Den's Tea

This was the first sencha I ever tried that wasn’t one of those prepackaged loose leaf variants from the local Japanese markets. I was looking to taste a higher quality sencha (but not spend too much at first) to see what I had been missing, and after lurking through various tea forums, Den’s tea appeared to be the best in value and quality. So I ordered 2 oz from Den’s and received the tea nicely packaged in a sealed air tight foil bag with an oxygen absorber inside. I really liked how Den’s pays so much attention at preserving the tea’s freshness and the detailed presentation of the package, containing all the information and instructions needed about the tea you just bought.

The tea itself has a very nice sweet grassy aroma and the leaves had a vivid dark green color to them. Compared to store bought senchas, you can definitely smell the freshness of this tea, like recently picked leaves. The dry leaves were mostly made of long and short broken needles.

I prepared this tea using a Japanese Kyusu and following the suggested brewing guidelines of 180F water and 1 min steep time for the first brew (the second brew I used boiling water and 15 sec steep time as directed by Den’s).

The first brew gave me a bright green cup with a fresh “green” aroma. It reminded me of freshly cut grass with a hint of seaweed in the mix. The taste was very enjoyable. It had a refreshing grassy flavor, sweet, and slightly astringent. The second brew was done with boiling water and I steeped it just for 15 seconds. The tea came out with a much darker opaque green color. The aroma remained the same, but the taste became a bit heartier with more a pronounced astringent finish. I only brewed this tea twice.

The wet leaf had a very seaweedy smell with cooked veggies in between. The leaves also had a very nice bright green color.

Overall, I found this tea quite enjoyable and love to pair it with Japanese food. Loved the freshness this tea offers compared to the store bought versions. I enjoyed the first brew better than the second as it was slightly sweeter but still, I appreciated the robust flavor of the second.

I’m really not a huge drinker of Japanese greens. I think. I’m just drinking through a lot of it lately because when I’m not looking for the caffeine-rush of huge mugs of strong western-brewed black tea, it comes down to the fancy oolongs, chinese greens, and whites, which I brew in my gaiwan, and Japanese greens. And I just don’t feel like breaking out the fancy gongfu setup lately, so Japanese greens it is. But I think they’re really starting to grow on me, the more I drink them.

I love to nibble on rice crackers when I’m drinking this stuff; the ones I pick up from the Asian grocery that I can’t read any of the text on. But they’re crunchy, savory with a bit of sweetness, glazed in soy sauce (or something flavored like it), and sprinkled in black sesame seeds. The pairing is just addicting.

But anyway, the tea. It’s a very fine tea, the kind of tea that, after the first steeping, falls away from the inside of your kyusu in one green glop. I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds. Okay, it’s not pretty, but it smells wonderful.

At the first sip, I was honestly a bit shocked at the strength of the flavor compared to the lightness of the color. I am finding myself more and more drawn to that grassy, vegetable flavor in Japanese greens, and this has plenty of it.

In my (limited) experience, the second steeping of teas like this holds more flavor than the first. I got all excited as I poured water for the second pot into my kyusu and watched that green blob dissolve into a thick, green soup. The resulting tea was wonderfully cloudy, and held just a bit of astringency with even more of that rich vegetable-soup flavor. No, at that point it was a little less vegetable-y and more…meaty, almost. Wonders never cease; I’ll never understand how a leaf and a bone broth can taste so similar.

My taste in Japanese greens isn’t terribly refined, I’m afraid. Still feeling under the weather and lacking in a sense of smell, this is something else I’ll have to try again later and see how it compares.

This is probably a completely inaccurate rating, as I am pretty sick right now and can barely taste anything. I’m not sure why I thought to brew up one of my higher-end teas while ill, but I did it anyway, and I may as well write about it.

This is my third time trying to brew this tea; I’ve been having quite a struggle with it. I’ve wanted to try gyokuro for a long time and considering, from what I hear, its picky-ness with brewing parameters, I figure I would start with something…economical.

Well, the first time I tried, I guess the water was too hot—incredible, puckering astringency that only got stronger. The second time I think it was too cool, and tasted like nearly nothing. This time I stuck with the cooler temperature (140-145), upped the leaf ratio to 1g/1oz, and forced myself, against all my past experiences, to let it steep for a full 90 seconds. I have an incredibly low tolerance for bitterness, and will often brew my sencha at a lower temp and for a shorter time than most people, so it was hard to make myself actually steep this as long as I did, but it was worth a shot.

