Den's Tea

My first matcha!! I was so nervous making it since I’ve never done it before, but I can tell with practice it should be no problem. I haven’t figured out what’s going to be my dedicated repurposed matcha bowl yet, so I improvised using a wide shallow bowl to do the whisking and then transferring to a gaiwan. It was pretty messy—thin film of green powder all over the place, and some of it goop as it got wet accidentally, whoops.

A little surprised by the taste given how all the matcha lovers on Steepster describe it. It was indeed creamy and thick, frothy, with some sweetness especially at the front, but it also tastes exactly how I would’ve guessed powdered whole green tea leaves would taste before reading about it from fans—grassy and pretty bitter, especially at the back and lingering in the aftertaste. That said, I don’t dislike it entirely. I think I just need to get used to it. The aspects that are lovely are lovely enough I can be patient and keep working on it. When I reached the bottom there was some powder left despite my sifting, which made the whole thing end on a sweet, even thicker note, which I liked but I’m guessing means I need more practice whisking.

I had only a little time before work started this morning and was looking for an easy tea bag I could throw in my mug quickly. Den’s Tea sampler to the rescue! This was vibrant green in the bag, with powder that looked like matcha. I loved the color it brewed up to in my clear glass mug — it was a bright green!

The taste is pleasantly grassy and light. It tastes like many other Senchas I have tried, but without astringency. I am enjoying this as my morning tea.

I usually choose a strong black tea for my morning cup, but we were out of town all weekend and don’t have any milk in the fridge, so I’m happily settling with this green tea instead. It gives me a chance to get to some of my green tea samples, like this one is from Mercuryhime. The dry leaves smell slightly sweet and grassy. The tea itself has a vegetal aroma. I usually tend to choose flavored green teas, so this one was bit of a surprise to me. It has a fresh seaweed flavor with a sweet finish. There is a a strong vegetal aftertaste that reminds me of one of my favorite snacks, SnapPea Crisps. I have no idea if you’re suppose to add sweetener to this tea, but I tried it with a little sugar. You can still taste the vegetal notes, and it just brought out more of the sweetness in the flavor. I don’t know that this is a tea that I would drink every day, since I mostly prefer strong black teas, but it was fun to try it! And I’m amazed at all of the flavors that come out of steeping this one for just 1.5 minutes! Thanks, Mercuryhime, for the sample!

-Dry blend has long, small, flat green tea leaves.
-Dry leaves smell slightly sweet and grassy. Tea liquor aroma is vegetal.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium greenish yellow color.
-Fresh seaweed flavor with a sweet finish. Strong vegetal aftertaste.
-Best with the smallest amount of sweetener.
-Good tea. Flavor is reminiscent of SnapPea Crisps.

Smells and tastes great! Fresh, and sweet but not unnervingly so. I’d had negative experiences with green teas in the past but I must say so far everything I’ve tried from Den’s has been very enjoyable. It helps you can use boiling water according to their instructions (why, I don’t know, but hey).

Also, this seems like it’d be fantastic iced. Can’t wait!

ETA: So I had like 6 cups of this today (using 2 teaspoons for the entire day’s worth and my new mana-tea infuser, yay! Not-so-little guy served me well). So good! I love how after you drink it you still have this lovely mouthfeel and flavor just like you’ve eaten really juicy pineapple (it’s similar to how Joy’s Teaspoon Lemon Zest gives you an oily citrus zest mouthfeel that lingers long after finishing the tea). I get it most at the roof of my mouth.

Man this is tasty. Brewing it smells like popcorn, no surprise there, and I love how vibrantly green it is in the cup! It tastes delicious, like a toasty, buttery snack with a fresh-veggies element from the green tea. Yum! No bitterness nor any of that overt grassiness that tends to keep me away from green teas. I also like that it doesn’t require a finicky brewing temp (my thermometer method is clunky). I could easily see this becoming an afternoon “snack”.

I chomped on the leaves afterwards this time, figuring they were definitely sweet and tender enough. They were. A little soy sauce and some sesame oil (with a sprinkle of sesame seeds for appearance) made them really tasty! Even Fiance ate some!

(I also bumped up the score from 99 to 100, because what can’t this tea do really?)

Fiance loves this tea! It must be magical.

And even if not, it’s so sooo good.

I’m stuck at home today waiting for the plumber (and then babysitting the plumber) because our dishwasher decided to stop draining last yet. Not the best set up for a good day. So I thought I’d break this in. No, I don’t know I’ve managed to let it sit a week without touching it either.

The dry leaf here smells like the freshest lawn clippings ever. And that is absolutely a good thing.

There was a little brewing hint enclosed advising that ramping up the first brewing temperature to 170-180 would bring out a stronger mouth and nose feeling, so I figured I’d try that first.

My first steeping was at 170 for 90 seconds, using the recommended rounded teaspoon per 2 oz.

I was blown away.

It’s grassy and subtly sweet with very very little astringency. It’s only at the bottom of my cup that I notice any dryness. There’s this wonderful savory brothiness going on too. My (probably bewildered) Fiance received a text that simply stated ‘You need to try this.’

I did a second steeping at the parameters on the package, as well (180 for 30 sec) The second steeping is similar to the first, only a little less full-bodied with more sweetness.

I can already tell this tea and I are going to be really really good friends.

