Here's another from this year's assortment of newly tried and/or reviewed teas procured at hotels and motels during typically extensive springtime travels. Stash is a common brand at a lot of chain hotels in the upper portion of the price/quality spectrum that still offers complimentary breakfast. This one came from a Springhill Suites near the Denver airport, and I was surprised to look on RateTea and find that I haven't rated it before.

I took this blend home to my filtered well water to allow a fair try, even though Denver's water is not bad. As with most Stash teas, this comes in its own hybrid foil/paper pouch. That helps to seal in a nice, sencha-like, dry-bag aroma that also is somewhat grassy and faintly rice-like. The flavor mirrors that, a consistency found a lot less often than one might think. It takes well to sweetening, leaves a pleasant aftertaste for a few seconds, and tastes a lot like one of the bagged Yamamotoyama Japanese green teas I've had while out in Hawaii.

After brewing up the tea and being satisfied with it, I read other reviews here, including webmaster Alex's, that note how quickly this blend can go bad (bitter/sour) and how careful one must be in steeping it. Well, I wasn't careful. However, I accidentally discovered one solution. I used water that had been sitting in an insulated kettle all day, so it was still drinkably hot, but well below boiling point. I also let that sit for several minutes (at least 5) as it steeped, and the water became more warm than hot. Yet the tea didn't taste objectionable in any way, only faintly bitter, stayed clear in appearance, and in fact, was one of the better bagged greens I've had. So I'm guessing this tea is extremely temperature-sensitive, even more so than most other greens.

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