Woo, this is my last untried tea from Yunomi! This one was a free sample that they included with my recent order. I wasn’t expecting a sample and I was very pleasantly surprised to see the little kraft packet! I will say, I very much enjoy Yunomi’s new branding, it’s so clean and graphic! And their new sample packets are cute too, and they have steeping instructions on them (too bad I didn’t notice before steeping, ha ha). Anyway, on to the tea! The leaves are extremely thin, and some of them are slightly twisted. The color is a dark hunter green. Wow, this smells very different from the other sencha I’ve had lately – it’s drier in a way? Quite sweet with hay and grass elements.
The steeped liquor is a pale and clear yellow with a touch of green. I was afraid I understeeped this because the aroma is quite delicate – I can smell sweetness and some hay-like notes. However, after tasting it I’m confident that 45s was plenty of time. It does have a rather light and delicate flavor, but it has sufficient dimension to convince me that this is the way it’s supposed to taste. I will say, this absolutely makes me think of Spring, so the name is perfect! It has a nice sweetness as well as a touch of astringency that makes me want to drink more. There’s a strong and surprising hay-like flavor that reminds me of white tea a bit, along with a little bit of bitterness that balances the sweetness nicely. I can taste light vegetal and grass notes, but they’re much more subtle than most sencha. There’s a subtle fruity note here, something mild and sweet like apple. Overall, quite tasty!
Flavors: Apple, Astringent, Bitter, Grass, Hay, Sweet, Vegetal
