Sunday, October 18, 2009

Pearl Tea’s Sencha Review

Type: Green
Origin: Japan
Price: Free Sample (regular price - $22.50 for 3oz.)
Vendor: Pearl Teas
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 teaspoon of leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, heated to 167°F-185°F, steeped for 0.5 - 2 minutes
Overall Score: 4.8 out of 5

Sencha is a Japanese green tea. The dry leaves smell fresh and clean. They have a very nice sweet, grassy aroma. The leaves are small, skinny, and tightly rolled bits with light and dark green colors mixed throughout.

The aroma while the leaves are steeping is subtle and vegetal. It has a fresh scent, kind of like fresh cut grass. The liquor is a pretty yellowish-green color.





The taste is mellow, vegetal, and clean. It leaves the sweet, grassy aftertaste. I would not say that his tea is bitter, but it has a tiny bit of astringency that I noticed after about the 3rd sip. However, the pleasantly mild grassy taste is enough for me to keep drinking.

Ah, I love Sencha. It is kind of the “every day” green tea as far as comparing price to flavor. The flavor is always mild enough to enjoy, but not too subtle either. The astringency is low for being a green tea. Plus, the sweet, clean taste is almost indescribable.

5 comments:

Margaret Studer said...

I like your review of Pearl Tea's Sencha. I haven't tried Sencha as yet and was looking for a good review of what it might taste like.

Today I'm drinking Fresh and Easy's house brand Dragon's Well. It was the first time I'd seen loose green tea of any kind in a grocery store, let alone something like Dragon's Well. It's interesting but odd in a way. When you first brew it, it just tastes like hot water, but as you let it sit, even though the leaves are no longer in the cup, the flavor becomes more obvious. It rather reminded me of the flavor of spring salad greens, not extactly, but with traces of it.
Margaret Studer
Tea Examiner
Examiner.com

Alex Zorach said...

Did you try steeping the tea more than once?

That's a pretty steep price (bad pun there)...but I've found that higher-end Sencha's can be outstanding for multiple infusions.

I'd be curious to hear about the outcome if you tried this. Otherwise, this tea would have to be pretty amazing to justify that price.

Lainie Petersen said...

I've had problems with finding a sencha I like, though the problem might be that I am preparing it incorrectly. In any case, I am glad that you found one that you like!

Steph said...

Happy holidays to you, Brittiny! I always enjoy your reviews.

Unknown said...

What a lovely post about sencha, a favorite of mine! Your photos are so beautiful and inviting!