Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 6 of Bancha
✓ 219 of Green Tea
✓ 39 of Rishi Tea
✓ 4 from Kagoshima, Japan
✓ 65 from Japan
Review of Bancha
October 30th, 2010
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 7 of 10 | 5 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 81 of 100 |
| Very Good | Excellent | Outstanding |
I found this tea to be very different based on how it is brewed.
The light, flat quality of the dry leaf reminds me of dragon well, but the similarity ends there. This tea brews a very clear greenish-yellow color. Regardless of how strongly you brew it, it comes out completely transparent: there's almost no opacity, unlike Sencha and other Japanese green teas I've tried.
Aroma is rich and homey, suggestive of corn and honey. Interestingly, I find that brewing more strongly does not particularly strengthen the aroma, and regardless of how long I brewed, there is no noticeable bitterness.
Brewed as Rishi recommends, however, this tea has an astringent and sour, almost biting aftertaste. I actually liked it a lot, but I'd imagine that some people might not like it. But even so, there is a cleanness to this tea that is acharacteristic of other Japanese green teas: it seems fitting with the clear visual appearance of the cup. Towards the end of the cup, a new aroma develops, a sort of complex, herbaceous quality that I found very pleasing.
I also tried used less leaf (significantly less than the recommended tablespoon, and for a larger cup), and I found that brewing for 3 minutes yielded a mild cup, and I was able to make two infusions. The aroma was pleasant and this cup had a mild but very comforting character to it. However, I missed the herbaceous quality at the end of the cup when I brewed it this way.
Surprisingly interesting and complex for this "coarse" or "common" tea. I honestly find nothing common about it! Yet another impressive Rishi offering! This is not a tea for mainstream American tastes but green tea lovers might enjoy this one a surprising amount. And it's incredibly inexpensive!
