Den's Tea

From my frozen stash.
I thawed the tea out before steeping. (For about the time for boil and cool to proper temp)
Used about 3.5 oz. of water.
Poured it out of the kyusu in the method recommended by Dens Tea (a little at a time)
Probably need to speed this part up because the tea had a bitter/astringent character not normally found in early teas.
Rich “green” aroma, heavy umami finish with the astringency noted earlier.
Second pot with a bit more water and faster pouring yielded a nicer cup.
I guess the lessonl is that if you want color – pour slow but you’ll have a bitter cup.

Got a sample of this with my last order from Den’s. I pouted when I saw it because I rarely like flavored teas. That being said, this is good! I also didn’t believe it would be creamy, but it is. And, yeah, pineapple scent is super strong. I opened the bag and went, “Yep, that’s pineapple assaulting my nose.” Yum. I would definitely buy this again for my friends who do really like flavored senchas.

This tea reminds me of autumn. It’s toasty and woody, and just tastes warm somehow. I know, it’s hot tea, but the flavor makes me feel especially warm and relaxed. You know that happy feeling you get when the leaves start to change color in fall and you think about curling up with a soft blanket, a good book, and a cup of tea? If that feeling had a flavor, that’s what flavor this tea would be.

I’m almost through my sample of this. I think I may have brewed it with a little too much water, as the flavor is lighter compared to last time I had it. I’m using a new teapot (also from Den’s) since my dad accidentally broke the one I got from the puritea a few days ago. Still getting used to the size.

I got this as a sample from Den’s a few weeks ago, but I’ve been putting off drinking it because I’m not a fan of flavored teas. Or iced teas, for that matter.

Today I had to drive around in hot weather for a couple hours, so I popped this in a water bottle last night to take with me. I like how convenient it is.

It tastes exactly like how it sounds. Minty, and then you get the bitterness of the green tea plus that vegetal aftertaste on the back of your tongue. They work pretty well together, especially for hot weather. I probably wouldn’t buy it again, but I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who likes iced tea, if only because it’s so simple to make.

I love how green Den’s teas are! This one is a light yellow-green, about the same color as the second smiley face on the tea rating slider.

I bought this tea for my mom because she has been trying to drink tea without sugar. This one is perfect for that. Barely astringent, light, and sweet. The second steep tastes a little more vegetal, but it’s still really refreshing.

Nice sweetness and vegetable character. Not a great deal of intensity, just some restrained sweet and grassy flavour notes. Good but not especially memorable.

Buy Again: Probably not

2010 version: Quite strong (and interesting) roast green bean, spinach and seaweed elements here. Good lift, remains fresh even with the strength of flavour and aroma.

Price: $19.75 for 56g
Buy Again: Maybe

Drank this tea for breakfast this morning. Amazing, as always. I go back and forth on whether I prefer this or Den’s Genmaicha Satsuki, but the sweetness of the matcha really hit the spot this morning.

I love the roasted rice flavor in this. It reminds me of eating noo roong ji, the rice that sticks to the bottom of the rice cooker.

This is my daily drinker now. It’s bright green and tasty! The first cup contains a greater portion of the matcha and thus is sweeter than normal genmaicha. I generally get about four infusion from 4g of it. Cheaper than sencha, but more interesting then standard genmaicha!

I got this from Den’s sampler pack when I went to buy some green tea for my mom. I only chose Den’s because it happens to be a few blocks away from my house, so I can just go pick up my orders instead of waiting for shipping. I was really happy to find out that the tea is quite good!

I brewed this with only 3 oz of water, like Den suggests. Such a small cup of tea, but I like the strong taste. It’s just the right amount of bitter, with a bit of that sweet vegetal taste that green tea has. I find it very refreshing. A yummy way to start the day.

I froze a package of this tea from the spring.
Because it is frozen in the bag – the aroma is not there.
I let it thaw out in the brewing vessel (kyusu) while the water boils.
Been steeping one rounded teaspoon in approx 3 oz of 180F water for 45 seconds on the first steep.
160F and 45 seconds for subsequent steepings (I manage to get four good steepings from the pot this way.

First cup has wonderful, delicate cherry aroma, and I agree with ~lauren, the flavor is sencha (balanced between sweet and bitter), with minimal umami tones, and a buttery finish.

The subsequent steepings are a sencha flavor, slightly less intense and just a trace of cherry aroma. The buttery quality in the finish diminishes with each steeping.

I love this tea.

An awesome iced tea!

First time brewing: Used about 4-5 grams. Very tasty, but sort of weak; I think I usually use more than 5 grams for my big cup (probably around 10 grams). Next time I’ll either double the tea or halve the water. Even with this weak brew, the buzz was quite potent. Might be order-worthy if brewed stronger. Might try less heat, more time, too.

