Sencha of the Autumn Moon

I think this is REALLY incredible! This has all of the ‘right amounts’ of all of the stereotypical green flavors in it without any one flavor dominating the others. It leaves a sweeter after taste that is really wonderful!

If you were to put the song “I’m a little bit Country – I’m a little bit Rock N Roll” up against this tea…well. it would be the tea equivalent to that song!

A little bit of EVERYTHING GOOD in a Green Tea! Totally YUM!

This tea surprised me. After I decanted the pot, I sniffed the brewed leaves, and it instantly brought back a flood of memories.
You know how certain smells are strongly connected to memories or emotions? Well, this reminded me of when I lived in Hong Kong…. I don’t know if it was the smell of a HK bakery, or mochi, or dim sum, but the aroma was very good and I couldn’t help but continue to sniff and figure out why it felt so familiar.

Surprisingly, the leaves of this tea are very light green/yellowish and tiny. I could have sworn this was a fukamushi, as the leaves are only a little larger than dust. I thought this could be a fukamushi bancha, though, I’ve never heard of such a thing. (I don’t know the difference between bancha and a 2nd or 3rd harvest sencha… does anyone else?)

EDIT I wasn’t quite able to finish my thoughts on this.

I’m really surprised about the size of the leaves, because it’s just lightly steamed.
I would say I enjoyed this tea, but there wasn’t much depth to the flavor. Not sweet, nor bitter; slightly astringent, with the main flavor being a perhaps a little grassy or like sweet rice (which, as you know, isn’t really sweet). I think I enjoyed it because there wasn’t anything wrong with it, and the aroma was so connected to those memories. Nevertheless, it wasn’t very exciting or a flavor I would go seek out (especially to buy it from Japan). If I saw it in my local grocery store, then perhaps I’d pick some up.

I really enjoyed this Sencha. Rather than the sweet, buttery notes that I sometimes get from a Sencha, I am getting an interesting bittersweet taste with a nutty undertone. The taste is fresh and exhilarating.

Very nice!

The aroma of the dry leaves and stems is very pleasant, with a grassy vegetal quality that is reminiscent of fresh cut hay and autumn breezes. The stems in my sample were quite prominent, and sturdier than those in the Yanagi Bancha sample I had tried previously, but the leaves were very fine, and a beautiful dark green.

Using my kyusu I did three extractions of this sample, all using approximately 3.5 ounces of water:
1st steep: 45 seconds at 180 F
2nd steep: a quick steep of only about 10 seconds at 180 F
3rd steep: 30 seconds at 180 F

The wet leaves have an amazing aroma, unlike any sencha I have tried before. An almost peppery quality like mustard greens, but this does not come through in the tea. All three infusions were of similar quality in being a bright yellow green, clear, refreshing and well balanced. There are some nice grassy undertones and a softness that is similar to many spring time pickings.

This would make a nice accompaniment to almost any meal, but is very pleasant to drink all alone. Another very nice tea from Obubu. :)

Compared to the spring and summer, I didn’t like this like this tea as much. Lots of twigs, so I was interested in the flavor. I felt it was more bitter than the other samples I’ve had so far. Grassy. It was just simple.

Dry, these leaves smell… almost fruity, like a dried fruit, but only just barely, in a sticky way, maybe a little nutty, maybe dried watermelon with the seeds still in it. Wet, there’s a …creamy and maybe vaguely chocolatey undertone? I dunno. Something in it just briefly reminded me of warm chocolate chai lattes I would make on hot summer nights back when I lived in the south, sipping before bed, listening to podcasts.

But this is a sencha, not a chocolate chai latte, so I’m not sure what scent-note exactly is slinging me into that memory.

