Den's Tea

I am having this iced tea; much awaited for because it has been a while since reviewing another of other Den’s teas. I followed the tea’s direction of placing one tea bag into one bottle of 18-20 oz water but I let it to steep overnight in the fridge; in the morning removing it and shaking gently each time prior to taking a sip.

I took this tea with me while out, it was a very difficult and humid day. I needed the cold drink. I find that the mint in this tea is not very potent but mildly minty. It is mixed with the Sencha tea leaves and this makes it more nutritious. The mint has a relaxing and calming effect and it did help to quench my thirst as I sip this tea throughout the day.

This Sencha green tea is mixed with both spearmint and peppermint and somehow manages to capture the mints’ essence without being overpowering. It really is lovely tea.

I need some kind of email reminder to post tea logs, since I seem to be too busy to remember to do it on my own lately! Heck, this probably already exists and I’m not tech savvy enough to realize it.

After I weaned myself off of my week of herbal tea, I opened up a bag of genmaicha for my work/school thermos and I’ve been drinking it almost every day since then. That roasty toasty flavor is really calming to me (also I’m happy to report my eye twitch went away).

I really love Den’s. They are easily one of my favorite sources for Japanese green, and now I actually wish I’d bought more genmaicha in my last order!

This was a really delicious Genmaichai and I was pleasantly surprised! The leaves are a lovely dark green and the flavor of the tea leaves themselves really shines through. There was a nice hint of toasty brown rice flavor. Definitely drinking this again. :)

A review of Genmaicha (Extra Green)Tea in Pyramids tea bags by Den’s Tea
Our Genmaicha teabag delivers the same great taste and freshness as our loose tea.

Ingredients: green tea, genmai, matcha
This extra green Genmaicha is in a pyramid teabag and I place this in my cup and pour the boiled water into the cup leaving to steep for 30 seconds with this first steep.
Tea is slightly darker in color
Tea’s aroma is a lovely popped rice, or those rice cripies treats, or when dieting those rice cakes.
When I taste this tea, I am met with that grainy texture with a nutty taste. Tea tastes naturally sweet with a full nutty flavor of the Genmaicha.

Having sampled several of Den’s Tea, I am reminded of the Genmaicha teas I had purchased last year at a Japanese grocery store and I still have some of those teas left. I can fully appreciate them all the more.

Another generous sample from Den’s Tea. This tea has a very strong grape flavor, the smell reminds me of grape fun dip. Now flavored teas are not my thing, especially green tea, with the exception of genmaicha. The first time I had this I steeped it for two minutes which is way too long, a minute is much more appropriate. The grape taste is actually very subtle and when paired with the cranberry cuts the sweetness with the tartness. Not bad but not my thing.

A review of Genmaicha Extra Green (with Matcha) by Den’s Tea

This is Den’s Tea special blend of Genmaicha with Matcha. This blend uses a tea ceremony grade of Matcha and quality Bancha.

Origin: Shizuoka
Harvest: A blend of First & Second Harvests

This tea smells lovely from first opening of the foil bag to the steeping of this tea and to finally drinking the tea.
It is suggested that this tea be steep for 30 second for the 1st steep; I take a rounded heaping teaspoon and put this in my cup and pour in the boiled water and left to steep. When the times seem right, I remove the covering from the tea and I am met with a very rich flavorful cup of tea. It is very green in color with the roasted brown rice floating loosely in my cup. At first it smells like popcorn, the kernels of corn not cooked at the bottom of the bag; and as the tea cools down I am met with a rice crispy kind of smell.

So this tea’s aroma is most invigorating as well as intoxicating. In tasting the tea, one is met with the rice’s grainy textures or the best wording is ‘nutty’. This 1st cup of tea is very filling, for a somewhat medium bodied tea.

