98
drank Mecha by Den's Tea
865 tasting notes

Wow! I’m the 1st one to log this! It wasn’t even in the data base. Really didn’t feel like making tea, but I know that drinking tea would make me feel better. Other than Adagio’s flavored senchas, Den’s Tea is all the experience I have w/ Japanese greens so I went thru my sample bag to find something I haven’t opened yet. Although I should really finish the 2 bags I have open so I don’t accidentally spill them and waste them.

Anyway… On to my mecha… (which sounds weird lol). I WAS all set to use one of those open bags until I saw this. I’ve never even heard of mecha before. So I rip open the bag and notice a lot of VERY tiny leaves, but they’re chopped and not rolled like gunpowder. I take a wiff of the raw leaves and INSTANTLY do not regret opening something new. It smells like my best friend matcha! I pour 1tsp of leaves into my 6oz of heated water and notice it looks like a bigger version of matcha! If the matcha wasn’t ground as fine and you poured it into my ingenuiTEA, this is what it would look like. Mecha only calls for a 45sec steep. I’m thinking that the Japanese are even less patient than I am in waiting for their tea.;) The liquor that this short steep produces is a beautiful yellowish one and the aroma is very similar to matcha. When sip this, I’m in love. It tastes more like matcha than it smells. Infact, the only real difference between this and matcha is that it has a slightly thinner texture and I didn’t drink this from my matcha bowl. And I totally would have given it a 100 if I had. If you’re wanting to try matcha, but you can’t afford a matcha set or the matcha itself. Try this! Or better yet, If you do have a matcha (or any bowl for that matter), use that instead of a cup.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 45 sec
Ricky

Isn’t Japanese tea great? I got Apple Sencha instead. Seems “Mecha is green tea derived from a collection of leaf buds and tips of the early crops. Mecha is harvested in spring and made as rolled leaf teas that are graded somewhere between Gyokuro and Sencha in quality.” Gyokuro! (Highest Japanese grade tea) I have yet to try some of that. It’s on my shopping list.

Cofftea

I have apple sencha too, thanks to Lena. I like preparing it w/ premium sencha parameters. Ever since I got my matcha I’ve been sad I have to limit myself to half a bowl per day due to the cost/caffeine/and tannins. I was so annoyingly happy when I tried this. Gonna make infusion 2 now- IN MY BOWL! hehe. I was looking at their teaware and saw a cute shincha pot… Now gotta find out exactly what shincha is… haven’t heard of that either.

Ricky

=D Wikipedia became my guide to Japanese Green tea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea

Cofftea

Gotcha. So it’s a sencha pot by another name basicially. The names are similar so I thought that might be the case… but I know not to assume much about tea.;)

Cofftea

2nd infusion, 1 min. crap. This may be the end of this serving of Mecha. I poured the heated water into my ingenuiTEA and immediately the filter floats up to the top. GRRR! I just pray it doesn’t turn into a big mess… but oddly enough the water and the tea leaves stay in til I decant. And when I do, almost all of the tiny almost ground, leaves stay in my ingenuiTEA. How do I get all these TINY leaves out to put the filter back in??? I fished out a lot of them (which was kinda gross cuz they are slimy in texture), but what about the rest? sigh… But as for the taste, it’s amazing. The few leaves that did end up in my bowl give it even more of a matcha feel- literally.

Cofftea

You know I’m in love w/ a tea when I fish out tiny bits of slimy leaf that feels like it’s already been chewed and digested to clean it out and resteep them. And boy am I glad I did! 3rd infusion, 1min 20sec. As soon as I pour the hot water in, the liquor immediately becomes opaque like matcha or matcha dusted genmai cha. The liquor is an opaque olive/pea color and the taste is just like matcha. It just doesn’t have the mouth feel matcha does. Have I mentioned how great this would be for matcha lovers? This is especially good for wanna be matcha lovers that just can’t get over the texture.

