Thank you to Yunomi.us for this sample which was included with an order a few months ago.
Crisp dark green needle leaves mixed with a few light yellow green stems. They have a very sweet honeydew scent that is very pure and beautiful.
The steeping instructions are a little different for this tea, it recommends doing one long steep rather than several short ones. So this will be steeped in my Kyusu for 2 minutes. 80ml for 2 minutes seems a little strong but that is what the instructions say on the website.
The resulting tea liquid is medium to dark green and has a sweet yet savoury broth scent. Flavour is strong though not overly so, the umami is rich and lingers into the after taste. Savoury and sweet at the same time with some astringency and rich mineral tones. Like thick cabbage water.
A further steep with the same 2 minute rule reveals more savoury umami but less sweet than previously. It’s still thickly mineral with cabbage and broccoli notes yet it seems toned down as a whole compared to the first steep. Still slightly astringent.
Another 2 minute steep – Severely toned down from what it was but it still has a lot of flavour, only now this is more standard Sencha like. Medium strength, minimum umami and astringency but remains mineral with added grass tones. Has some sweetness once again.
Another 2 minute steep making this number 4 – Extremely mild, all that remains is sweet grass.
This was a pleasant tea that offered lots of umami for the first two steeps which work well as a boost throughout the day. Sent me a little tea drunk.
