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“I feel pretty let down by this sencha. Even for an asamushi, it is too light in flavor for me at 60 degrees C. At 70 C, it was too bitter (more than they claim on the website). Sweetness isn’t...” Read full tasting note
This sencha was made from a Taiwanese cultivar called Chin Hsin Da Pa which is famously used to make Bai Hao Oolong. Brought to Shizuoka, it yields an extremely unique sencha that is soft, creamy and smooth.
Of Shizuoka’s many tea-growing regions, tea from Honyama is praised for its transparent and elegant taste, deriving from the mineral rich soil and the subtle, natural shade of fog and mountains. Tea grown on the slopes that border the Abe and Warashina Rivers, which flow through Shizuoka, is said to be Honyama tea. Along with the neighbouring region of Kawane, Honyama tea is often grown at a higher elevation than most other Japanese teas. Tea from this region has been grown and revered for centuries, and has even been presented as tribute to the Emperor by order of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Edo period. Typically unshaded and lightly-steamed, honyamacha is known for its clear, crisp taste, and distinctive aroma, known as yama no kaori (山の香) or mountain aroma.
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I feel pretty let down by this sencha. Even for an asamushi, it is too light in flavor for me at 60 degrees C. At 70 C, it was too bitter (more than they claim on the website). Sweetness isn’t really there nor is there any astringency.
I don’t mind light flavor in my tea. And the flavor that is there is pretty nice. However, it is nowhere near as good as I’d hope for a $0.44/g tea.
Apparently this Taiwanese cultivar is also the one used to make Dongfang Meiren (Oriental Beauty), which is pretty interesting.
Harvest: May 12, 2022.
Cultivar: Chin Hsin Da Pa
Location: Honyama, Shizouka (100 m elevation)
Dry leaf: Umami, vegetal.
Wet leaf: Same.
Flavors: Umami, vegetal, bitter, grassy, nutty.
Flavors: Bitter, Grassy, Nutty, Umami, Vegetal
