Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Tea Description:
Our Organic Sencha is carefully and naturally grown under strict control of NOP (National Organic Program). Result is a natural gift from mother nature.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
I thought I’d celebrate Earth Day with this organic green tea from Den’s Tea.
When it comes to Japanese green teas, I’ve found no finer teas than those offered by Den’s Tea. They’ve a pleasing selection of high quality Japanese green teas, and all the teas that I’ve tried from them have been excellent.
This Organic Sencha is a perfect example of what I’m talking about! It tastes remarkably fresh and pleasantly sweet. Such a clean, pure taste that’s light on the grassy tones, and has no bitterness and very little astringency, just a slight tangy note that hits the back of the palate toward the tail of the sip that’s really quite enjoyable.
It has such a refreshing flavor to it, and it’s delicious served hot or iced. I generally prefer my iced teas to have a little sweetener to them (it seems that the flavors need a little perking up, usually) but this is one of those teas that does not need sweetener whether its hot or cold! It just tastes great, no matter how you serve it.
It’s a perfect tea for Earth Day … and in my opinion, Earth Day should be every day of the year!
Premium Sencha Zuiko from Den’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Product Description:
A top-tier Sencha grown at a high elevation. All Zuiko comes from a single tea garden where it is grown under the most meticulous and pampered conditions.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am occasionally asked what I mean by certain terms that I use when I describe teas. One term that I’m asked about often is “brothy,” and I think I have found the perfect tea to recommend for someone who seeks out what I mean by brothy: Sencha Zuiko from Den’s Tea.
The texture of the tea is quite thick, similar to what you’d experience if you were to sip a cup of vegetable broth. The flavor is not that unlike a vegetable broth either … one that was made with primarily leafy green vegetables. It has a very strong vegetative taste, but it is a savory kind of vegetative taste. Not bitter, and not overtly grassy, although there are grassy notes to this. I consider them to be more of a savory taste than a bitter grass taste or even a sweet grass taste.
This tea possesses the faintest hint of a butter/cream note to this, as well as some sweet undertones to it, but, I really consider this to be more of a savory Sencha than a sweet one. It is a very well-rounded, palatable tea.
An exceptional green tea!
Organic Genmaicha from Den’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Product Description:
Our Organic Genmaicha is a made from organic Bancha and organic roasted rice. It is body-friendly and an ideal beverage for a Macrobiotic diet.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
For the most part, I find green tea to be light and refreshing teas … sort of what I would refer to as “cool” kind of teas, not so much as a warm or warming tea. Of course, there are some exceptions to that, and Genmaicha is definitely one of the exceptions. The warm, toasty flavor of the roasted rice in the foreground gives it a very warming taste and a comforting feel.
This Organic Genmaicha is a lovely Genmaicha. Even though it does have that warm flavor to it, it also has a very fresh and lively flavor in the background from the green tea and I like that the sweet rice flavor does not overpower the light, vibrant taste of the green tea. It is not a grassy green tea, with very slight vegetative tones but mostly what I taste is just an overall freshness. Not particularly “green” or “grassy” or even “vegetable” … but more of a fresh taste that speaks of these things without being a strong, obvious presence.
This tea represents the second of the three teas that I received in my Steepster Select December box: Steep for Japan. And I think that this tea is an excellent choice to represent one of the best teas that Japan has to offer. Sweet, warm yet light and crisp. Delicious!
Bancha Suruga from Den’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Product Description:
Bancha is produced from a bottom part of tea leaves that are big and thick. Compared to Sencha, Bancha is somewhat more astringent. Nevertheless, it is appreciated in Japan for its robust flavor. Den’s Bancha Suruga is an upgraded variation, using fresh green leaves picked right after the first flush tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When it comes to Japanese green teas, I can think of no tea company that offers better than Den’s Tea. The tea is always fresh and of the highest quality.
This Bancha Suruga is no exception. It tastes so delightfully fresh and has a crispness to it that evokes thoughts of early springtime, when everything in nature is starting out clean and new.
I’m no expert on Japanese culture, but, from what I’ve learned, Bancha is a common tea that is considered a daily tea. Bancha looks quite a bit like Sencha. However, they do not taste alike. There are some similarities, of course, because they’re from the same leaf, but, just as the description above suggests, Bancha tends to be a bit more astringent than Sencha. The flavor is a bit stronger as well.
That said, this particular Bancha (versus the few others that I’ve tried) seems to be a little less astringent that I expected it to be. It is still very flavorful though, with a nice, broth-y kind of taste that reminds me just a little bit of miso broth with a little bit of seaweed. (But I like this WAY better than I like seaweed!) It has that same savory kind of quality to it. It is quite vegetative with hints of salty brine. These savory tones that I pick up on are slight, but they add a nice dimension to the cup.
On Steepster, some of the tasters of this tea have mentioned a buttery note to this, and while I do taste just a hint of butter right at the start, I find that the astringency seems to clean away that taste to make way for a sweet grass aftertaste.
It is a complex and contemplative cup, and it’s incredibly satisfying! This is one that all green tea enthusiasts should have in their cupboard.
Premium Gyokuro Suimei from Den’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Product Description:
Our highest quality tea. This is made from only the youngest top part of tea leaves picked by hand and carefully processed into an ultra fine needle. Its super natural sweetness promotes a mellow state of mind.
Taster’s Review:
What a lovely Gyokuro! So full of flavor!
It is INCREDIBLY sweet. Den’s Tea website suggests a seaweed-like flavor, but I don’t taste seaweed… at least, this is like no seaweed that I’ve tasted. I’m not particularly fond of seaweed, it is far too briny and strong for my taste, and I don’t get that funky seaweed taste from this cup … thankfully!
I do taste a background of vegetal flavor that is neither what I would call grassy or similar to steamed vegetables… it is a rather mild flavor that reminds me a bit of the resulting broth after boiling kale. Perhaps this is where they get the seaweed analogy. Either way, this flavor is light, and certainly nothing that disrupts the amazing sweetness that I’m experiencing from this tea.
The tea is thick, it feels like a warm broth as it glides over the palate. It is very soft and pleasant to sip.
I highly recommend this Gyokuro: it is definitely one of the best available.