Sakura Sencha

First of all, a huge thank you to LiberTeas for giving me some of her stash of this currently-unavailable tea.

The tea is fascinating to look at – dark green, shiny, needle-like leaves of sencha and tiny little dried sakura blossoms still bright pink in colour. The tea has that fresh, grassy sencha smell, but I can also smell a delicate floral, slightly cherry-ish, scent.

The cherry blossom flavour could stand to be a bit more prominent, although I like that the tea isn’t tasting like fake cherry cough-syrup. It’s just a very natural, delicate, floral/fruity hint at the start of each sip. It’s actually easier to taste it in the second steep when it isn’t competing with the slightly unami flavour of the sencha.

Already regretting only getting 1 oz of this. What was I thinking?!

Sigh. So good :) it’s like a gentle floral with a hint of cherry, which is perfect with the butter greeny Sencha.

Tea courtesy of swapping with Kaybee!

2oz water, 1.3g tea, 60sec, 170F

This is my first try at sencha and am going off the Den’s instructions on how to brew it, with the exception of the temperature. With that I went down to 170F for starters, due to Kaybee including a note that 180F seemed its upper limit.

The scent is slightly sweet and floral. Very pleasant.

The flavor is very green in the middle back of the tongue. It is very floral around the middle front of the tongue. The finish is floral and a touch sweet around the nose. There’s a solid bit of bitter, too… not in an off-putting way, but rather in a way that ties the whole flavor of the tea together.

As said, this is my first sencha and if the taste of it is at all representative of how sencha will be, then I’m going to be a fan. I really like this tea and would definitely buy some; it’s going on my Shopping List.

This is, simply put, one of my favorite teas. Glad to have it back in the cupboard.

I am ready for Spring and after drinking this I want Spring to be here right this moment. This has a really nice flavor. The sencha and the cherry flavor blend together in an excellent way. Neither one overpowers or sticks out above the other. The cherry flavor is not fake at all which really surprised me. I have another cherry flavor tea in my collection that is so incredibly sickly sweet and fake that I really have to be in the mood for. This one however is perfectly refreshing, green, and sweet reminding me of Spring.

I just restarted the 30 Day Shred, completed day two yesterday, and today, I am so sore that I can barely walk, so I’m taking the day off and enjoying some tea.

The second I snipped open the sample packet of this, the sweet aroma of cherry danced around me. It was definitely the fruit (more like a cherry candy, though) and not sakura. But sniffing the tea up close, it was straight up Sencha. In all its vegetal glory.

Venturing into the area of taste, this is very fresh, and well, Sencha-y. Slightly vegetal, but not as much as I’d expected. But then there’s the cherry gently woven into the tea base. It’s so subtle. Slightly tart, but just barely so. The more I sip this though, the less cherry I get. I think as this starts to cool, the remnants of the cherry slowly fade into nothing.

It’s a pleasant, buttery cup.

This tea reminds me of spring and spring can’t come soon enough for me this year! The sencha is the dominant taste with a slight floral tone to it. I was a little nervous about the floral part because I do not like floral teas but this is very light. The cherry is a tart taste but light and balanced with the buttery green taste and floral notes. This is SPRING! I like it!!!

Ok, I admit it. This tea terrifies me. I love cherries (bing to be exact), but I hate almost anything else cherry flavored. But… I also love things that are seasonal and since Japan is known for their cherry blossoms, I knew I had to at least give it a try.

Prepared as suggested. 2g/3oz water. The aroma of the dry leaf isn’t as strong as I was expecting and smells of cherry sweet tarts, not of cough syrup as I feared. When steeped the liquor is a gorgeous yellowish green. Surprisingly the sent of the cherry is gone leaving only that of the sencha.

Hmmm… I’ve only had one other flavored sencha from Den’s (their apple) and the flavor of this one just doesn’t compare. The cherry is very light and is more of the blossom rather than the fruit. I’m not sure I’d like it if it was stronger, but I have a feeling that a person looking for a cherry flavored sencha will be disappointed.

Thanks to QuiltGuppy for sharing this, it is delicate, the cherry flavor is perfect. I would have liked a little more of the sencha, but I may go for a longer steep next time. The flavor is almost fragile, like a cherry blossom. Over all, this is very good and from the description, I see somewhat rare, available only in spring. It is also fitting, as my thoughts are with the people of Japan and the tragic circumstances they have to bear…

This just came in today, and I was so excited that I just had to make a cup immediately. I threw some in my cast iron teapot, and used lightly-steaming water for a 45-second infusion. The result is interesting: Light sweet floral flavors (how unexpected) and some mild astringency dominate the flavor, creating an interesting contrast in the flavor. On tp of the previously-mentioned characteristics, the flavor is unusually strong, so I would recommend tasting this tea slowly. Honestly, the tea is better than I expected, and I can’t wait to have more!

Second steep, using cooler water and steeped for 15 seconds. The result was very nice, albeit a lot milder in terms of intensity. The only thing that has changed is that is worth noting is that the sweet floral flavor has decreased the least, so the tea is rather sweet now. I feel that the lack of astringency really enhanced the flavor, and I can’t wait to see how it continues to develop.