Sipping it though, wow, it really is creamy though, somehow. While also being astringent enough to dry up the roof of my mouth and back of my throat a little. Just… how interesting. There’s a flavor I’m getting right before the astringency hits that I wish I could linger on a little longer. It’s so interesting. Maybe almost nutty, but.. I dunno. Spicy isn’t right either. I really don’t know why I’m getting chocolate vibes from this, but I am, definitely. But not like, sweet chocolate or overly dark chocolate, maybe more like a cocoa butter flavor. I dunno

The aftertaste is like… very fresh steamed broccoli. Very fresh, before it starts getting that cabbagey flavor. Or maybe edamame. Hmm.

I forgot how fun this is, hah, just pressure-free trying things and guessing flavors. It’s been such a long looooong day at work and I’m not technically done yet but I missed lunch, so a tea break felt in order.

Whoof, the second steeping is very astringent, but after I get used to it, it feels like a stronger version of the first steeping, that creaminess is really something, you could absolutely convince me I was drinking a latte right now if my eyes were closed. Maybe an oatmilk latte, specifically, there’s definitely some grain flavors to this, like a hearty, whole, filling grain, maybe some hot cereal, or a matcha latte with buttered toast. And… there’s that interesting fruity note again, maybe just a light, juicy acidity.

The third steeping is starting to wane but I think that juicy acidity is getting a little stronger. Something in there for a second reminded me of lotion. The creaminess is fading and the graininess is starting to take over a little more.

This is the first time in a very long time that I am actually drinking higher end, not expired sencha. Was it always this good? I am excited for the rest of the teas in this sampler, if they are anywhere near as fascinating as this.

My first time trying an autumn picked sencha. I didn’t even know this was a thing. Gotta hand it to Obubu Tea Farms for such an eclectic selection.

The appearance of the leaves is one of the strangest I’ve ever seen in Japanese green tea. It’s a mixture of twigs, stems, and flat yellow and green blade like leaves that sort of resemble a broken dragonwell. The leaves emit a strong seaweed aroma. Once heated, this turns into kelp and popcorn.

The brewed tea produces a light green, clear infusion. Gentle toasted nori and sakura flavor. Slight umami. Very smooth. Subsequent steeps bring out brothy notes along with more seaweed. It remains smooth and full bodied without any bitterness.

This sample is quite a few months old by now. Curious as to how it would have tasted at peak freshness.

Thanks for another interesting sample Cameron B

Pseudo-sipdown. Another one that I have one packet left, which will be shared with a friend.

I love this one. It’s so different from spring and even summer sencha, with no umami at all. The leaves are enormous and there are many stems mixed in. It has a very smooth and nutty flavor, with oodles of sweet hay and dry grass. More grainy than vegetal, but there is a bit of bok choy in there. It’s brothy. There are even some woody, autumn leaf-y notes that make me think of hojicha. A clear, sweet aftertaste lingers on the tongue.

To me it just screams “autumn”. An unusual and wonderful tea that will certainly make its way back into my cupboard.

These leaves look crazy compared to your average sencha! Long leaves with some thick stems mixed in as well. Flavor was pretty different as well. I got a bit of grassiness, but it wasn’t quite the super green umami flavors that I sometimes get from sencha – it was more of a dry grassy flavor. I’m not 100% sure if that’s a result of the clearly different processing of the leaf or if it’s because it’s not quite as fresh as other ones I’ve been drinking. I preferred it with 175F water, as opposed to the 195F temp recommended on the package, but both were good.

2015 Autumn batch:
I’m pretty sure this may be different than the past years. The leaf is large for a Japanese sencha.
https://instagram.com/p/9NFnYExYCN/ (middle left)
There are roughly four different shades between the leaf as it is dry as well which looks pretty before being steeped. This is a smooth and easy to brew sencha, but I believe the reason that this would be something to get over the other ‘Sencha of the" series would be it’s slightly less vegetable taste which is replaced with a tiny bit of dryness that reminds me of fall leaves.
I enjoy that the ‘fall’ / ‘autumn’ taste of this tea is not provided by a roasted taste, rather it is done by having the taste of the dry leaf that is somewhat dead; not that this doesn’t taste fresh, one just has to try it.

I ended up drinking all of this within two days and it is one of the few sencha that I have resteeped as well.