Japanese Sencha (Sachets)

6
Percentile
4 ratings
Picture of Japanese Sencha (Sachets)
Brand:Harney and Sons
Style:Sencha
Caffeine:Caffeinated
Region:Shizuoka, Japan
Loose/teabag:Sachet
Product page:Japanese Sencha (Sachets)

This tea's info last updated: Apr. 23, 2018

Commercial Description

We call this Japanese Sencha because not all Sencha sold is from Japan. This is a nice blend of teas from the central Shizuoka province, and it is a very pleasant everyday tea. In fact our Founder, John Harney, starts everyday with this green tea.

Ratings & Reviews

Page 1 of 1 page with 4 reviews

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Reviewer pic71 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
(179 reviews) on

I had this tea at a local restaurant (in a bag) and got 2 cups out of 1 bag - even though the restaurant offered me a second bag. It had a slight grassy note but also a pleasant roasted flavor vaguely reminiscent of a barley or genmaicha. I really enjoyed this tea - hot - no lemon - no dairy - no sweetener.
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Reviewer pic80 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
(379 reviews) on

A colleague left this on the "freebie" table at work, so naturally I indulged some. One of the best green teas I've had so far, this offering competes well with a couple of bagged generic (unbranded) green-tea specimens containing a little matcha powder that my daughter brought back from her honeymoon in Japan.

Dry-bag aroma was rich, faintly toasty, as if some dry rice were in there (of course there isn't any). The cup brewed up a bright, clear lime green at first, gradating to murky olive-green over time, with a mildly buttery, toasty, and fishy or oceanic smell, but not enough of either to elicit displeasure. That marine element to the aroma gets a little stronger in the wet bag, even after pressing out the excess liquid into the cup (as I commonly do). Speaking of which, the wet leaves fill out the sachet nicely and turn a rich medium-green color; they act very sponge-like, soaking up a lot of water. I can't recall being able to squeeze this much liquid out of any sachet tea before. In about 5-10 minutes after that, a good deal of powdery sediment settles to the bottom of the cup, after which the brew clears up again.

The flavor was rich, strong, a little toasty, a little bitter, a little "oceanic" also, but very well-rounded and robust overall. It has a good kick, which I like...not a delicate or subtle green tea at all. This tea announces itself with drums and trumpets, not whispers. It is a certifiable waker-upper. I noticed a distinct metallic element to the aftertaste, much more than the flavor itself, and it lingered for a long time unless I took another sip or ate something. That was the only somewhat unpleasant aspect of this tea experience; otherwise I found it to be quite good.
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Reviewer pic75 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
(45 reviews) on

Surprisingly good for a tea bag. I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately (which reminds me that I have a couple reviews to add), but with all the terrible tea bags out there, it's still a surprise when a bagged tea taste much like the loose leaf version.

I'm not going to describe this in detail for two reasons: there's already a detailed review of this tea, and I had this at a restaurant, brewed in the ubiquitous mug of unknown temperature. Picking out notes of seaweed or whatever in my tea wasn't exactly my top priority, and I'm usually bad at that sort of thing with green tea anyway because I drink it so rarely compared to black and oolong.
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Reviewer pic77 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
(1448 reviews) on

An exceptional sencha from a tea bag; without a doubt the best sencha I've ever tried from a tea bag, and better than a lot of examples of loose-leaf tea.

The dry tea bag has a very fresh and pleasing aroma, like loose-leaf sencha of very good quality, suggesting sweetness.

Brews a very light-colored cup with a beautiful aroma. Aroma is nutty, slightly toasty, less vegetal than typical for a sencha. Flavor is strongly savory (umami) and lightly sweet, with a slight bitter aftertaste. There's a slight metallic taste.

Resteeps very well. The second cup even came out a bit too strong, with a 5 minute steep (2 minutes for the first). I suspect that if you brewed this tea carefully you'd easily be able to get three steeps out of it, which is pretty astonishing for a tea bag, but I only had one of these so I didn't get to try this out.

This tea dethroned Bare Tea in my mind, for the title of best sencha in a tea bag. Theirs, however, is very different, a little more seaweedy (I like those vegetal notes), but I thought this was a slightly better tea.
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Page 1 of 1 page with 4 reviews

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