Hashiri Shincha

On the eve of my fist exam, I’m lucky enough to be destressing with a wonderful cup of this tea. It actually came in the mail this afternoon, but I was too busy to actually try it until now.

I opened the foil package and was greeted with a strong freshly cut grass aroma. Using my brew basket and barely-steaming water, I let the leaves steep in my mug for 30 seconds, which is my standard for Japanese greens. The flavor of this tea is really amazing, with a very intense yet sweet grass flavor and a smooth texture that is defying description at the moment. Finally, the aftertaste of the tea has a bit of a metallic feeling which builds over the course of 45 seconds and then slowly fades away. This is a really remarkable Japanese green, and it was well worth the wait.

Sip-down on this great shincha!

I never got to write a good detailed note on this one due to a long busy (and extremely hot) summer. I’m drinking my last cup, trying to clear it out of my cupboard to make room for a new asamushi sencha I’m eyeing.

Anyways, this was very light and subtly sweet with fresh grassy notes. No astringency or any bitterness when brewed correctly, just a light, sweet, and fresh green cup. I remember when I first opened the bag the smell of was very fresh and sweet.

Good Shincha, I ended up enjoying more the other shincha I got aside from this one, but this was still pretty good.

Tried this tonight with Superanna. This was so fresh and grassy, vibrant tasting, with salty seaweed aroma and lovely smooth seaweed flavor. One person tasted it and said it smelled like cooked eggs, but I mostly think of brothy and the briny aspect of seaweed.

The resteep is nice and full of flavor as well. Both steeps had a rich, broth-like appearance as well. You can almost feel the antioxidants coursing through your veins…

It is my pleasure to have the 2016 harvest as my first Hashiri Shincha from Den’s. I had been looking forward to it for months.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFJscbNQNg5/

Brewed in a ceramic kyusu. Steeping times: 90 seconds, 60, 90, 120. Temperature remained the same.

The most noticeable characteristic is the sweetness. Unexpectedly, the dry leaf smells fruity, of lychee and loganberry. When steeped, the leaf smells more vegetal and ever so slightly buttery. The pale but bright green broth is very thick and medium-bodied. The first cup has a balance of sweet and savory. It is so deliciously sweet! With each following infusion, the savory note strengthens and the sweetness lessens.

There is no bitterness, nor a seaweed note. Straight up sweet and/or savory. It is refreshing and invigorating – a spring delight.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFJ_du6wNla/

So, I’m pretty sure I’ll be scraping myself off the walls later because I’m three steeps in (I’d guess I have 2 more I can get here) and already ready and willing to conquer on the world (which is to say that fantastic hyper aware euphoria that comes with drinking far, far too much tea).

First steep – 60 sec
Second – 60 sec
Third – 90 sec

In short, the 2016 version of this tea is amazing. It’s slightly sweeter than previous years, but still incredibly smooth and vegetal with an overall umami flavor. The second steep introduced a bit of butteriness in taste and texture. Not bitter at all, but there’s a slight drying astringency that builds, but not in a negative way. The aftertaste is asparagus and artichoke.

Definitely worth busting the kyusu out.

It even looks like spring!
http://imgur.com/dnKN8CI

Drinking Hashiri Shincha is one of the most undiluted, unmediated tea experiences you can have. You can identify every aspect of the tea’s flavor as if you were chewing the tea leaf itself: Buttered lima beans, salt, seaweed, fresh grass. My body is so receptive to the intrinsic vitamin goodness of this tea.

I crave it like a body craves the warmth of the sun after a long cold winter.

Lovely green tea. I brewed at the lower recommended temperature tonight and it made a big difference. Not at all bitter. Pretty pale yellow green color. I’m having 3rd steep now and it is still very good.

This is pretty good, but it just tastes like regular (but high-quality) sencha to me. It’s very vegetal—even the dry leaf smells like cooked spinach, and once steeped the flavor is more of the same. I think it might be little more finicky than good non-first flush senchas I’ve tried; it seems to go bitter pretty easily. I’m glad to have tried this, since I was curious what all the fuss was about, but I don’t think I’m a sensitive enough taster to appreciate its nuances.

After some playing around, I got the right taste ( thanks Stephanie and moraiwe) and I do like it very much. It is nutty and slightly sweet, although it has that distinctly japanese green mouthfeel/taste that is not my favorite, although not a bad thing either (is it the astringency?). I think I will have to keep on having this one, but it’s definitely a grower.

The last of Hashiri Shincha.