I too received this as part of their $3 sampler. I don’t generally use tea bags so I tossed this in a bottle of water to try it cold brewed. Small amount of dust in the bag so I tossed it in too. Let it sit about 2 hours and gave it a taste test. Perfect timing! It was very refreshing.

I drank about half a bottle and refilled it to see if it would keep going. Much to my surprise it held on for the second brew. This is a very good standard sencha in my opinion. I will order more to have for this summers cold brews!

I’ve decided to tackle my Den’s sampler, that I’ve now had for over a year and barely made a dent in! Shouldn’t take long to get through most things :D

Anyhow, I hadn’t previously tried this one, but thankfully, it seems that age has not hurt it too badly. The flavour is roasty and sweet, and definitely kind of seaweedy. So not quite like genmaicha, especially as the toastiness is coming from the tea itself, not toasted rice. It’s certainly pretty tasty, however! I’d definitely be happy to add this into my “comforting evening teas” rotation. I suspect it would also suit a travel mug well, though I don’t think I have enough to try that.

Sipdown! I’m going to have to order more. Thank you to whoever it was many moons ago who recommended Den’s to me for their awesome genmaicha. I have been passing along the good advice! If you are new to genmaicha, just start at Den’s.

I was nervous to try this the recommended way – boiling! I recommend you try it though. I think this is my only green tea that can be steeped with boiling water and turn out perfect, with no bitterness.

Mmmm mmmm MMMMMMM. Den’s really does do genmaicha well. I used a tablespoon of leaf and it’s perfect. The toasty rice flavor is there and the leaves are nice and sweet. No bitterness. I’ve been trying to drink up another genmaicha I have that is going stale; I think it’s time to call it quits on that. Why force myself to drink stale tea when I have this in the cupboard?? I just feel terrible throwing tea out, knowing how much work goes into it…

This tea was nice, but I prefer Genmaicha over this because it has a vegetal taste that contrasts with the roasted flavour. I found Houjicha to be less interesting, but it is still very good.

I brewed this tea following Den’s tea instructions (2 grams of tea in 3 oz water for 1 min) and it was just perfect. It’s a really sweet green tea with no bitterness at all. It was very flavourful and I enjoyed it a lot.

I also tried brewing it using 2 grams of tea in 6 oz water and it was still sweet and delicious but not as flavourful.

I received this as a sample in my most recent Den’s order. This is meant to be thin match (Usacha). I was pleasently sursprised by the lack of bitterness. It was smooth and creammy, sweet and delicious! I immediately wanted more! The caffeine kick was amazing, move over coffee I just found your morning replacement. I will have to include this on my next order as I loved it so much.

I purchased this Matcha to make Matcha Au laut’s for my family. I am tired of paying a lot for Starbucks green tea fraps so this was an ideal alternative. I mixed it with Splenda packets and vanilla flavored almond milk and ice cubes in a blender and its a huge hit at home! My family thinks it tastes exactly like Starbucks offering.

I received this as a sample in my latest Den’s order and it was fabulous! I was hesitant that it would be strong and bitter but that couldnt be any further from the truth. It was smooth and refreshing. I let my wife taste it and she is not a green tea drinker and she enjoyed it also. I will definately be buying some on my next order.

Busting out the Kyusu for a little bit of Shincha before work today. Working on a Sunday is no fun! Shincha is delicious however :)

Finally making this tea properly with my new variable temp kettle! Deeeelish! I still prefer it a little weaker than the package directions. 2tsp in 8oz at 160.

Today brewed 2tsp with 8oz water at 170 degrees for 90 seconds. Mmmmm tasty! So fresh. I LOVE sniffing the dry leaf. Almost intoxicating just smelling it!

I made a cup of this last night brewed according to the package directions- 1 rounded tsp leaves with 2 oz water. I tried to boil the water and then wait for it to cool to the proper temperature. I don’t have a very sensitive thermometer so I don’t know if I brewed it properly or not! It was VERY strong though. I probably killed it. So this morning I brought 1.5 tsp to work with me in a paper filter and brewed it with around 8oz of water from the instant hot water machine in the break room. I really like it this time! Bottom line, this tea is very good but also very finicky! Tastes like a sweeter/brighter version of my favorite sencha :)

On the eve of my fist exam, I’m lucky enough to be destressing with a wonderful cup of this tea. It actually came in the mail this afternoon, but I was too busy to actually try it until now.

I opened the foil package and was greeted with a strong freshly cut grass aroma. Using my brew basket and barely-steaming water, I let the leaves steep in my mug for 30 seconds, which is my standard for Japanese greens. The flavor of this tea is really amazing, with a very intense yet sweet grass flavor and a smooth texture that is defying description at the moment. Finally, the aftertaste of the tea has a bit of a metallic feeling which builds over the course of 45 seconds and then slowly fades away. This is a really remarkable Japanese green, and it was well worth the wait.

Discovered my Novice sample kit I received last year, and this was still tucked in there. Sometimes Senchas can be a little too grassy for me, so at first, I was slightly hesitant.

There is some powder falling out of the bag, like a courser matcha. The aroma of the liquor is quite grassy, and conjures up images of grass clippings, but luckily, the flavour is a little sweeter. The grassiness comes out more as this starts to cool though.

It’s a good tea but I personally wouldn’t buy it.

NIce and roasty toasty. Could use a little more of the base green tea flavor in contrast to the toasted rice aroma and taste, but still very enjoyable. A solid genmaicha.