Cofftea

4th infusion, 1min 40sec. Liquor is a little lighter and more translucent and the taste more of your typical steeped green and not matcha.

teaplz

But… this tea isn’t related at all to matcha. Why the comparison?

Cofftea

Because while it doesn’t have the mouth feel matcha does, it tastes just like it.

teaplz

Oh, I see.

Micah

This sounds great! I think I might add some of this onto my order from Den’s.

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Comments

Ricky

Isn’t Japanese tea great? I got Apple Sencha instead. Seems “Mecha is green tea derived from a collection of leaf buds and tips of the early crops. Mecha is harvested in spring and made as rolled leaf teas that are graded somewhere between Gyokuro and Sencha in quality.” Gyokuro! (Highest Japanese grade tea) I have yet to try some of that. It’s on my shopping list.

Cofftea

I have apple sencha too, thanks to Lena. I like preparing it w/ premium sencha parameters. Ever since I got my matcha I’ve been sad I have to limit myself to half a bowl per day due to the cost/caffeine/and tannins. I was so annoyingly happy when I tried this. Gonna make infusion 2 now- IN MY BOWL! hehe. I was looking at their teaware and saw a cute shincha pot… Now gotta find out exactly what shincha is… haven’t heard of that either.

Ricky

=D Wikipedia became my guide to Japanese Green tea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea

Cofftea

Gotcha. So it’s a sencha pot by another name basicially. The names are similar so I thought that might be the case… but I know not to assume much about tea.;)

Cofftea

2nd infusion, 1 min. crap. This may be the end of this serving of Mecha. I poured the heated water into my ingenuiTEA and immediately the filter floats up to the top. GRRR! I just pray it doesn’t turn into a big mess… but oddly enough the water and the tea leaves stay in til I decant. And when I do, almost all of the tiny almost ground, leaves stay in my ingenuiTEA. How do I get all these TINY leaves out to put the filter back in??? I fished out a lot of them (which was kinda gross cuz they are slimy in texture), but what about the rest? sigh… But as for the taste, it’s amazing. The few leaves that did end up in my bowl give it even more of a matcha feel- literally.

Cofftea

You know I’m in love w/ a tea when I fish out tiny bits of slimy leaf that feels like it’s already been chewed and digested to clean it out and resteep them. And boy am I glad I did! 3rd infusion, 1min 20sec. As soon as I pour the hot water in, the liquor immediately becomes opaque like matcha or matcha dusted genmai cha. The liquor is an opaque olive/pea color and the taste is just like matcha. It just doesn’t have the mouth feel matcha does. Have I mentioned how great this would be for matcha lovers? This is especially good for wanna be matcha lovers that just can’t get over the texture.

Cofftea

4th infusion, 1min 40sec. Liquor is a little lighter and more translucent and the taste more of your typical steeped green and not matcha.

teaplz

But… this tea isn’t related at all to matcha. Why the comparison?

Cofftea

Because while it doesn’t have the mouth feel matcha does, it tastes just like it.

teaplz

Oh, I see.

Micah

This sounds great! I think I might add some of this onto my order from Den’s.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

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Bio

Are you a company or tea blender on sites like Adagio that would you like your tea reviewed? If so, please e-mail me @ [email protected].

What I most enjoy from obtaining samples from companies to review is that it helps me to better learn to drink and review teas from a more objective perspective, meaning more of the “This tea is…” point of view rather than the “I like/don’t like” this tea. I feel objectivism in tea reviews is EXTREMELY important because no two tea drinkers tastes are exactly the same. I’ve also been extremely surprised by several teas. I love recieving a sample I think I will be only writing an objective review on, only to completely fall in love with it upon tasting it.

