Sencha from Tenryû, Tatsukawa, Y-2 (Yutaka-midori) cultivar

Another draining day, another nice tea I hope.
Gongfu, 5.5 grams / 125 ml / 75°C water.

I wasn’t paying much attention for every single steep, but I got probably expected flavour profile — buttery and grassy; mild and smooth. With longer steeps a bit more of astringency and seaweeds, but not bitterness. Maybe I have been expecting tropical fruits, but I don’t get those, so probably indeed it was a contaminationthat LuckyMe sample had.

I have offered second steep (roughly 15 seconds) to my mom and here are her words: “It’s fine, but nothing exceptional.” Yes, I agree with her word by word. Nevertheless, I have to say thank you to my friend derk, who kindly sent me this tea which I received in January.

Another interesting tea courtesy of derk.

I was surprised by how fruity this was. And by fruity I mean tropical fruit which is unusual in green tea. When I first sniffed the leaves, I wondered if perhaps they had absorbed scent from another flavored tea.

Sure enough, the fruitiness from the aroma came through in the tea. Definitely taste the adzuki bean sweetness that derk noted. Soft umami, baby spinach, stir fried cabbage, and cherry blossom were amongst the flavors encountered.

As someone that drinks a lot of green tea, they often end up tasting rather similar. So a unique sencha like this with an atypical flavor profile is a welcome change.

May 8, 2021 harvest. Initial tasting from a few nights ago.

The dry leaf smells just like the 3 descriptors TDJ lists — sweet red beans, herbs, butter.

The taste is much the same, moderately buttery and beany with some bitterness and a bright grass-pineapple astringency that considerably lightens what could be an umami bomb.

Dinner was a rice bowl with kimchi, fried egg and seaweed. This sencha served as a solid palate cleanser for such a piquant meal, while still having enough flavor to stand on its own. A little too much caffeine to be having a few hours before bed, though :P To me, this is a utilitarian tea and performs well over 3 steeps.

I’ll probably go more in depth sometime since I have 100g to play with.