Sencha Superior Uji

While I think my labeling is wrong on my sample – ingredients say it has puffed corn, brown rice, and matcha with sencha (sounds like genmaicha to me) the tea is clearly what the name says on the label which is this one.
This is an excellent sencha with a VERY fresh taste like a fresh mowed lawn.
Bright and cherry on a foggy dreary day.

This was a free sample I received from Zen Tea!

It’s a small sample package, but it seems like I have enough for three cups worth. I’ve found with senchas that less is more. More leaf does not equal a better, stronger cup. It’s supposedly Ichiban Cha or first flush. Now, I like senchas, but I’ve never really been able to tell the difference between different pickings. Then again, I’ve never tried them side-by-side. So, I can’t say for certain that it is, only taking the word of the company, which I believe.

The dry leaf is a dark rich emerald color that smells sweet and grassy. The wet leaf is a gorgeous bright emerald that smells sweet, grassy, and buttery. The infusion is an amazing ghostly yellow-green color. It reminds me of Mellow Monk’s Top Leaf tea when infused.

The taste is amazing. It’s wonderfully sweet and grassy. There’s a smoothness to it with notes of butter and a hint of saltiness with a wonderful umami taste! I like this better than Mellow Monk’s Top Leaf.

My husband is sick and I let him have some and he more or less downed it. He said it was more for the warmth than the taste. But, since he is sick, I’m bound to get it and I can already feel my throat is scratchy after waking up this morning. This seems to help soothe it. I don’t know if it’s the warmth or the tea itself, I don’t care, it’s good either way!

This sencha is a such a lovely tea.

It represents everything I love about green tea. It is sweet, a little grassy with a salty marine breeze at the end of the sip. It’s very clean, and if prepared right, brings zero astringency to the cup.

Once wet, the leaves turn into a vibrant emerald green, just stumning!

I’m having it in a tetsubin pot tonight. Beautiful tea, beautiful teaware.

Because I know some of you like to watch, here are my pics:

http://instagram.com/p/rQYu-awh8y/

http://instagram.com/p/rQZ3eUQh-n/

Haute sencha converges at some point with gyokuro—well, that’s my impression, at any rate. This one, the Superior Uji Sencha from Zen Tea is a perfect illustration of that thesis. Yesterday’s ichiban “house” sencha from Zen Tea was very good, and today’s superior version looks and smells and tastes very similar to some of the gyokuros I’ve tried.

The brew is shimmery yellow-green, and I would be hard pressed to distinguish this from gyokuro is a side-by-side blind test. Very smooth and silken on the tongue, and the flavor is slightly vegetal but not at all astringent or bitter. I don’t really know what else to say, except that this sencha is gyokuroesque!

(Blazing New Rating #24)

And the last tea from my green exploration.

This was in your face, beating you over the head grassy. This is why I think I don’t like green tea. This was way too strong for me, way too grassy, way too green. I’m sure this is a good quality Sencha – I just can’t do it. Willing to explore, willing to try teas that are generously sent to me, but this just confirms that I green isn’t my favorite and that if I must drink green, I prefer Chinese to Japanese….

Thank you so much TheTeaFairy for allowing me to try a few greens together. Helps to confirm how I feel about them.

The leaves are dark green for the most part with a few light green pieces present and as a whole they are very shiny. They are dry and crisp leaves which are mostly short/broken and has a sweet, mineral scent. I liken it to sweet grass, orchid and fresh kale.

My steeping parameters:
Leaf – 5g
Water Temperature – 70C
Vessel – Glass Gongfu 140ml
3 Steeps – 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes

First Steep – 1 Minute
The tea is yellow and a little cloudy with a sweet floral scent. Flavour is sweet and mineral with a grassy after taste that is a little dry. It does lighten after a few seconds to leave a raw pea flavour.

Second Steep – 2 Minutes
Thicker in strength with a touch of astringency. Sweet tones but still more mineral wise than floral, strong raw pea flavour now. Also high grass notes but no increase in dryness. It’s thick enough to resemble kale or cabbage at this point.

Third Steep – 3 Minutes
Heavy mineral flavour with more astringency than before and a touch of umami. Tastes similar to an instant Sencha powder I’ve had before. More savoury than sweet now but there is some still present.

Overall
A nice Sencha that increases in strength and umami the more you steep it. Offers sweet, grass and floral notes as well as vegetal/mineral richness.

For pictures and more information please view my blog –
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2014/05/14/review-three-teas-from-zen-tea/