I really enjoyed this one. It's a little atypical for a kukicha, slightly bolder than usual.

The dry leaf smelled to me almost like a mix of a very high-quality tea and a lower-quality tea, with sweet tones, suggestive of a brothy, umami-laden green tea, mixed with a low grade sencha.

Upon brewing, I kind of get the same thing. This doesn't taste or smell like a typical kukicha: it's much deeper and richer, and has less of the grassy and twiggy quality.

I actually find it very pleasant. Quite bold flavor, but if brewed too strongly (the recommended 2 minutes was too much) leaves a strong astringency on the palate, especially around the back of the throat.

I strongly preferred using less leaf and a shorter infusion, starting with 1 minute. This greatly diminished the astringency. I followed this by a 2.5 minute infusion. There's still a little flavor left in the leaves but I avoided a third cup because it had a slightly soapy aroma.

The price is really reasonable! I like this much more than Adagio's sencha overture, and it's much cheaper! Not the best green tea, but good value and very enjoyable, I could see regularly drinking and enjoying this one. I also liked how I felt after drinking it.

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Comments:

E. Alex Gerster wrote: on August 31st, 2013

Glad you liked this one too. I have been drinking it iced this week and really enjoying it!

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