Dry, this tea smells very strongly of strawberries, and of very little else. The scent of the infusion itself is very different: there’s an odd vegetal note in the scent that I assume to be the bamboo. There are notes of mint and strawberry (not at all as overpowering as in the smell of the dry leaves) which mix very well.
The taste is very complex. There is a definite sweet note of the strawberry mid-sip, but it’s not as strong as the smell would suggest by far. The coolness of the mint comes through as an aftertaste, which is very pleasant and refreshing. It’s very smooth, with no astringency. I definitely think the mint helps in this regard. I don’t really know what bamboo tastes like on its own, so I can’t really pick it out: there is definitely a vegetal element to the taste, but as this is a sencha-based blend I can’t rule out that this is the grassy taste you expect of Japanese greens.
I like it, overall. The flavour lasted well through three infusions, prepared as I would a regular sencha. It’s definitely a good summer tea – I haven’t tried it iced yet, but I may put the rest of my sample to this use.