The resulting first cup was interesting— it was mostly smooth and mellow and, I think “brothy” is the word most tea-snobs use. But it was flecked with these “spots” it seemed, of sharp astringency that was just a little offputting, but interesting. I kind of want to attribute this to the many bits of leaves that passed through the strainer, but no idea if that was really the case. It felt wonderful going down though, even if I couldn’t taste it very well. Kind of a chicken soup sort of feel.

The second infusion was even better— stronger in flavor and lacking those little sharp points of astringency (which again would make sense if the flecks of leaf were a cause, since most of them were washed out in the first steeping). By the third steeping it had mellowed out and I couldn’t taste much (but again, my nose feels like someone managed to cram an entire sock into it right now).

I forgot to mention I’m using my little 2oz green kyusu from Den’s Tea. It is the cutest little thing and gyokuro seems to be my best excuse to use it. Sometimes— I know this is probably the most uncultured and rude-sounding behavior in the tea world, but I can’t help myself— I enjoy sipping the tea straight from the tiny spout. Shhhh.

I actually ended up re-steeping this many, many more times, probably around 10-15. Weird as it sounds, that warm, grassy water went a long way in helping me feel better.

It’ll be interesting to duplicate these brewing parameters again when I’m feeling better and see if it’s actually any good. I’m a little skeptical of my own tastes right now, since I tried a bit of my boyfriend’s orange spice tea that had apparently been accidentally left steeping for half an hour, and thought it was pretty good. Which makes me think I should be using my temporary taste-loss as an opportunity to sip through all my cheap and/or stale tea that I need to clear out, instead of drinking higher-end stuff like this. But it’s hard to regret it; I really did enjoy this tea!

“Best enjoyed by August 2011” Um, oops.

It’s not that I haven’t had this tea in over a year, it’s that I apparently suck at FIFO’ing my tea; I’ve been using the fresher packets with no knowledge that this one existed. But I dug it out while doing tea inventory and kind of felt bad for neglecting it.

So today I find out what, uh, “aged Genmaicha” tastes like. It’s not bad. Just kind of flat and not a whole lot of flavor. It’s still got the nice toastiness I love from the brown rice, but that really dominates over everything else. I guess the rice doesn’t lose its flavor as quickly as the actual tea.

Japanese greens are wonderful, but they seem to go stale so much more quickly than other teas (the processing method, I believe) so I try not to keep a lot of them on hand at once. Too bad it’s not really economical to order one packet of tea at a time with shipping costs and all.

It’s kind of a shame; this is one of my favorite Japanese green teas when it hasn’t been lost in a dark corner for years. I am sorry, tea, I will try to be a bit more vigilant about drinking you before you go stale >:

This is pretty much my staple Genmaicha. It seems to be light enough on caffeine that I can drink it in the evenings or on days when caffeine just isn’t sitting well with me. It’s not a blow-you-out-of-the-water-and-knock-your-socks-off kind of tea, but the toastiness is very comforting and the matcha adds a lovely sweetness, not to mention a nice color. I probably drink this on at least a weekly basis, preferably alongside some soy-glazed brown rice balls.

Sip down. Used a little more leaf than normal. Steep 1 minute. Oh my goodness is this hitting the spot today. I cannot believe my tastes have changed so much that I would ever say that about a Japanese green. It used to be the bane of my tea existence. What’s more, Bancha is supposed to be a people’s tea – of a lower grade than Sencha. I guess I am just a peasant at heart because this is wonderful.

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss, I would never have tried this on my own. I intend to re-steep this the rest of the work day.

The dry leaf looks like tiny grass clippings. Faint grassy aroma. Steeped 1 ½ tsp for 1 ½ minutes at about 180d. The liquor is clear with a faint green tint. The leaf unfolded to reveal shredded pieces. The wet leaf smells like stew beef, it’s making me hungry. Poured into the cup this takes on a faint grassy aroma.

The sip is vegetal – like broccoli and spinach maybe, becoming grassier as it cools, but never a heavy grassiness. There is the tiniest bit of bitterness. The aftertaste has some fruitiness in it. Cups 2 and 3 were equally tasty.

If green is your thing, this is an easy one to love. Interesting, complex, and you don’t have to work at enjoying it. A wonderful tea. Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sharing this one. It is a winner.

Genmaicha is a tea that I return to again and again; I love the roasted flavours of the rice with the delicious green. I’ve had some really good Genmaichas, and I’ve had some … not so good ones. This though… beats all. The tea does not turn bitter at all, or at least it didn’t for me – and I played around quite a bit with my water temps and steep times.

Very well balanced, and a great quality of green tea with this one. The roasted rice flavours didn’t dissappear either wich made me happy. Initially, I was slightly saddened when I saw this is my steepster selects box as I already have two other kinds of Genmaicha on the go right now. But I steeped it up anyways – and it blew me away. So glad to try this one, and will likely be on the lookout for more when my stash runs out.

