Sencha Green Tea, Organic

Yay, I’m first to rate this one! All the more special considering that it’s the first loose tea I ever purchased (on january 30, 2012). The bagged teas that I drank before were mostly green teas and I wanted my first loose tea experience to be close to what I was used to. However, it took me a while to fully appreciate this tea. In fact, I left it alone for a few weeks, thinking I just don’t like Sencha. I never worried about steeping times with my bagged teas. I’d just leave the bag in the tea while I drank it. If I didn’t like it, I blamed it on the tea, not on the over-steeping. I followed the recommended brewing instructions for this loose tea, but I wasn’t too fond of the result. As for a second steeping, yuck! The tea kept giving, what I described as a muddy/dirty flavor. I suppose that’s supposed to be the bitterness? I never thought of it as bitter though.

After much research into ‘proper’ tea brewing techniques, I found one that gives me a really good result: Fill my (glazed) kyusu with two or three times as much tea as recommended and steep for 50 seconds with water at 165deg. I finally discovered what Unami must be! yummy <3 I can even get a decent second cup if I steep the leaves with near boiling water (around 190) for 30 seconds.

Going to brew my second steeping now :) …

I just steeped this too strong. I got this as a sample with another order a while back and finally gave it a shot. I steeped enough for about three cups in the volume of two, so it was a bit stronger than my first time steeping this.

The leaves are a deep green, flat and mostly intact (any that weren’t can likely be attributed to my less than careful handling of the sample). The liquor was a greenish yellow, although it would have been a lighter yellow if I’d had the right amount of leaves for the water. I’d also say The Tea Spot’s own description of sweet and herbacious were right on. I have too many other unique, nuanced greens for this to make my favorites list, but it was a great green tea.

First off I would like to say how impressed with The Tea Spot from the day that I placed my order to the day I received it was only 4 days, that is amazing!

Now on to the tea, its wonderful very soft and subtle buttery taste. I managed to finish my first cup far too fast and need another re-steep right away. This tea is heavenly!

First tasting for the day is Sencha green organic by the tea spot. I steeped this one for about 30 seconds with 5 grams of leaf in a 110 ml gaiwan. I dont have proper tools for true japanese tea brewing, so in the gaiwan it goes.

The first notes that hit me are butter, grass, asparagus, and a bit of astringency, but almost no bitterness at all. Which is really nice for a green tea. Its incredibly smooth and easy to drink.

The liquid is mostly clear with just a slight bit of cloudiness that you often see in Japanese style teas. I think this is from the way the tea is rolled in the process. This gives it a wonderful mouth feel and a nice bit of umami.

It seems to get the best brew at the second or third steeping, as the leaves need to open up a bit to really release the flavor. Though It seems to hold up even at 4 or 5.

Highly recomended, also check out jade green as it has a similiar taste profile.

I ordered this in sachets for ease while traveling. It worked very well for this. Easy to steep, tastes good, no mess.

Today’s lunchtime tetsubin of green tea was courtesy of The Tea Spot, who kindly sent me a sample of their Organic Sencha. The liquor was as expected: pale greenish yellow, and the first glass seemed a bit astringent, despite my low temperature short steeping. However, the second glass was much smoother with even a silky quality to it.

My hypothesis (developed on the basis of other teas as well…) is that green tea is always more bitter when imbibed at a higher than a lower temperature. Added to that, I drank the first glass right after a big bowl of freshly sliced strawberries sprinkled with sugar and doused with cream. That sweet flavor may have made the tea seem more bitter by contrast.

I’ll try a second infusion later today…