Sen-cha Fukamushi Green Tea Select
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Ratings & Reviews
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95 Aroma: 10/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5Whiskey (45 reviews) on May. 13th, 2020
This is a great, fresh fukamushi-cha. I really enjoyed it. I actually got three cups out of 2tsp of leaves, rather than just two cups (the typical amount for this kind of tea). It's very full-bodied, has the typical cloudiness and rich flavor of fukamushi (which is extra steamed).
I went with a lower temperature because of how fresh it smelled. I could probably even brew this with 75ºC water (I'll try that later). For now, 80ºC was a good fit. 2tsp of leaves, 110ml water, 80ºC, with a swift rinse and then 20-30s, 30-35s, and then around 35-40s. It was a little bitter for the last cup, but it wasn't too much. It just skated the edge, being a refreshing bitterness rather than an unpleasant one.
I'm impressed. This is the best fukamushi-cha I've had. I've had two or three other varieties. It's not the most common variety of green tea, but it's one of my favorites.
Update: I just wanted to add a few things, because not everyone knows what fukamushi-cha even is. In China, they pan fry leaves during the process of making tea; in Japan, they steam the leaves. This is why loose leaf tea from China looks different than loose leaf tea from Japan. The steaming process breaks up leaves, which are then pressed. The pan frying process typically keeps leaves intact. Now, fukamushi-cha is tea which is extra steamed. This results in tea leaves breaking down and there being some dust along with the leaves. The taste is also different -- a bit more sweet and full-bodied. I find fukamushi-cha to be more 'green' while typical sencha is more vegetal, sometimes leaning in the direction of 'green.' I would say that if you ordered teas on the basis of flavor, shin-cha would be the most green, then gyokuro, then fukamushi-cha, then sencha is at the vegetal end of the spectrum. Now, between the 'green' flavor and the fact that you have this tea dust from processing, the tea is foggy like matcha (at least for the first cup, if you brew it more than once). In addition, it feels more fortifying (because you're consuming the tea leaf in small pieces rather than just drinking brew). It's also a bit sweeter (perhaps because of the effect that the extra steaming has on it). I found this particular fukamushi-cha to be very fresh, full-bodied, with a nice sweetness, some umami taste, and a nice color with some fog. It lasted for two full cups, with a third being more weak but drinkable. In my mind, this makes it a very good fukamushi-cha. I don't find it to make me jittery. It's very fortifying. While green tea does have caffeine, rich green teas like shin-cha, gyokuro, and fukamushi-cha can tend to offset the caffeine with other nutrients and GABA. This makes the experience of drinking it relaxing or even, despite the presence of caffeine.
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