Sencha Shizuku with Matcha Powder

NIO Advent 2023. This one is listed on the package as Chiran Shizuku Sencha. You can definitely tell, upon opening the package, that it has matcha mixed in but the fact that it is not mentioned in the sample title is a tad bit annoying. The dry aroma is nice. A pure green grass with bits of hay and cream. Very nice vegetal notes on this one, bits of fresh grass.

I’m nearing the end of the Nio samples that aren’t matcha. It’s been an interesting experience trying all these green teas! This sencha sample does include matcha powder and they suggested cold brewing it. I steeped the 5 g sample in 150 ml of room-temperature water for three hours, and then twice more to extract all the flavour.

The dry aroma before steeping is of sweet grass and spinach. The cold steeped tea is quite thick, with notes of spinach, kale, grass, broccoli, umami, and something fruity in the aftertaste. The longer I hold it in the mouth, the more punch it has. I did two additional steeps, which were not as aggressively vegetal. The third, longest steep even had some earth, cream, and melon.

I think cold steeping these senchas is a good idea. I enjoyed this tea, particularly the later steeps, and might have appreciated it even more during last summer’s many heat waves.

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Nio Teas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 13

So there was a suggestion to cold brew this tea (though no instructions for it on the package, which seemed weird to me) so I figured I would comply. I looked up Nio’s cold brewing instructions on their website, and steeped the 5g sample in 500ml of cold water for 2 hours in the fridge.

The resulting tea is light, refreshing, and super yummy! It has a bright and fresh grassiness, but also some soft buttery notes and gentle squashy umami. I can definitely taste the matcha, which gives a bit of additional intensity to the flavor. I’m also getting some lychee notes in the finish, but I think that’s probably just because I drank a very floral tea prior to this one.

A very nicely balanced cold brew for sure! I’m enjoying it at this concentration, but you could definitely use more leaves for a more concentrated version as well.