This one was pretty good, though it seemed a little finicky when it came to brewing. I got it pretty good the first time using the instructions on the bag, then changed them up a bit the second time and it wasn’t as good. I did steeps of 45s and 20s at 160F, followed by steeps of 30s and 1m at 175F. These are pretty low for what I normally do with sencha, but even with the 45s first steep, it was decently bitter.
The first steep was a pretty creamy grassy brew with, as I said, a healthy touch of astringency and a tad bit of fruitiness in the aftertaste, lasting about 15 seconds. The next steep had a crisp grassy taste with hints of the fruitiness mid-steep. After that, the last steeps were comparatively weaker, retaining a bit of a grassy taste, but without the good creamy texture I got earlier.
Starting with a longer first steep, even when I kept the temperature down at 160F for the duration of the session, led to an awkward dance with bitterness that kept creeping out of control.
Flavors: Astringent, Creamy, Fruity, Grass
