Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Chado Tea House
Product Description:
NEW Product! This Satsuma-Midori Sencha green tea is from Kagoshima in Kyushu island. We added this Sencha tea to our Everyday green tea series; our long time favorite Sencha Everyday is from Shizuoka and this new Sencha is from Kagoshima. The both of them are about the same grade though the taste is bit different. This Satsuma-Midori has pleasant Guricha like aroma.
Taster’s Review:
In the above product description from Chado Tea House’s website, this tea is described as an “everyday” Sencha. It is my understanding that the “everyday” Japanese green teas are typically the teas that are of slightly lesser grade than the prized teas that they’d save for ceremony and special occasions. But, this does not taste like a lesser grade tea. This tastes incredible. If this is what they’re serving every day, count me in!
The flavor is sweet and buttery with a vegetative background. Vegetative, but not what I’d consider grassy. It is a bit more like steamed spinach, but even milder in flavor. It has a light, creamy kind of taste and texture. Almost like a light broth.
There is so very little astringency to this cup, that if you weren’t paying attention, you’d not even notice it. The aftertaste is lightly sweet, but does not linger. A very pleasant tea to sip along with a meal, or just any time you want a tea to brighten up your day. This tea will do that for you!
Field of Purple Flowers from Talbott Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Talbott Teas
Product Description:
Whether it’s ancient wisdom from the Japanese Sencha or the stopping power of the roses and purple mallow flowers, this peach of a green tea makes it easy to appreciate all that you have.
All natural premium ingredients: Full-leaf Japanese Sencha green tea, purple mallow flowers, peach bits, rose petals, peach flavor.
Taster’s Review:
Even though it is now fall, and I am thoroughly enjoying all the autumnal flavors … I still occasionally take time to enjoy flavors that remind me of spring and summer. Today, I am sipping on Field of Purple Flowers … and it is evoking beautiful images of summer. It has such a beautiful, harmonious taste: bright like the summer sun, and sweet like the freshest summer fruit.
The green tea is the strongest flavor. It tastes crisp and light, with a hint of grassiness to it. Not a bitter grassy taste, but more of a sweet hint of greenery. The peach is a very subtle note; subtle, but effective. It is sweet and fruity without overthrowing the gentle balance of this cup.
The floral notes offer a pleasant contrast to the tea. Again, not a strong flavor, but more of a whisper of sweet flowery taste.
This is one of those teas that make for a perfect afternoon tea. It would be nice for a garden party, perhaps, even if it’s just a tea party for one! This one is also quite tasty iced!
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, August Shipment, Part 5: Superior Sencha (Hukamushi Premium)
Leaf Type: Green
Produced by Ukibe Seicha Haru Ichiban
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve probably said this quite a bit when talking about these teas from the International Tea Farms Alliance’s Global Tea Taster’s Club, but this tea is incredible! The name “Superior Sencha” does not deceive … this is one of the very best Sencha teas I’ve ever tasted (if not THE best!)
The flavor is sweet and gentle. It is both soothing and invigorating at the same time. I know that these two terms (soothing and invigorating) may seem to be contradictory, but, to really understand where I’m coming from, you just have to taste this tea. I feel revitalized as I also feel the stresses of my day being washed away by this amazing Sencha.
I would categorize this as a light to medium body, but with a smooth, almost brothy mouthfeel. There is very little astringency to this Sencha – far less than I am used to when it comes to the Sencha teas that are readily available here in the United States. It is sweet, with hints of fruit notes (sweet apple) and a very distant floral note (honeysuckle, maybe?)
When I taste this tea, I feel that I am tasting the very best that Japan has to offer. I feel honored to have this opportunity to taste such a tea so special, and it is a joy to drink. Thank you, ITFA!
Orange Sencha from Den’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Product Description:
A zesty alternative to non-flavored Senchas. Fresh citrus flavor is the first taste on the tongue and gradually the taste of Sencha grows in your mouth.
Mikan (Japanese Orange or satsuma) is also a major agricultural crop in Shizuoka prefecture. With tea bushes and mikan trees growing close to each other, it seemed natural to combine the flavors. Great for iced tea.
Taster’s Review:
This has to be one of the very best orange flavored Sencha teas I’ve ever tasted … and that is saying something because I used to blend an Orange Flavored Sencha that I thought was pretty phenomenal (in my not so humble opinion!) But this is even better than my memory of that Sencha.
The flavor is so light and yet bright and vibrant in its own way. The orange is a sunny, fresh tasting orange which tastes a bit like tangerine to me … which made sense when I read the above description and stated that this was made with satsuma oranges. It is sweet and juicy-tasting, with a mere hint of tarty-tangy-citrus-y taste. It’s really delicious.
The Sencha base is, of course, a Japanese Sencha. It tastes light and sweet. It even has a little creaminess to it that melds quite nicely with the orange flavor.
I highly recommend this one… it has inspired me to check out Den’s other flavored offerings! This one is amazing.
Sencha from Golden Moon Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Golden Moon Tea
Product Description:
Sencha is the most famous of Japanese Green Teas for a reason. It is made from tea leaves shielded from the sun for at least two weeks before they are harvested. This increases the level of caffeine, while magically limiting the development of bitter catechin, offering it a sweet flavor.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! Color me surprised! I had heard mixed reviews on the Sencha from Golden Moon Tea, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t think I expected this Sencha to taste this good! But then I remembered that last year, Marcus from Golden Moon Tea had mentioned choosing better teas for their pure (unflavored) line of teas, which would include – I suspect – their Sencha.
And this is a wonderful Sencha. (Great choice, Marcus!) It has such a rich, sweet flavor. It’s quite broth-y in texture: it is thick and smooth. It has a vegetative taste – slightly grassy and also tasting a little like lightly buttered, steamed vegetables. In addition, it is quite an invigorating brew, making it a great choice for an afternoon pick-me-up.
Golden Moon Tea is one of the best tea companies that I’ve ever had the pleasure to deal with. They provide awesome customer service, which is of key importance to me. I might get the best deals on delicious tea somewhere, but if the customer service is poor, I probably won’t be back. Golden Moon Tea is very responsive to the needs of the customer, offering prompt replies to customer questions and concerns, as well as fast processing and shipment of orders.
I also like that they maintain a strong presence online on sites like Steepster. By doing so, it keeps their finger on the pulse of the customer, learning what they like and don’t like about some of their products. This ties back to the start of this review, when I asserted my surprise at how delicious this Sencha was. Some of the folks at Steepster were unhappy with the Sencha that Golden Moon used to carry, so Golden Moon did something about it! They made changes to their line-up of teas, and brought us a new Sencha … THIS Sencha! Things like that really mean a lot to me as a tea enthusiast.
This is a great Sencha from a great company!