I try this tea next with a 2nd steep for 15 second and adding the boiled water to my cup with the tealeaves already loose and immersed in the boiled water. The tea’s aroma with this short infusion is more vegetal and sweet and when tasted I am met with the matcha this time and not so much of the grainy texture of the rice.

1st infusion for 30 seconds yields a highly aromatic aroma in the tea. The tea’s color is green and the taste is very grainy; smelling/tasting like rice crispies.
2nd infusion for 15 seconds gives way to another layering to be found in this tea; the astringency of the matcha, giving this tea its natural sweetness with a slight astringency.

Overall, this tea is green in color with the 1st steeping to be more of roasted rice for aroma and flavor. With the 2nd steep tea is more grassy tasting, slight oceany taste to it as the matcha flavoring comes through.

A review of Houjicha Gold (Roasted Bancha) by Den’s Tea

Houjicha-Gold delivers a delightful and calming cup. Highly aromatic but gentle to your stomach with a low amount of caffeine.

Origin: Shizuoka
Harvest: Between First and Second Harvests

This Houjicha Gold calls for a very short steep, something I am not use to. I take a heaping teaspoon from the open packet and place this in my cup and add the boil water and left to steep for only 30 seconds.

Tea’s aroma is a very strong roasted cup of tea. It is medium bodied tea and the fluid’s color is darken brown. This tea is very woodsy and earthy smelling and taste like the Haiku tea I have sampled in recent past but this tea has leaves not twigs as did the Haiku tea.

I must say when I open the packet I was thinking this smelled like an over flowing ashtray with but ends of cigarettes. I am sorry; I do like the roasted and woodsy aroma that this tea conveys. And I think it would make a great ice tea…and perhaps adding Vodka to it since they both possess that drying effect when tasted. This is just a thought, and something to consider trying; Iced Houjicha Tea with vodka.

I also tried this tea with 2nd infusion for 15 second with boiled water added to my cup and it is less roasted in the aroma and much milder in the taste.

Backlog: The freshly opened package and smell of the dry leaves makes my mouth water!

There’s plenty of toasted rice aroma rising from this tea. The added Matcha seems to include the right amount of refreshing vegetal notes. The rice swells up nicely after infusion, without separating and becoming mushy.

The poured liquid is smooth, almost straight water smooth. There is also a warming and comforting element to this tea. It certainly put me in a better mood after a long day at work.

I find this tea perfect to enjoy halfway through the evening, either before or after dinner. It’s not for everyone, in fact, only my son and I found it delicious in this household.

A review of Sencha Fuka-midori by Den’s Tea

Date: 09/10/2012
Company: Den’s Tea
Tea Name: Sencha Fuka-midori
Tea Type/Varietal: Green
Region: Shizuoka, Japan
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: Cup/leaf
Plucking Season: First Flush
Liquor Color: light green
Leaf Characteristics: Tea leaves are finely cut and smells soft and green; grassy outdoor like after having cut the grass. And there is hint of roasting smell when one opens the sealed bag of tea with leaves.

Once steep for few minutes the leaves smells of moisture, that greenish vegetable smell of steam cut green beans or broccoli. It is a sweet smell, very pleasant to the palate.

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 180 Fahrenheit
Time: 1 minute

Note: This tea’s aroma is wonderfully green veggies like. It has a delicate sweetness upon smelling and tasting it with a very mild astringency. Overall this tea has a flowery light aroma with a light green color.

2nd Steeping:
Water temperature: 160 Fahrenheit
Time: 30 seconds to 1 minute

Note: With the water slightly cooler and shorter steep I find that the tea’s color is still a light green and creamy lightness in tasting of green veggies. This time there is hardly any astringency with this second cup. It is now a very pleasant tasting cup of tea.

I am looking forward to steeping the leaves a bit longer with the hope of getting that heady green veggie smell or that freshly raw melon dew aroma as the leaves settle at the bottom of my tea jug for this day.

Thank you, Den’s Tea for making such fine Green teas.

