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“Went with the boyfriend to a place called “Rollboto” where you can make your own sushi. Sort of like a Chipotle but sushi style. I also picked up this green tea as a drink because it looked exotic....” Read full tasting note
“Sipdown no. 46 for the year 2014, with a caveat. This is the only teabag I have of this. It’s from my work stash. But I may have some Maeda-en Sencha in loose form at home. This is a solid...” Read full tasting note
“Not sure if I had this, even though it was from Maeda-en and sencha. The bag was different, although that could’ve just been updated. It could’ve also been a sort of ‘fancy’ type. Anyhow. Was a bit...” Read full tasting note
“Full disclosure: this tea was sent to me as a free sample by the vendor. However, there was no expectation that I would provide a review. With my houhin at home and a handful of tea bags from...” Read full tasting note
Maeda-en’s all time best seller! A strong “hi-ire”, or finishing-roast, is the secret to its ever-lasting popularity. Although not quite houji, this tea tastes faintly of smoke, almost caramelized, with notes of citrus. Perfect for everyday sipping!
Comes in a easy-brewing paper teabag.
Maeda-En has been in business for the last 25 years as an importer, manufacturer and wholesaler of green tea & green tea desserts. Our Japanese grown, fresh quality green teas are shipped directly from our production factory in Japan to the states and then world-wide.
Went with the boyfriend to a place called “Rollboto” where you can make your own sushi. Sort of like a Chipotle but sushi style. I also picked up this green tea as a drink because it looked exotic. Of course, afterwards I do some homework and realize its quite common (and cheap) but no big.
Tea was not bad. There was definitely a roasted quality to it that I wasn’t expecting especially since the bag made no mention of it. I prefer more straight greens, but it’s definitely drinkable.
What amazed me was that I got 3 good steepings out of this puny bag. Okay, more like 2.5 since the third was kinda weak, but for a measly tea bag I’ll take it.
Sipdown no. 46 for the year 2014, with a caveat. This is the only teabag I have of this. It’s from my work stash. But I may have some Maeda-en Sencha in loose form at home.
This is a solid sencha. It’s everything I have come to expect from sencha plus a little more. The flavor isn’t bitter, except for a bit of grassiness that seems to be a characteristic of sencha. On the contrary, I find it to have a bit of sweetness. There is some roastiness as others have said, but to my tastebuds it’s only enough to make the suggestion and not nearly as prevalent as in the genmaicha or the houijicha. It gives this a unique character. I find it quite tasty.
Not sure if I had this, even though it was from Maeda-en and sencha. The bag was different, although that could’ve just been updated. It could’ve also been a sort of ‘fancy’ type. Anyhow.
Was a bit disappointing. It was green, I give it that, but otherwise very thin taste. No matter how many different variations on temperature and steeping time was it tested with. Just couldn’t grasp it. It was sencha, but ended up nothing more than worker’s tea for me. Took me three weeks to drink all hundred tea bags with a fellow student while we worked on our artist books and prints and after that during lectures. Then again it provided me a bunch of tea bag papers to use for my works. So nothing was done in vain.
I’m curious…what do you do with the tea bag papers? I’m always looking for good ideas for how to reuse things
Well. Sometimes I use the papers themselves for example in a book format with writing or images (the pen I use doesn’t seep through as much as I doubted which was surprising), or as chine collé in my etchings (they give a wonderful patina to the prints)..I still haven’t tried how they’ll work as a book cover when glued (with wheat starch glue) many layers on top of each other. Recently I started using them with offset lithography where I exposed them with UV light onto an aluminum plate. You can see the results from my blog ( http://mintblack.blogspot.fi/ ), there are some of the prints I’ve made. The chine collés are waiting to be put there too, when I have more time for that….what else..oh yeah. I also once made origami Christmas balls out of them with my lil’ sis. That paper actually suits origamis amazingly well, the transparency and subtle color palette of them create very beautiful play of shadow and light within the folds when held against the light.
And more ideas come up the more I make experiments with them.
Oh and I almost forgot, I made an artist book out of them as well! It can be found from my blog as well, it was part of three books in white boxes.
Those are some brilliant ideas. Thanks for sharing the blog link – you’re very talented.
The origami Christmas balls sound like fun
Heh, thanks! I need to make more of the balls so I could post the instructions online for them if you’re interested. There’s nothing so enjoyable than folding papers in peace while others jump off the walls during holidays. Except having a simmering cup on the side.
yes, I’’d love to see the ornaments instructions
Full disclosure: this tea was sent to me as a free sample by the vendor. However, there was no expectation that I would provide a review.
With my houhin at home and a handful of tea bags from Maeda-en at my disposal, I look to this sen-cha as an afternoon pick-up at work.
I’m not sure I’ve ever had a sen-cha as roasted as this one, with a distinct cooked chestnut and toasted rice overtone. It’s like having houji-cha and sen-cha at the same time, yet the roasted character drowns out most of the green or kelpy aspects of the tea, which show up as juicy vegetal flavors in the finish. Very light. A simple smooth drinker.
We usually get this tea for my work. Everyone really enjoys it instead of their usual cup of coffee. I like it was well but for me the taste is a little bit too bitter and “roasty”. All in all it’s not a bad tea! When it’s on sale at Japanese Market’s it’s well worth it :)
Like many others, this is my everyday tea I drink at work. It is convenient when I want a nice cuppa but I don’t have time to spend time on prep and cleanup. If you are looking for a convenient and affordable cup of green tea, this is great value that is hard to beat. If time and money are not factors, then you will want to look elsewhere (loose leaf exotic teas). I would rate this 80/100 for quality and 98/100 for value. As with all green teas, proper water temperature is a key to success.
This is my favorite everyday tea; it’s got a great toasted flavor, a cross between a good houjicha and the typical sencha. Also, comes in fabulous hundred-bag sacks! Although I generally like to use loose, this is my go-to teabag.
Sounds like fun!
It is. Although, like many “create your own” things, it can get pricey if you are not careful.