Very different from any other sencha I have tried. Complex, rich, and interesting. I would especially recommend this for people who don't like the fresh grassy and seaweedy tones of sencha, because it had the least of these characteristics of among any sencha I've tried. It was ever-so-slightly more oolong-like.

The dry leaf has a very strong and very pleasing aroma that I find hard to describe...it was nutty. I seriously want to just sit here smelling the dry leaf because it smells so good. There's a hint of a sort of "ancient" aroma, like an old library. I find the fragrance of the leaf reminds me a lot of autumn...it's perhaps faintly smoky and fruity.

I brewed as recommended by E. Alexander Gerster, starting with a warm (160Fish) first infusion of 1 minute.

The first cup had a strong, fresh herbaceous character, suggestive of celery, but with undertones of vanilla and fruit. Doesn't taste at all grassy or seaweedy the way typical sencha does. Even with a brief steep and low water temperature, brews a darker, more brownish color than is typical for sencha.

Flavor profile is very clean.

On the second cup I upped the brewing temperature, and the flavor and aroma of the cup stayed surprisingly consistent. There's almost a hint of nutmeg in the aroma in this cup. I wish I had steeped this cup longer than 1 minute because it wasn't as strong as I expected it to be.

In the third cup, there were some new qualities that came out...almost suggestive of osmanthus flowers and stewed artichoke. I'm not sure if I liked this cup as much...it was a bit soapy for me. The overall consistency of the cup though, flavor, sensations on the palate, and lack of grassy and seaweedy qualities was consistent.

I found that after three steepings the tea was mostly spent, and had a primarily herbaceous character to it...a lot like the later infusions of some greener oolongs. It's odd how the flavors of some teas of very different types converge like that on later steepings.

I enjoyed this one greatly...it was not my favorite Japanese green tea sampled, but it was so different, and I feel like it was broadening my palate to try it. I am eager to try more teas from Obubu tea.

At ¥1,600, this works out to be about $16 for 100 grams, not cheap, but I think a good price for tea of this quality and complexity.

Thank you to E. Alexander Gerster for this sample!

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