A review of Sencha Fuka-midori Tea by Den’s Tea

I am continuing with the tasting of Sencha teas; As I opened the sealed foiled packet and inhaling the leaves aroma as being fresh and very vegetal; that cut grass smell. I take one rounded teaspoon and place this in my cup, I than add the boil water to my cup and with this 1st infusion steeping time is for 60 seconds.

I pour the tea (removing the leaves from the cup) into a clean cup and notice that the tea is a very light green color and smells very vegetal and making me think this tea might be slightly astringent in the taste. And I am not disappointed; there is a slight bitterness when I taste the tea. The scent is slightly roasted with a wet grass kind of smell.

With the 2nd infusion, using same leaves I pour some newly boiled water into my cup and let this steep for only 15 seconds. Tea is steamy and the leaves are full and in bits now and the astringency is not so prevalent as with 1st steep and the teas natural sweetness comes through more so with this short infusion.

I am to note that this is a tea that one can drink all day, everyday even, without getting bored with it.

I do like how with the shorter steeps that the tea is more sweet and does not require for anything to be added. And I am able to get several more steeps out of the leaves to continue to enjoy it for the morning and into the afternoon even.

I must say thank you to Den’s Tea for making such wonderful teas.

A review of Japanese Green tea bag Sencha (in Pyramid tea bags) by Den’s Tea

This is the same great quality Sencha that they offer loose, with the added convenience of a teabag.

Ingredients: green tea

I am having this tea steeped for 90 seconds with water temperature at 180 Fahrenheit/80 Celsius. With the pyramid tea bag it is easier to view the leaves as they did not unfold much. They remained the same but the tea’s aroma comes through as being very vegetal and mildly sweet roasting flavor. It smelled of roasted rice actually.

When I take a sip of this tea, I am met with a grainy texture and reminded a bit of the Genmaicha teas that I have enjoyed in the past. Yet this is not a Genmaicha but a Sencha tea. It definitely has a roasting quality to it and there is a delicate sweetness to be found in this cup of Sencha tea.

Overall, this tea is lovely; it is mildly green tea with slight astringency and sweetness at the same time. It is good tea. Thank you Den’s Tea for adding this sampler with my order.

The roasted and nicely toasted notes of the rice with the smooth vegetal tones from the matcha make for a very pleasant cup!

At first sip of this tea you find a soothing and very mild liquid, although there is no passivity in the flavor at all. The tea is captivating and controls the senses, demanding more indulgence of this fine leaf.

There is some sort of expectation that one may find some small bits of toasted rice hidden away somewhere in the cup; and strangely, the thought of possibly adding milk (of which I haven’t at this point – yet;), it’s such a likeable combination. It also gives me thoughts of eating a bowl of Rice Krispies, I guess this is where the thoughts of the milk come from.

This sample makes me desiring for more, which was unexpected. I guess it’s time to update the shopping list!

This tea reminds me altogether of why I love tea! There is no question of my feelings towards Japanese Sencha and this tea provides plenty of answers to the inquisitive mind of any newcomer to green tea. Plainly put, this tea is delicious!

The leaves are beautifully deepened and darker in hue of green and the liquid is a wonderful green lemonade color. The taste of the first pour is smooth and resembles a quality spinach smoothie. The 3rd steeping is my favorite, as it brings out the sweeter and floral notes of the leaves.

As wonderful as this tea brews, it’s making it very difficult to move on to the next round of tea tasting for the day. Thank you, Den’s Tea and your expertise for this fine sample!

