This has to be the most exotic sencha that I’ve tried. I had no idea that such a tea existed.
Jo Johnson from Scandalous Tea gave this sample to me.
I’m very thankful, because this tea isn’t easy to obtain in the first place.
She’s friends with Sara from Sara’s Tea Caddie, which sources this tea.
The tea leaves are pale, some of them are yellow. They are very thin and tightly rolled, it’s a high quality Japanese tea.
It’s not a white tea. This is a green tea, although with an unexpected color.
Why the unusual color? It seems that this is a mutation from the Yabukita cultivar, but I’ll tell you more about it once I do my research.
Another thing I found is that the tea leaves have a faint, sweet aroma. It reminds me of shincha or gyokuro.
Looks too good to be brewed
As beautiful as it looks, we won’t know what this tea tastes like unless we infuse it.
It’s a high grade sencha, so I’ll use 60 ml (2 oz) of water at 70°C (158°F) and brew for one minute.
Now let’s concentrate on the wet leaves. They have a very pale green color and give off a mellow aroma, similar to a gyokuro with high umami flavor.
The liquor’s color is a clear yellow, and I’m thinking that perhaps there is also a touch of orange color in it.
What do the taste buds think? A rounded flavor, can be likened to a gyokuro or shincha.
The astringency is just right and there isn’t much detectable bitterness.
I decided to make a second and third infusions. With such a tea, I’d be crazy not to.
The second infusion had a stronger yellow color, and perhaps a bit more sweetness. The third one was good, but astringency and bitterness had increased.
Tasting this tea was a real pleasure. It’s not easy to find, but once you taste it you won’t be disappointed.
January 12, 2016
Did I mention when I first tried it I almost fell out of my chair 🍵✨🍵 Glad you enjoyed it.
January 12, 2016
Thanks for this wonderful gift, Jo. It’s a good tea to start this new year with.
January 12, 2016
I’ve seen how matcha made going through many steps and one of mine favorite teas as well, also sencha.
January 12, 2016
Mutant Yabukita? Whoa! If you have photographs of the actual tea tree, it would be interesting for people like me to see. I will try to check this out in Japan next time. You have really piqued my curiosity. Thank you.
January 13, 2016
Hi Lochan
I’ll have more info for you in the next post 🙂
January 16, 2016
Aaaaaah Kiraka. I really dug that stuff. So bizarre for a sencha. It looked like green rooibos.
January 17, 2016
Hi Geoff
I saw your post about it. Good thing Jo let us taste that tea.
Haven’t tasted green rooibos yet.
January 20, 2016
This tea would be best for my new year resolutions, I will add this to list.
January 20, 2016
Hi Vanessa
You have very good new year resolutions!