Sencha Golden Kasugaen

This sencha is from the yabukita cultivar, which is supposed to be quite vegetal and fruity. I steeped 5 g of leaf in 150 ml of 140F water for 60, 20, 20, 30, 40, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of apple, squash, spinach, cream, and grass. The first steep has notes of apple, squash, mango, spinach, kale, and grass. The next steep initially tastes like lettuce and bitter grass clippings, but the cooked apple, mango, and tropical fruit (passionfruit?) bloom in the aftertaste and the bottom of the cup. That fruitiness persists through the next few steeps, sometimes overtaking the grassiness and sometimes not. The final few steeps are vaguely fruity and less aggressively vegetal, with a sweet, grassy flavour.

I would have liked this tea more if it hadn’t been so vegetal. As it is, the tropical fruit was fun and the last few steeps had a nice balance. Those with a higher tolerance for cruciferous veggies might really enjoy this sencha. Based on the few teas I’ve tried, I like the saemidori cultivar more than the yabukita.

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The leaf is such a beautiful green color and it smells so richly of sweet grass. Even the wet aroma is laden with it but also with a unique hint of tropical mango and vegetal notes. The mouthful is very smooth. Full of vegetal notes, cooked and some fresh, as well as hay, grass, umami, and a slight milk.

Update: NIO Advent 2023
The dry leaf is a nice, glossy, dark green. The aroma isn’t as strong as I was hoping. Steeping tea smelled a bit of grass and dandelion. A bit of apple on the tongue as it first enters my mouth which very quickly changes to tall grass notes and different vegetal notes. Fresh asparagus. The mouth feel is silky.

Nio Teas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 24 (2/3)

Not sure if this is the golden sencha made from the cultivar that has actual golden leaves, but I assume not since it’s not mentioned in the description.

This is a lovely sencha though. It has a very powerful, almost gyokuro-like sweet vegetal and umami flavor. Plenty of sweetness, and a refreshing fruitiness that reminds me of starfruit. There’s a touch of grassiness at the end of the sip, but it’s quite subtle, and maybe even a bit closer to salad greens. It’s a very nicely balanced tea, with the rich vegetal and umami notes contrasting well with fresher grass and fruit, and then just enough bitterness and astringency to keep it from being heavy and give it a clean finish.