So I haven’t been reviewing teas too much in the last few weeks and thats mostly been because of the insanely hot and miserable weather here in chicago, as well as most of America. Its been so hot even the effort of making ice tea was too much. However, I just got AC so now I keep my room at a brisk 65 degrees and I’m always in the mood for tea. This genmaicha came in a generous sampler box from Den’s tea. I’ve had genmaicha with matcha before and it’s actually my favorite way to have genmaicha, the sweet matcha paired with the nuttiness of the genmaicha. This genmaicha isn’t bad but isn’t my favorite. As someone else mentioned there is definitely more of a seaweed salty taste as opposed to the matcha sweetness and the nuttiness doesn’t really pop out. I know the quality of matcha heavily effects the taste and the higher quality ones tend to be sweeter and less like seaweed. Not bad but I’ll stick to my tried and true genmaichas.

Got this in a generous sampler box from den’s tea. I’m very used to drinking roasted greens from china so it was nice to mix it up with this Japanese roasted green tea. This Houjicha is wonderfully roasted with a caramel sweetness, it never gets too ashy. It almost reminds me of a roasted Taiwanese oolong, but with a little more sweetness. A great afternoon tea and perfect after a greasy meal.

I got this as a surprise sample from Azzrian! I love sakura flavored teas, so I was kind of giddy upon finding it in my box. It’s been way too hot for hot-brewing tea so I decided to cold brew this—I actually meant to yesterday but it totally slipped my mind, so it was done overnight. I know some people are pretty specific about how long they cold brew stuff but I’ve found it nearly impossible to overseep anything in cold water so my usual time is 12+ hours, I put everything in around midnight and get to it when I wake up (I’m a night owl!).

The leaves for this are so pretty—dark, rich sencha interspersed with these perfect little pearls of cherry blossoms. It’s almost too pretty to put in water! But the smell is too enticing to just let this sit around. Sakura is a lot lighter than that heavy cherry flavor you can get from some teas (and I dislike that) so this blend is perfect for me. Iced it’s fantastic. You get the buttery sencha with the slightest hint of grassiness, followed by the delicate sweet floral taste from the cherry blossoms. It’s fruity, but so lightly so that it’s not at all overpowering. This is a dainty cup of tea for sure. Thanks so much Azzrian for letting me try out this gem!

Ummmm…. deliciousness! I didn’t recall having this previously (though I apparently did), and got such a shock when I drank some, because it’s so incredibly tasty! Roasty, sweet, nutty, almost chocolatey. I thought I had perhaps ruined it by using boiling water, but clearly not (and I see now that the instructions also suggest to use boiling water).

Anyways, this is really quite good. I feel like at some point, I should make an effort to try all the roast/toasty/unconventional green teas, because I suspect there are some I will really enjoy – like this one! Thanks Mercuryhime :D

ETA: Re-steeps = fabulous. First infusion is the best, though.

Sigh. I am going to fail in my quest tonight. But 4/8 isn’t too bad. (I realized after that there are two teas I haven’t tried from Amanda, so that one didn’t count. Sigh.) I guess I’ll get to the other four tomorrow.

Anyhow, this one’s from Mercuryhime, and I did a bad thing and brewed it up prior to my run, so didn’t drink it until probably 2 hours post-brewing, all total. The re-steeps of a couple other teas I drank didn’t handle that two hours of sitting so well, but this one actually did! It was sweet, nutty, and roasty, reminding me of genmaicha. Also, there was a lovely green tea-ish aftertaste. I actually really enjoyed it! I am going to enjoy a re-steep of it shortly, as I push through my exercise-fuelled exhaustion to package up at least some of the swap samples I have yet to do. I am such a swap delinquent!

ETA: I forgot to note that the second infusion of this one was pretty delicious too, and I drank it cold (room temp). Third infusion suffers only from the leaves having sat too long; I think they could go a lot farther than this if fresh! This tea is delicious.

This is GOOD, it is one from my sampler and we’ll chalk this up to another good green! I get a nice toasted flavor to this tea from the toasted rice. But I think its the matcha bringing the hint of sweet the cup. There isn’t much veggie to this tea for me and I am liking that. I did get the pouch variety with the sample, but if/when I order I would get loose. Really who knew I could actually learn to like green tea?

