Tokyo

I rarely drink green teas and I’m always putting them off.. but since I was tinkering in the kitchen this morning, listening to Thrilling Adventure Hour & right there to pull the kettle off just before boiling, I thought I’d give it a try. It’s pretty yum, too. Will probably see how a resteep goes in a bit. ;)

First of all thank you to Batrachoid for giving me some of this tea to try.

I’m not really tasting the supposed caramel flavours in this tea though that might just be a reference to the naturally slightly nutty flavour of the bancha base. The sesame seeds are more obvious although the flavour isn’t as strong as with Adagio’s sesame-flavoured black tea. It’s a nice green tea, but nothing too extreme.

Wow, this was an interesting tea. It had a fairly simple buttered spinach aroma, but the flavor was very complex. In my bid to find words to describe it, I came up with this:
Lightly sweetened buttered spinach, with caramel in the aftertaste and a bit of astringcy towards the end of the cup.

I drank this today with my breakfast. It’s really sweet on its own. I think this might be one of the sweetest green teas I’ve had. I am not crazy for the flavoring, it reminds me of Bossa Nova with the caramel, nutty taste. I love the sesames in it. The green tea itself is nice, I would of liked it without the sweet flavoring. I just haven’t found a tea with caramel I liked, it is just something that doesn’t agree with me.

Thank you Shinobicha for a taste! I have been interested in knowing what this taste like.

Normally I don’t go for green tea—I haven’t branched out much and most of what I’ve tried has been too vegetal for me. But this, oh! It smells so good. Sweet, nutty, smooth… it really is the closest thing to a dessert tea that I’ve tried. Somehow the sesame and caramel notes just add up to the most delicious smelling thing in the world. (Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little.) I will warn you, though, the tea itself is not nearly as strong as the scent of the leaves. It’s much milder, more… nutty, almost, though without the strong grassy taste I usually associate with green teas.

More bad news: the leaves are fairly large, but they aren’t totally unbroken and I’ve found a number of stems. A quick googling shows that bancha tea is usually lower grade, so this isn’t super surprising with that in mind. It’s definitely a high enough grade for a simple flavored green.

I’m still sorting out the exact combination of time and temp and amount, but I definitely have to use more of this than my stronger black teas, and I go for two minutes and thirty seconds rather than the recommended two. Definitely don’t be stingy when measuring this out. It’s already a very mild tea. I’ve found you can get at least two full-strength steepings out of it, and it’s only six bucks for a quarter pound at the store.

Once I run out of this (and I will definitely run out), I am absolutely buying more.

Gave this tea one last shot. Went by the instructions on the tin EXACTLY. Used filtered water. Used a timer and was right there to pull the tea out. Still…slight bitterness. And really no “caramel flavoring” at all. Tossing this one out too. Harney, what happened? I used to LOVE your teas; they tasted SO good. Now, blech.

Overall a nice green tea with a smooth, caramelly finish. However, it’s a bit seaweedy for me, and I wish the sesame flavor was a little more prominent, as I really have to strain to taste the sesame notes.

Honestly am disappointed that this one didn’t work out for me brewed hot but I cold brewed some of this and it’s much better. Not bitter whatsoever and has a delicate green tea flavor. I still prefer to drink my green teas hot so this won’t be a repurchase for me. Luckily someone else in the house enjoys this one hot so I’ll have some help going through this tin.

The flavor here is way too fishy. I don’t like it. Tastes and smells fishy. Seems like other people like this one though, so maybe my tastes aren’t refined enough.

This was absolutely wonderful. A very nice, smooth green base. Nutty, caramel, sesame beautifulness. Absolutely loved this one, and I will definitely be buying a tin once my sample is out.