Thanks Steepster!

This is a remarkable Sencha – very full-flavored … brothy! Very smooth and vegetative. Grassy … like a savory grassy flavor with hints of sweet. Not a bitter savory, although there are some bitter notes in there, but it is more of a well-rounded savory kind of experience for the palate. Very nice.

I may add more, or adjust the rating, since this is just my initial impression, however, without further adieu —

The dry leaf smells nice, definitely citrusy.
The leaf after infusion is really interesting. It is very savory, like spices from a dry rub marinade…do I detect lemon pepper? basil? sage? I think so.

The citrus from the yuzu is very nice; it is an enjoyable tart and a bit sweet, rather than sour. The kukicha is not overly strong, but is sweet and very approachable. This is a very fun tea, and like the other flavored options from Den’s, they seem to have done a very good job of adding a good flavor without taking from the excellent tea base.

First foray in to the realm of matcha . . . I like it a lot. Been drinking it every day.

A lovely Genmaicha. Warm, toasty flavors but with a vibrant, fresh flavor in the background. Very nice.

I’ve been drinking this occasionally over the past few weeks but forgot to log it. I rather like it! It’s much milder than the powdered sencha. Sweeter, and hay-like. My boyfriend is a big fan of Den’s powdered sencha and stands by that, but I find this more pleasant to drink in the winter. It’s like gently flavoured water when I use it with more than the suggested amount of water, and even cold it’s warming somehow (I haven’t tried it hot yet). Plus, perfect format for work.

This is an excellent Bancha, one of the best that I’ve tried (I should mention that I’ve not tried a lot of Bancha, but I’ve had a few). It has a very robust flavor … strongly vegetative, with hints of butter and I am getting a strong savory quality to this too … it kind of reminds me of miso broth with a teensy bit of seaweed in it. But, I like this MUCH better than I like seaweed (which I don’t really like at all, to be honest). But it has that same salty, savory, briny kind of taste to it.

A very satisfying cup.

Fantastically vegetal. Serene, calm. Very green, very delicious.

This is a really uplifting cup of tea. I actually got worried about this after ordering it by reading several “sour” descriptions of yuzu, never having encountered yuzu before. But it really works here. This tastes pretty much like Den’s sencha with matcha, though lighter on the matcha. Then there’s an added, citrusy tang at the end of the sip. I would describe it as more sour than sweet, but not in a mouth-puckering way. It just makes a very fresh-tasting tea. Very nice. Though it still doesn’t stand up to the pineapple sencha for me!

This tea doesn’t seem the worst for wear after being stuck in the back of my cupboard for awhile. It smells quite similar to apple juice or apple cider – from those tart, green, granny smith apples in particular, I think. The tea has a nice, subtle green apple flavout that blends quite well with the grassy sencha base. It yields a nice resteep too and manages to hold onto the apple notes unlike some flavoured teas that only stay flavoured for their first steep.

This was a gentle, toasty green. In other genmaichas I’ve had the rice taste made it strong and unpleasant. This was quite yummy, easy to drink.

This is my first traditional Genmaicha. I’ve had it only with matcha, so it is nice to have it the traditional way. The dry leaf smelled nice a nutty, while the wet leaf smelled like burnt popcorn. Nice to have a old “poor mans” classic Japanese tea. The “people’s tea” :).

Refreshing, subtle, and tasty! A lovely sweet apple taste, but I think I’ll try this at a lower temperature than suggested next time to see if I can get the sencha to come out to play a little more. It is very warming and calming. More fitting for fall/winter, but it doesn’t quite live up to the pineapple sencha. I want to live in my bag of pineapple sencha.

Interesting aroma: nutty and a bit toast-like. The roasted rice gives this tea a really strong, but nice taste. Totally different from other teas I’ve had.

I love this tea, and I love Den’s.

This is like sweet, roasted nuts. It is making my head and stomach feel better. It’s so comforting. And, completely obscenely well-priced.

What is it about this tea that is so addictive? I had to bump my rating up a few points, as I have turned to this buttery green tea once again, this time brewing it exactly as Den’s recommends. 1st steep, 1 minute with boiling water (!!!), 2nd steep for 15 seconds with boiling water.

This is the only loose leaf green that actually tastes better when made with boiling water. Most are best at 180 F or below, but this tea is just so much more forgiving. As other have recommended, I have cold brewed this bancha, ice brewed it on one occasion and never had a bad cup of tea. Not terribly complex, but refreshing, bright and nice vegetal flavor. Thanks Den’s Tea for offering such great Japanese teas!