Yay, genmaicha! I’m trying this using one of the filters they provided in my sample kit, which is très convenient because the matcha isn’t settling to the bottom of my mug.

The bright green colour of the dry leaf is lovely. Looks and smells fresh.

The addition of matcha here makes this a little more vegetal, and maybe a touch sweeter too. The rice is as toasty as ever, which balances out that extra green vegetal vibe.

Very well done, Den’s Tea. Although I’ll admit that I’m old-fashioned and still prefer my genmaicha on the toastier side.

So, I thought I would do a side-by-side comparison of this tea and the Ujinotsuyu Genmaicha I reviewed the other day. As a side note, Ujinotsuyu’s Genmaicha is a cheaper Genmaicha you can find in Asian supermarkets. I get it at around $5.50 for a 400g bag. I know it’s not exactly a viable comparison since this contains matcha, but whatever, a Den’s vs grocery store tea death match shall happen.

I steeped both for thirty seconds and in the same type of glass. Right away I noticed the difference in the colours of the liquors. I normally drink my tea in a solid-coloured mug. Through the clear glasses, Ujinotsuyu’s is a clear, muted brownish-yellow colour, while Den’s is more translucent and greener. It kind of reminds me of Gatorade but not as electric.

As expected, Den’s smells grassier. Still toasted, but that matcha boosts the scent of the tea above the roasted rice. Ujinotsuyu’s, on the other hand, is basically mostly toasty with a hint of green tea.

Den’s even tastes grassier upon the first sip or two. The rice is in the background, however, the taste of the matcha and Bancha are not as vegetal as the scent. Yet, the more I sip this, and the more this cools off, the more the roasted rice pops. It slowly catches up to the tea flavours and that slightly vegetal bite fades. This definitely has more flavour than Ujinotsuyu’s, but because the matcha makes the green tea flavours more vivid, whereas Ujinotsuyu’s is more delicate on the overall, but in a way, more well-rounded if you’re specifically looking for that toastiness.

Both teas have their merits. Den’s has a fresher taste due to the pop of matcha and reminds me of spring, while the other tea reminds me of a warm, crackling fire in the winter.

I just restarted the 30 Day Shred, completed day two yesterday, and today, I am so sore that I can barely walk, so I’m taking the day off and enjoying some tea.

The second I snipped open the sample packet of this, the sweet aroma of cherry danced around me. It was definitely the fruit (more like a cherry candy, though) and not sakura. But sniffing the tea up close, it was straight up Sencha. In all its vegetal glory.

Venturing into the area of taste, this is very fresh, and well, Sencha-y. Slightly vegetal, but not as much as I’d expected. But then there’s the cherry gently woven into the tea base. It’s so subtle. Slightly tart, but just barely so. The more I sip this though, the less cherry I get. I think as this starts to cool, the remnants of the cherry slowly fade into nothing.

It’s a pleasant, buttery cup.

I’m trying to like green teas. In fact there is one I like from another company but you’ve seen those posts… So thanks to AmyOh for letting me know about the Den’s tea sampler only available to new customers. It came with five green teas and a booklet on green teas. PLUS I also got a little sample of the tea of the month!

We went out to dinner tonight (thankfully as I did not want to cook) with some of my husbands frat brothers. They’d heard about a local place that served up exotic burgers along with those made from beef. His friend were bent on getting a Lion burger!! Which they did and I tried, it was good. I opted for a lobster burger (YUM!) which came with some fries with crazy hot spices on them. We also got a banana date dessert on the house because well we were awesome.

Right…the tea. Well, I was very full after such a great meal and wanted something on the lighter side when I got home. So I figured I’d give this one a go. I have to say I like it. Mostly because it doesn’t taste like grass like most sencha I’ve had does. In fact it is very light and crisp. The liquid in the cup is very green, but very good. I think this one might be a keeper. Of course I’d also like to try their loose leaf version too. Very refreshing after a long day at work and an interesting dinner out.