from darker kale, bok choy, and squash up to creamy soybean. It has a deep umami undertone and slightly viscous texture that just makes it taste so brothy and restorative to me. Quite smooth as well, with just a touch of bitterness at the end of the sip, and a subtle astringency that brings to mind dry grass, warm from the sun. I wonder if it’s shaded at all? It has a deep intensity and sweetness that I often find in kabusecha.

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough. Tea good, me like tea! Oh, and after adding some more statistics to my spreadsheet, I realllllly need to drink more Japanese teas, as I literally have 64 entries built up for Kyoto Obubu… O.O

P.S. – I had the second half of this with a honeycrisp apple and it was a super interesting pairing! The apple tasted more tart than usual and the tea tasted less vegetal/umami and more grassy, also with a stronger sakura note.

This similar to another tea I tasted. It did not taste fresh and smelled like old socks. It was not nice for me to drink and we wasted a lot of money for Shincha. As an experience tea drinker I was very unhappy with this purchase.