6 Tasting Notes
It’s a hot, fiery, dry Spring (let alone Summer yet!) here in Australia, so I’m trying out a bunch of my favourites as iced teas in preparation!
This is the first oolong I’ve iced, and it turned out beautiful! Although the flavour itself is very light, the fragrance is so sweet like a garden. I put in a slice of lemon for a little extra flavour.
I left it overnight starting in room temp water, but next time I think I might start with warmish water to help the leaves unfurl.
Preparation
Mmmm… This is my absolute favourite iced tea. I brew it in luke warm water then pop it in the fridge overnight. It’s nice hot too.
It is very sweet in flavour and soursop is definitely unique! I just bought a big bag, so if anyone wants to swap some, please ask!
Preparation
I bought this from a Ten Ren franchise store.
The first steeping was about 20 seconds and smelled peppery to me. It had that sort of lightly peppery flavour. when I had finished the tea and smelled the cup, it smelled more floral. It got more floral and less peppery with each steeping.
Preparation
I picked this one up because it was an inexpensive choice from the Japanese supermarket. I managed to brew a large amount of leaves about 4 times before it wasn’t worth it any more. I’m a bit of a sencha noob, but here are my tasting notes:
First brew was with 75 Celsius water for about 40 seconds. It was a bright almost fluoro shade of green. It was a little bit bitter and with a definite sorta ocean water umami smell.
2nd brew was more umami in flavour and less bitter. Maybe I could just taste more umami and sweetness with the bitterness aside. I liked this brew the best.
3rd brew was sweeter but significantly weaker in the umami flavour. By now the water I had heated had cooled down to maybe 65 Celsius. I was brewing for a bit over a minute.
The fourth brew took about 2 minutes before it was my desired strength. It was quite sweet but with a lingering brightness.
This was my first sencha experience and I got an idea for what it’s all about. I can’t wait to try some more complex sencha!
