Morita Sayama Sencha

Full review tomorrow on http://www.sororiteasisters.com but here are the snippets:

I have to say this is one of the freshest cups of sencha I have experienced to date. The taste of this tea reminds me of the aroma of fresh cut grass in the summertime. The flavor is so natural, and in a way light and refreshing, yet the body is so deep and complex that I can’t decide which way to describe it. Can it possibly be both light and rich at the same time? Indeed it can!

I would absolutely order more of this tea and am happy to have discovered Yunomi! I think it is wonderful that they support small tea farmers in Japan and are supporters of Tsunami Recovery.

I am also in love with their tea selection and selection of other items from tea ware, to tea candy, fashions, furnishings, and so much more! I will be stalking their website until I can afford a hefty order with them!

You can read the full review here:
http://tunesntea.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/tea-morita-sayama-sencha/

I fallowed the steeping instructions for the most part from the site. My first steep was brewed at 160F, while all the others were brewed at 185F. All steeps were steeped for 45sec.

Steep 1: Very savory; strong unami flavor. Slight pleasant grassy flavor and buttery. Light sweet matcha after taste. Very mild astringency

Steep 2: Grass is more present. Not really any unami any more. Never mind it taste it now. Still slight match sweetness. Astringency is stronger, but not bad. Has a strong tea flavor.

Steep 3: More astringency now; but still pleasant. Strong green tea flavor (DUH) some unami now. In the beginning there was a stronger matcha flavor. This tea seems to change profile as it cools. Interesting. This is a very savory steep. Not as grassy as before. Mild astringency now. Cooler: more matcha flavor and a smidgen more astringency.

Steep 4: The prevailing flavor is match. Very sweet with just a touch of savory to ground it. YUM!

Overall this was a very interesting and pleasant tea. I had a rich and dynamic flavor. I love how depending how you steep it greatly changes it’s flavor profile.It seems to change flavors as it cools as well; making each sip different. I am sad to see my sample gone I would have loved to have some more of this on another day.

This is one of the two free samples I got from Yunomi and the first of their teas that I’ve tried. The dry leaf had a slight fishy smell to me, kind of like dried anchovies. The tea itself was pretty savory and less grassy/vegetal than other Japanese green teas that I’ve had. I drank this on its own, but I think it would be a great tea to have with a meal, maybe with some spicy foods. I really enjoyed this!

Fragrant, sweet, flowery, complex, and inexpensive, this tea took me by surprise since there was little information on the actual plants and tea garden, which seems to be grown at lower elevations. Regardless, the Morita family really knows how to make tea. I think this was $12 when I purchased it in the spring and it was a real treat. I tend to purchase organic senchas since they tend to be tastier due to the amount of investment made in the soil and where they are grown, but this tea, which seems to be grown in the suburbs of Saitama, not far from Tokyo, is like a hidden gem.

The dried leaves are broken up, but are very fragrant. The steeped leave a pungently fruity and flowery aroma. The tea soup is an attractive shade of green. The first steep is flowery, uplifting, pure tasting, and refreshing. The following steeps are rich and sweet, and reveal a complex mixture of sweet vegetal notes, minerals, and tannins.

Very enjoyable, but I think the tea has been renamed kakurei or hoju.