Overcast and cool September Sunday calls for some sencha.
May 2022 harvest
First experience with this tea that’s over a year old by now. I picked it up at some point in Spring of 2023.
Dry leaf smells like kudzu, black grapes, paper, buttery raspberry scones (anybody familiar with Sconehenge?), anise and lamb fat. Warmed leaf is more intense with dominant aromas of spinach souffle and raspberry cream.
The dry and warmed leaf aromas catch my attention much more than the taste of the tea. Brewed with Thés du Japon’s suggested parameters, the tea is watery, drying and tannic with a distinct bitterness – perhaps it is showing its age. I do get fruity notes like green grapes and kiwifruit. Also some wheatgrass and light, dewy sweetness. Slight refreshing character, like cypress in the fog.
I’ll give this tea a few more tries. If it’s simply past its prime, compost it is.
Flavors: Anise, Apricot, Beans, Bitter, Blueberry, Cream, Drying, Egg, Evergreen, Grape Skin, Grapes, Green, Kiwi, Paper, Pastries, Peach, Raspberry, Spinach, Sugarcane, Sweet, Tannic, Watery, Wheatgrass, White Grapes
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
More leaf and water, say 5g to 110mL, 175F for a minute produces a much more concentrated flavor though still bitter. Lower temperature with same leaf:water does not bring out any of the desired fruity notes. Instead, it is flat and kind of vegetal. I will also try hotter water.
Such varied results with this leaf. Been doing work steeps with cooled water from the dispenser and the expression is different every time.
More leaf and water, say 5g to 110mL, 175F for a minute produces a much more concentrated flavor though still bitter. Lower temperature with same leaf:water does not bring out any of the desired fruity notes. Instead, it is flat and kind of vegetal. I will also try hotter water.
Such varied results with this leaf. Been doing work steeps with cooled water from the dispenser and the expression is different every time.