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Are you interested in redoing or starting your own tea related website or adding Search Engine Optimization? If so, please contact me at my work e-mail address: [email protected]
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Tea tastes:
I will ALWAYS pick loose leaf over tea bags. I only drink bagged tea if that’s my only choice or I find a flavor that I can’t find a loose leaf version for. When I do drink bagged; however, I always weigh my bag and am constantly curious as to the weight/flavor ratio- sometimes I am quite surprised by the flavor punch of light bags.

I have a preference for organic and fair trade teas (preferably both), but would never pass up an amzing tea just because it isn’t organic and/or fair trade.

I love savory teas.

I’m currently searching for a chai flavored soy powder or a soy based chai mix (either already mixed or a recipe).

I hardly EVER sweeten my teas. I feel that sweeteners (unless flavored like tea honeys, brown sugar, ice cream topping syrups, flavored coffee syrups, etc) do not add anything to the flavor profile of tea- in fact, I’ve found that they dumb down the flavors.

I NEVER serve my tea over regular iced cubes- I always make tea cubes.

I LOVE cooking w/ tea and making smoothTEAS.

I LOVE tea blending.

I rarely drink herbal teas unless they are mixed with true teas. My favorite herbals to mix with true teas are: spearmint, peppermint, lemongrass, rose hips, and gingeroot.

I can’t stand anything w/ fennel or anise. Hot black teas (except orange pekoe bagged tea that you get when you go out to eat and chai teas) tend to upset my stomach.

I drink matcha daily and love flavoring it. I’m also in a constant search of preflavored matchas.

I’m constantly searching for information on how to prepare tea authentically according to its country of origin.

My Tasting Notes Ratings (edited 8/8/10)
1: I can’t even stand the raw leaf enough to make this (I’ve never owned a tea w/ this rating, but I’ve smelled some before buying resulting in me NOT buying them that were that bad)

2: I steeped this tea but couldn’t stand the aroma enough to get it past my nose

3: I immediately gagged at the 1st sip and spit it out.

4: I manageed to get the 1st sip down, but I tossed the rest.

5: I drank the 1st cup but I can’t bring myself to resteep

6: Made it thru the entire set of infusions but I can’t bring myself to tinker w/ the parameters and won’t be making it again.

7-10: Does not taste anything like the ingredients or name suggests (i.e. Adagio’s Sour apple)

11-25: I can taste some of the ingredients, but the flavor is severely lacking

25-49: Teas that I would not consider bad in their flavor profile, but certainly below average

50: Average.

51-69: Teas above averge, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling them “good”.

70-75: Very good, but still room for improvement

76-85: Above average flavor profile

86-90: REALLY good flavors

91-99: Almost PERFECTLY achieves the goal of the ingredients and name of the tea.

100: Abosolutely perfect teas!

Other Interests: GOD! and all things pertaining to Him and His children, my dog Madison, travelling, and coffee.

Favorite Music: ANYTHING Christian. I don’t normally listen to secular music, but I do love jazz and swing.

Favorite Movies: Romantic comedies mostly. My Sister’s Keeper, P.S. I Love You, Fireproof, National Treasure Trilogy (I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE 3rd ONE TO COME OUT!), Night at the Museum 1 & 2, Sister Act 1 & 2, Yes Man, Bruce & Evan Almighty, rarely watch animated movies but LOVE anything 3D.

Favorite Books: THE BIBLE!!! & My Sister’s Keeper

Favorite Quotes: “A sad soul can kill you far quicker than a germ”- John Stienbeck "

Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”- Aristotle

“You should always carry burdens, but they should never be your own”- me

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ~ Winston Churchill

“Mom was right, ‘because I say so’ is enough- at least when it comes to God.”- me

Favorite Foods: fried calamari, lemon chicken, anything w/ buffalo sauce.

Favorite Places: WA state, Switzerland, Orlando

Places I Want to Visit: Hawaii, Africa

Anything Else: I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida which is the failure of the spinal column to close en utero. Because of this I am a parapelegic and use a manual wheelchair.

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Oshkosh, WI

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http://www.adagio.com/signatu...

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