Den's Tea

I received a generous foil pouch from Den’s in their Green Tea Sampler, and have been able to steep it three different times. Admittedly, I am not a fan of cherry-flavored items, but the sakura in this tea was not artificial or overpowering. You can smell it in both the aroma and taste it as a subtle tartness that balances well with the grassy sencha. The first steep was prepared in 45 seconds, and the second at the recommended 15 seconds to avoid bitterness. A relaxing, but uplifting cuppa for spring mornings! Too bad Den’s is sold out of this variety for the year…

Cold Brew Backlog!

I’m almost out of this, but I have more on the way, YAY! I’m finding I really enjoy flavored senchas cold brewed, and nothing could be quicker or easier! I will be doing this a lot this spring and summer, I think.

Started my day today with a big to-go cup of this iced. Had a tough time at an outdoor art fest with 100+ degree heat indexes today. After this tea I just drank gallons of water till later on when I got home. Glad it’s over with. Probably one of my least favorite art fairs ever!

Man, this one is hella good cold! I’m definitely going to end up finishing my pouch this summer iced :)

My first cold steep! I put 1 tablespoon of leaves in 2 cups water in a mason jar in the fridge over night and took out the leaves and drank it with my lunch today. Tasty!!!!

SO good iced! So good!!!

Mmmm, this is great! Most of the time I do not sweeten my straight sencha/gyokuro, so I wasn’t sure if I would want to sweeten this one or not. Seems pretty good unsweetened which is a WIN!

Brewing up some hojicha and catching up on Doctor Who. Nice and roasty brew with some apricot and celery notes. When I got this sample I didn’t put in my steepster cupboard, and ended up forgetting I had it. Glad it reappeared :)

Brewed a heaping teaspoon at 160 degrees in 8 oz of water for 90 seconds. This comes out a lovely, very pale green color. It smells like toasted rice, with a touch of hay. It has a savory, rice-like flavor. I love this, but I can’t really tell the difference between this and the Den’s Tea Sencha Fuka-midori. This one is maybe lighter and less spinachy. Yum.

This is still so lovely. Alas, it’s a sipdown. On the other hand… yay, another sipdown!

Mmmm. This is a great palate cleanser. Clean, toasty, roasty goodness. Green tea at 9pm probably isn’t the best idea I’ve ever had, but I needed something proper and savory to get out the taste of my previous drink. Definitely something that I’d like to keep in stock if I can actually get my numbers under control first.

This poor tea. I’ve rather abused it today. Totally imprecise (too close to boiling) temperatures and unmeasured steep times. And you know what? It’s still darn good.

I used half a teaspoon for 4 ounces. I’m currently on my third steep and it’s still holding up nicely. I’m getting a lot of rice flavor and savoriness, rather evocative of miso soup. As usual, Den’s Tea impresses.

So first let me say that I don’t have the supplies to brew this tea properly using the traditional guidelines. I did my best to approximate, using a heaping teaspoon in 8 oz of approximately 180 degree water, steeped for 90 seconds.

This smells FANTASTIC. Like toasted rice or savory popcorn. The color is a light greenish-yellow. Based on the color and short brew time, I was worried that it would taste weak. Not at all! It tastes like hay and toasted rice (in a good way, I promise). Spinachy. I’m not picking up on any sweetness or astringency. Just nice and savory and a great complement to dessert. Or after dessert. Or on a cold rainy day when you’ve come home late during a thunderstorm and your suit is soaked and you need something warm to relax.

This is the first of the green tea sampler that Den’s Tea sent me. I really hope the rest are as good as this one. If they are, I expect I’ll be making purchases from them soon.

Sipdown, 182. Thanks to Ellen for this sample!

Today I learned when it comes to Japanese green tea, follow the f#%king directions. This time I followed Den’s directions exactly. And this tea is delicious. Really quite amazing. Chestnutty, which is my favorite green tea note, and so sweet! I was amazed when I took the first sip. It is fairly green and grassy too, but those nutty, buttery sweet notes are amazing.

Second steep, also following their directions, is a little stronger, edging on astringent. Defintiely very spinachy. I preferred the first steep, but this one is still pretty tasty. But that first steep alone was worth the experience because it was so tasty. I haven’t played with Japanese green teas much before (part of why I requested the samples from Ellen), but with an introduction like this it’s definitely a fun new genre that I could see myself experimenting more with in the future.

I didn’t think genmaicha tea would be as enjoyable as my refreshing sencha or energizing and umami-filled matcha, but a Den’s Tea sampler arrived quickly at my doorstep to defeat such notions. Immediately after ripping open the silver pouch, saturated green matcha powder and the scent of toasted rice greeted me. In terms of steeping, for fear of bringing out too much matcha bitterness, I allowed boiling water to cool for about 3 minutes before steeping for exactly 30 seconds. A muddy, but bright green cup was produced that both smelled and tasted wonderful. As you bring the cup towards you, the scent of seaweed and toasted rice wafts up. There was a slight, lingering bitterness that followed the smooth, vegetal beginning. As the tea drew nearer to the bottom of my cup, the seaweed flavor became more present. Definitely a treat for the senses and worthy of a try, especially if rice-based snacks elicit nostalgic memories for you (ahh…bin bin rice crackers).

This sencha never fails me. Still my favorite.