After that last tea that let a really bad taste in my mouth I went through my Chinese greens to find something else to drink, but everything smelled Darjeeling-esk, even my favorites, thanks to that last one. So I pull out this one I found at my local Asian grocery store. I think this is the only Japanese green tea I have, other than a matcha.
The dry leaves are dark green yet somehow vibrant. They appear to be flat and broken and smell like sweet grass and seaweed, yum. I brew it for 45 seconds at a lower temp and I can see the dark green yet vibrant leaves floating around, mostly they sink, and they are pretty broken. The wet leaves smell very grassy. The infusion smells like sweet grass and the liquor is a nice bright green, not quite like matcha though. Even though the leaves are broken the brew is not bitter at all, it’s actually quite smooth and rich while staying light. The sweet grass and the seaweed play well together. As it cools I can start to get an astringent aftertaste, but it’s not bad or unbearable by any means.