Sencha "Chiran"

Sipdown… finally finishing off a bag of this today. I have a lot more Japanese green tea at home. I wonder if I will ever drink it all but at least I have stopped buying more (for the time being). This is an enjoyable afternoon cuppa. I like that this sencha is a bit sweeter than some others I have tried.

This tea made me happy today! I think this is the last of my Lupicia tea bag samples. I was hoping it wasn’t flavored, and it wasn’t! This is a nice, smooth sencha. I saw the spiky dark green leaves and I was happy! The scent was like nori and fresh and light. The brew was a nice yellow-green. The taste was mellow and refreshing. There was no astringency at all, and it went down smooth! Delicious! This is a nice sencha that has a sweet aftertaste. It is fresh and green.

I probably wouldn’t connect the aroma to sweet potatoes if they hadn’t said so.
To me, it just smells like authentic green tea.

I’m actually on the verge of dislike. (I generally dislike senchas though. I’ve only recently started enjoying them). I can drink this one cup, but I wouldn’t drink it all the time.

But if you’re an avid sencha lover, you’d probably love this tea.

This is not my usual sencha from Lupicia (I prefer their Yame blend), but it came as part of the “happy bag” (福袋) I purchased during the New Year 2014 promotion.

This must be a deep-steemed sencha, judging by the texture of the dry leaves. There are some needles here and there, but most of the leaves are pulverized. The aroma is still fresh, grassy, and sweet. Not bad for a tea purchased in January!

Lupicia’s packaging mentions hints of “sweet potato”. I didn’t pick that up in the dry leaves: to me they have that same sweetness I associate with Kyushu sencha in general. Upon steeping though, I think I get it. There is a nice savory aroma that also comes through in the taste. With practice, maybe I could pinpoint sweet potato. In any case, the taste is good.

The brew was cloudy with a lot of tea particles that settle to the bottom of the cup. Some nice umami was hiding in those dregs! A good, rich fuka-mushi sencha with a classic flavor.

5g leaves, 5oz water @ 160°F, 45 seconds.

Admittedly I only had a single sample sachet of Sencha “Chiran” 7401 that was included with my Lupicia order, so I’m trying to be fair with this “gift horse”. Flavor and aroma were nice, but more gentle than the other Lupicia sencha I ordered, plus this had considerable astrigency, which I disfavored. The closest I can describe the taste is of brothy, soft buttered atrichoke, without the nuttiness that I’ve come to expect in other senchas. I had steeped the sachet (about 3.2 g leaf) in 8 oz. alpine spring water at 170°F for 90 sec. Just now I see that Lupicias site recommends only 5 oz water, so maybe the gentleness was my fault for over diluting the infusion. Still, it was enjoyable, though not earning a place on my shopping list. Recommended, with a rating of 60.

I saw that it said “reminiscent of sweet potatoes” on the Lupicia site and ordered it despite disliking sweet potatoes…. I don’t know what I expected! It’s fine I guess.

Last free sample. I left this one for last because I either drank sencha or matcha my whole life hehe so I thought this could wait a bit lol.

The liquor was a very pale greenish golden color (good clue to decent sencha), and it was highly aromatic with strong vegetal notes. The taste was vegetal, green, umami, slight minerality with a very long comforting finish with a nice warm mouthfeel. No sweet potatoes like in the description though. The usual sencha slight bitterness was not present at all in this sample. I prepared it under 80C to make sure I extract the umami but not the tannins. Solid Sencha here. Not surprising since it’s from Kagoshima (Chiran).

1 teabag, 200ml, 175F, 2 steeps: 1m, 1:30m

scent of sweet potatoes, taste of nori, astringent yet not bitter.

Very tasty………….

Last one of the Lupicia samples I got from my last visit back home. This one is a vivid green sencha that brews out to be a nice golden-green color, and is quite cloudy in the cup. As for the aroma and flavor, it’s definitely sweet potato. There’s something a little crisper, almost snow-pea-like on the finish. I didn’t read the description before drinking, and was amused to see that sweet potato was indeed in the official description, but elusive for many reviewers. Each tea is a different experience for everyone who tries it! This is one of the least grassy sencha I’ve tried, and not very intense—some of the others are like a kick in the head, but this is truly mellow and mild. An enjoyable and nourishing-feeling cup that I would be happy to try again.