Japanese Green Tea (tea bag) Sencha (Green Sampler Pack)

Another quick cuppa while I go through my cupboard. Again, i’m glad i got the chance to try this one, even if i prefer loose tea to the tea bags. This would be a good back up for work times.

A review of Japanese Green tea bag Sencha (in Pyramid tea bags) by Den’s Tea

This is the same great quality Sencha that they offer loose, with the added convenience of a teabag.

Ingredients: green tea

I am having this tea steeped for 90 seconds with water temperature at 180 Fahrenheit/80 Celsius. With the pyramid tea bag it is easier to view the leaves as they did not unfold much. They remained the same but the tea’s aroma comes through as being very vegetal and mildly sweet roasting flavor. It smelled of roasted rice actually.

When I take a sip of this tea, I am met with a grainy texture and reminded a bit of the Genmaicha teas that I have enjoyed in the past. Yet this is not a Genmaicha but a Sencha tea. It definitely has a roasting quality to it and there is a delicate sweetness to be found in this cup of Sencha tea.

Overall, this tea is lovely; it is mildly green tea with slight astringency and sweetness at the same time. It is good tea. Thank you Den’s Tea for adding this sampler with my order.

Sipdown! 157/365!

Note: I have a few June sipdowns, but as usual, I’m way behind on writing and reading tasting notes. Tis the season of yardwork. And basketball games, apparently.

Anyways, I’ve had this tea for eons. (We’re talking 6+ years.) It’s from a sampler I purchased waaay back in my early days of tea discovery. Didn’t expect much, as most greens fall pretty flat when this old. However, it ended up actually being rather tasty – almost tasted a bit overleafed/oversteeped (dilution would cure it, though – so not unpleasant, more just strong), but nice beaniness and vegetal flavours. I can only imagine it would have been better when fresh. Not a tea I’d pick up on my own, a) because I dislike teabags and b) because there are other greens I’m fairly sure I prefer, but certainly a pleasant cup!

Second steep and i know i over steeped the first time but the second steeping is still successful. Very nice tea.

Yay! My sampler pack is here!
I thought that my first introduction to Japanese green teas should be the classic, so I chose this sencha in a teabag for a first try. I chose the teabag version over the loose leaf because I wanted the save the latter since my tastes may be off from my particularly oniony lunch.
The smell of fresh green leaves, with an edge of sweetness, hit me the moment I opened the bag. The first steep of 60 seconds was a pleasant pea green, with a fresh veggie smell. It tasted slightly astringent, like raw collards, especially when hot. It definitely got sweeter once it cooled down, but the astringency never left, just got less dry. It’s a unique kind of astringency that I haven’t experienced in tea before. It makes your mouth water, like sucking on a penny does. The feeling and flavor of this aftertaste reminded me of the feeling in my mouth after I have just finished eating an artichoke.
The second steep (15 seconds, as per the directions in the nice booklet included with the sampler) is a touch fishy! I had heard that many Japanese greens have umami notes, but it is strange to experience it! There is little sweetness and no astringency. In fact, most of the flavors and scents from the previous steep are absent entirely! It reminds me quite a bit of my seaweed crisp snacks, minus the salt. I’m getting sesame, seaweed, and a hint of bok choy (cooked in broth). Interesting!