Sencha

This is a sencha sample I got from Harney and Sons so I thought I’d check it out this morning since I’m in the mood for a green tea again. I got the loose leaf sample and not the teabag version.

This was steeped via regular infuser mug method for about 90 seconds, I find the flavors of sencha are more enjoyable for me if I keep the steeps short and then they can be steeped 2-3 times.

A very vegetal steeped leaf that smells like spinach is what I encountered in this cup. The spinachy flavor continues in the tea, which is light and sweet but also has a tad bit of bitterness in the finish, and yes, seaweed in particular a bit of wakame.

I much prefer the Ichiban sencha from Harney over this one but it is also 3x as expensive!

This is a good choice for an everyday green if you don’t mind a bit of bitterness, I am sensitive to it due to my acid reflux issues. I personally prefer the milder Japanese greens like gyokuro and fukamushi senchas… but I will certainly finish off the sample that I have. :)

Another sample sachet from my Harney order. I was prepared to be completely underwhelmed by this one. I don’t really know why, maybe I just have a low opinion of most senchas used in flavored tea bases, so I figured this one would be just as boring.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! When I smelled the brewed tea it smelled green and buttery and a touch savory. The taste was smooth… Yes, vegetal, yes a touch sea-weedy but also very buttery and comforting. No bitterness, no unpleasantness. An easy to drink green tea that would be nice with meals and when you want a simple, tasty tea.

Since today was a nice, warm, sunny day everyone happened to be out mowing their lawns today. I love the smell of just cut grass, especially when it’s still damp from morning dew. It brings me back to being a kid waking up with the sun rising into my room, birds singing in the trees, the smells of spring and summer wafting in to rouse me from my sleep. I knew I had to get some of this tea today because it smells like freshly cut grass still wet from dew. So, I went to the dinning area that sold this tea and grabbed a sachet, relaxed and was instantly transported.

I’m not sure who coined the term “sip down” but it’s kinda cute. ;-) Go missing from Steepster for a while and a whole new language gets invented. Wow.

I’m on a bit of a sip down quest myself, having found a number of rather old open samples, boxes, tins, bags, etc. and this is among those. I steeped this in the Breville for 1 minute at 180, which is what was recommended on the sample packet.

For a hoary sample, this has retained a really nice, light, slightly vegetal taste, though looking at my notes from the original tasting it’s clear that this is one best drunk fresh. I can’t discern the complexity that was present when the sample was young.

On another note, I wanted to ask those of you who like Japanese greens whether you have any concerns following the nuclear meltdown. I’m one of those people who hasn’t eaten sushi (much) ever since, and I’ve been taking comfort in the fact that though my Japanese greens are well past their best by dates, they were all harvested pre melt down.

Thoughts?

I have no idea where I got this sample sachet from Harney and Sons, but this is not a bad sencha at all! I’m fairly impressed :)

Gosh I love green tea SO MUCH! It’s so perky and green and comforting.

I managed to fix my steeper, but forgot it at home, so today’s another day of bagged tea at work. I received a sachet of this as a sample with my last H&S order.

The liquor was a pale green. The taste was very vegetal and a bit spinachy with a buttery finish. There was no bitterness at all. It’s a perfectly fine plain green tea that I wouldn’t mind drinking every now and then when the mood strikes me.

This brewed a little bitter, I’m think next time I’ll only brew for 2 minutes

I’m drinking this from a cafe in Birmingham, MI called “Java the Hutt.” As you can tell by the name, they mostly do coffee, and all the tea they have is in bagged form. I haven’t yet met a mind-blowing sencha, but I haven’t met one I didn’t like either.

John Harney Appreciation Tea #22

I was happy to read that John Harney drank sencha every day. That must be why they offer such a nice one. After a lunch of sauteed mizuna with eggs on pita bread and served with sliced fresh tomatoes (all veggies from the local farmers’ market), I realized that only sencha would do. In addition to my supply of filter bags, I had located a couple of errant sachets of this Japanese Sencha from Harney & Sons, which turned out to be the perfect post-meal brew! Dark roasted spinach-scented dried leaves; citrine-peridot, slightly cloudy liquor with just a touch of saltiness, making it the perfect savory meal tea.

I believe that I obtained a handful of these sachets in the red linen wrapped display box. Now that the sencha sachet envelopes from that set are depleted, I’ll probably replenish this tea in the looseleaf form. It’s very good, and that’s coming from someone who has tried many varieties of sencha.

Of course, if you dislike sencha, then you won’t like this. But serious sencha aficionados are bound to like this classic selection.

Free sample from Harney and sons.

Bagged tea.

This is a delicious sencha. I was quite impressed.The smell of the dry tea is vegetal and creamy. The colour of the tea liquor is bright, light yellow-green. Smells vegetal, smooth and creamy. The taste is buttery, creamy, smooth, with just a hint of saltiness.

This is going on the shopping list.