Extremely fine, dark leaves on this one. Has a very nice, subtle vegetal taste. Definitely a good quality Sencha. Fairly complex as well. Has a strange, and oddly familiar aroma that reminds me of something unrelated to tea. Not an overload of sea-weed taste, has a deep sweetness to it that’s hard to describe.

Easy to make, and a little goes a long way. I throw a bag in a litre of water so the next day I have something easy to drink. It’s my new summer staple.

As many have recently reviewed (this being the free sample of last month), I tried Den’s version today for the first time.
Strangely enough, I have a decent amount of experience drinking barley tea. In Seoul, I had it for the first time in a restaurant and it was so good I bought it again when I came back to the States.
Korean friends of ours gave us roasted, loose, barley, and I can put a bunch of that in a pot and boil it and drink it hot or cold. I’ve reviewed barley tea before on Steepster, and I was reviewing this stuff (loose roasted barley, not the crushed stuff in a bag that you can more easily find in the store).

This was surprisingly very good, better than the other bagged barley tea that I’ve had before. (Though, not quite as good as the loose, but that’s not surprising).
The sweetness was especially a lot stronger than I expected.

In Germany, they have this stuff called ‘Caro Kaffee’ which my wife keeps telling me about. It’s a non-caffeinated coffee substitute that consists of roasted barley, chicory, malt, and rye. It sounds delicious. You can find it online, but if you want to get something cheaper, get Mugicha! I’m sure it’s good hot, and I imagine it would be good with sweets, just like coffee (yet, you can drink it at night).

I haven’t had this in quite awhile but it sounded like just the thing tonight. This tea is buttery and floral without being strange or off putting. I’m almost out of my pouch and will definitely be placing this one on my shopping list.

This is one of those deliciously floral teas that just tastes pretty. I really like drinking this in the afternoons, after several infusions it seems to induce a state of tranquility which is somewhat strange but very relaxing and enjoyable.

I decided to have this again today and play around with the water temp. I must have gotten into the lower temp range because it is mainly tasting of buttery sencha (and I mean REALLY buttery) with a slight florally sweet aftertaste. I don’t know which prep I enjoy more: lower temp (more sencha) or higher temp (more floral)…but I suspect that I will decide on my preferences based on my mood for the day. This stuff is really good.

I’ve been enjoying lighter flavored teas in the afternoons since it is now so hot around here so when I checked the mail and saw my package from silvermage2000 I knew what tea I would be having.
This tea is so pretty. Long, slender hunter green leaves with small light pink balls scattered throughout. The scent is mainly buttery green sencha with a light cherry in the background. I like the time/temp suggestions because it is like having 2 teas in one. I guessed as to the temperature, but I think I must have hit the higher temp range because the tea is heavier on the cherry than the sencha.
The tea brews up to a beautiful golden color which is the color every green tea should be. With the temperature of water that I used, the tea starts off with a slightly sweet/tart cherry flavor followed by a very buttery sencha. I always seem to want my senchas to be more buttery, but this one is just perfect. I can’t wait to continue to play with the temperatures of this tea to see what it results in.
Thank you silvermage2000 for a chance to try this tea. It is truly one of the better green teas I’ve ever had.

2nd infusion, 15 seconds – I was really surprised that there was so much flavor at only 15 seconds. This cup is more floral with a sweeter edge. There was also quite a bit of sencha dust in my mug.

3rd infusion, 25 seconds – This was a more floral cup but the sweet edge is gone.

4th infusion, 35 seconds – Smooth, buttery sencha with the floral aspects hanging out in the aftertaste.

5th infusion, 45 seconds – Significantly lighter in color and flavor. This cup is good, but I think I’ll call it quits after this.

You know, this isn’t nearly as much of a ‘girly’ tea as the name might suggest. It has a distinct savouryness with some buttery notes and it’s not what I’d call a delicate tea. The floral/cherry bit is quite subtle too.

First of all, a huge thank you to LiberTeas for giving me some of her stash of this currently-unavailable tea.

The tea is fascinating to look at – dark green, shiny, needle-like leaves of sencha and tiny little dried sakura blossoms still bright pink in colour. The tea has that fresh, grassy sencha smell, but I can also smell a delicate floral, slightly cherry-ish, scent.

The cherry blossom flavour could stand to be a bit more prominent, although I like that the tea isn’t tasting like fake cherry cough-syrup. It’s just a very natural, delicate, floral/fruity hint at the start of each sip. It’s actually easier to taste it in the second steep when it isn’t competing with the slightly unami flavour of the sencha.