Sencha Fuka-midori

This is my first Sencha. I am excited to try it out!
I thought I would try this out western style first. It brewed up to a pretty grass green color. There are a lot of tiny leaf fragments in this tea that made it through the filter, so my cup has a lot of floaties; doesn’t bother me though. I’m hoping I didn’t get the water too hot, as my digital thermometer died.
:(
My first sips are pleasantly ‘green’ and sweet. That’s about all the flavor I’m getting. I like it but I’m assuming I need to add more leaf, like Dens has kindly suggested in their brewing instructions. I will save that for next time; for now I like it the way it is! I was craving Japanese tea after lunch today. My two sisters and I went to a local sushi and grill place. I ordered tea, and they brought me this really pretty cup ; at first sip I knew it was genmaicha! Anyplace that serves genmaicha as their signature tea is my new favorite! :-)
I will rate this now but may change it when I try it with more leaves next time.

Okay, so I tried again with somewhat better results. I have a feeling I still wouldn’t be overly fond of this tea even if it was brewed for me by an expert, though. It was still a bit bitter for my tastes and a bit too vegetal, especially on the second infusion. I would definitely like to try a high-quality sencha at some point, though.

Yummy for breakfast, with my PB&J sammich. I actually left my packet of Sencha Fuka-Midori at a friend’s house and only recently retrieved it, so for almost a month I was drinking mostly chinese greens. Today, reunited with my tea, I was reminded why there was a time early this year when I just HAD to have my morning sencha at the office. If not, I’d get really snappy by 9:30 a.m. You do not want snappy. I have pointy objects in reach at my desk.

To be completely honest though, I can’t really tell the difference yet between this tea and my cheaper Japanese supermarket sencha. Can’t afford the premo stuff now either, which is a shame, what with Shincha season around. But for now, I love this for what it is: a good staple.

And oh crap I forgot to try this out with my banko houhin. (d’oh!) Next time.

PS. I have to make a not-so-secret confession. After my second steep I peered into my kyusu and those slices of leaves just looked so delish so I reached in a pinched me a bit and gave it a nibble. heh-heh… It’s actually not bad. But I still felt sheepish about it, for some reason. But why should I? I’ve read you can really eat the leaves anyway. So there’s nothing wrong with me, right? Right?? Gah. Joins Tea Leaf Eaters Anonymous

3/5

Extremely mineral-y and quite grassy, earthy-bitter. It doesn’t actually taste of beets or bitter greens (think high oxalic acid greens), but has a similar flavor profile. Definitely not something I’d want all the time, but I can see why it’d be an excellent tea to drink with certain types of meals full of relatively bland-sweet white rice and seafood. Like with many greens, the sweetness comes in at the end and lingers in a very pleasant way.

Tried a sweet style first steep and hot water second steep and combined them-umami syrup! Killing dual cravings for sweet and savory at once. Too tired to speak with first person pronouns.

This is one of my favorite senchas and that’s saying a lot. I got this in a generous sampler from Den’s Tea. Sadly it’s already gone. The tea is rich and brothy with a wonderful vegetal flavor that isn’t too dry or dusty. It’s sweet too with an almost brown sugar quality. Most senchas are nice but rarely are they robust enough to interest me. This one however really stands on its own without tasting like a salad. It’s like a cooked salad with something caramelized on top. Very nice.

This is the first tea I’ve ever tried from Den’s Tea! I bought the Green Tea Sampler for novices, a really cute kokoro (kyusu) teapot, and the sakura sencha gift set. I must say, I am so impressed with this sencha fuka-midori. ! I steeped it according to Den’s recommended brewing instructions. Delicious! I steeped it twice and shared it with my boyfriend, who is starting to like greens!

A great way to enjoy the mornings. There is enough in the sampler to make 2-3 pots!

My first taste of Sencha and I really enjoy it. I have to say it is unlike any other flavor I have had with a tea. I am looking forward to trying other Japanese green teas from Den’s Tea. The best $3 I have spent in 2010. Can’t beat this sampler pack.

I’m very glad I decided to try Den’s Tea’s sampler, as it has been exposing me to a nice variety of high-quality green teas, ones that are clearly far more complex than what I’m used to drinking. It’s also encouraged me to try writing more formal/informed tasting notes, so please bare with me if I sound inexperienced!

Each time I’ve had this, I’ve oversteeped it slightly on purpose as I tend to favor strong tea and this one in particular works well when it’s strong, despite being a green. This is definitely a good pick for people who are like me in that respect and/or who tend to oversteep by mistake.

I don’t notice a strong aroma coming from the leaves or liquor, but I’m inclined to blame that on my stuffy nose rather than the tea itself. What I can smell reflects the flavors of the tea very well — no surprises here! It’s an attractive tea, too: the leaves are a bright, deep green and the liquor a saturated green shade as well.

The flavor profile is notably nutty and grassy from the moment it touches the tongue to the moment it slides down the throat, but I also notice a buttery edge that really sets this apart from cheaper greens. There’s also a notable aftertaste, one that is reminiscent of these main flavors but with more of a sour or bitter punch — not overwhelming in the least, and I tend to shy away from bitter flavors.

I’ve also found that this can be resteeped once for a cup that’s nearly as good, and again for something that’s drinkable but reminiscent of much less exciting teas.

It’s a great combination of tastes that really captures some of my favorite qualities to find in a green tea. I’m definitely planning to purchase a bag of this now that I’ve finished up my sample.

This was the first sencha I ever tried that wasn’t one of those prepackaged loose leaf variants from the local Japanese markets. I was looking to taste a higher quality sencha (but not spend too much at first) to see what I had been missing, and after lurking through various tea forums, Den’s tea appeared to be the best in value and quality. So I ordered 2 oz from Den’s and received the tea nicely packaged in a sealed air tight foil bag with an oxygen absorber inside. I really liked how Den’s pays so much attention at preserving the tea’s freshness and the detailed presentation of the package, containing all the information and instructions needed about the tea you just bought.

The tea itself has a very nice sweet grassy aroma and the leaves had a vivid dark green color to them. Compared to store bought senchas, you can definitely smell the freshness of this tea, like recently picked leaves. The dry leaves were mostly made of long and short broken needles.

I prepared this tea using a Japanese Kyusu and following the suggested brewing guidelines of 180F water and 1 min steep time for the first brew (the second brew I used boiling water and 15 sec steep time as directed by Den’s).

The first brew gave me a bright green cup with a fresh “green” aroma. It reminded me of freshly cut grass with a hint of seaweed in the mix. The taste was very enjoyable. It had a refreshing grassy flavor, sweet, and slightly astringent. The second brew was done with boiling water and I steeped it just for 15 seconds. The tea came out with a much darker opaque green color. The aroma remained the same, but the taste became a bit heartier with more a pronounced astringent finish. I only brewed this tea twice.

The wet leaf had a very seaweedy smell with cooked veggies in between. The leaves also had a very nice bright green color.

Overall, I found this tea quite enjoyable and love to pair it with Japanese food. Loved the freshness this tea offers compared to the store bought versions. I enjoyed the first brew better than the second as it was slightly sweeter but still, I appreciated the robust flavor of the second.