Tea: Organic Japanese Sencha
A Sencha from Two Leaves and a Bud - 
Organic
This tea has been retired/discontinued.
| Brand: | Two Leaves and a Bud |
| Style: | Sencha |
| Region: | Japan |
| Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
| Loose? | Loose |
| # Ratings: | 3 View All |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1448 teas reviewed
✓ 26 of Sencha
✓ 219 of Green Tea
✓ 15 of Two Leaves and a Bud
✓ 65 from Japan
Review of Organic Japanese Sencha
October 18th, 2010
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 3 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 47 of 100 |
| Poor | Good | Overpriced |
This tea was interesting; I brewed it for 3 minutes at 180 degrees. I found it was only good for a single infusion, which is why I settled on 3 minutes. Longer steeping made it too bitter and strong for me, and many people may like a shorter infusion.
Two Leaves and a Bud describes this as "brisk", and I think this is an apt choice of words. The rest of the description I did not find fit as well. This is significantly less grassy than most green teas, and I also found it to not be particularly floral either, nor would I describe it as earthy, sweet, smooth, or rich...all words the company uses on their website.
Rather, I found this tea to be bold, with a substantial kick...dark, deep, a bit sharp. Overall, though, the aroma was disappointing; the aroma was too weak for me, and it lacked the seaweedy and grassy qualities of sencha that I like. I think this is a "green tea for people who don't like green teas". The overall quality is much darker...it brews a deep golden color, almost tending towards brown.
One last question is about the price; I found this for sale in a supermarket, where it was priced reasonably (100 grams for $7), but the website shows an exorbitant price of 3 oz. for almost $24. What could explain this discrepancy? At the low price this is a decent buy but at the high price this is absolute price gouging...this tea is not exciting enough to warrant such an astronomical price, and honestly? I think there are better green teas that are substantially cheaper than the lower of the two prices I have seen.
As one final note, I found the packaging for this tea to be poor. It was packaged in a cardboard cylinder, with a thin foil bag inside it. The bag ripped in spite of careful opening, and was rendered unusable...but the container was not airtight, requiring me to transfer the tea immediately. A lot of companies have packaging that is more sustainable (like fully compostable) and yet higher quality and more practical, from my experience, so that was a bit of a disappointment too.
