Tea: Sencha Superior
This tea has been retired/discontinued.
Brand: | Rishi Tea |
Style: | Sencha |
Region: | Shizuoka, Japan |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Loose? | Loose |
# Ratings: | 1 View All |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 26 of Sencha
✓ 219 of Green Tea
✓ 39 of Rishi Tea
✓ 4 from Shizuoka, Japan
✓ 65 from Japan
Review of Sencha Superior
November 3rd, 2010
Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
7 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 2 of 5 | 63 of 100 |
Very Good | Good | Overpriced |
Brews a clear golden color, less opaque than most Sencha. Aroma seaweedy and vegetal, and only slightly grassy. Relatively smooth flavor, with a little astringency and bitterness. Overall this is a very typical sencha. Nothing about it stands out.
Rishi's brewing instructions result in a cup that on the weak side for my taste. I often prefer making multiple infusions with Sencha, but in order to do that with this tea, I found that much more leaf was needed than what Rishi recommends. With a single 3-minute infusion, most of the aroma is lost in the first infusion. A second infusion of 5 minutes yielded a golden cup that was very bland, with a slight astringency and mild but unpleasant sourness. I discarded this brewing attempt as it was not pleasing to drink.
Disappointing. This is a pricey tea, and yet is neither organic nor fair-trade certified like most of Rishi's offerings. The price is approaching that of some really top-notch Sencha's I've sampled, and yet the quality strikes me as average; I would thus say this tea is quite overpriced.