Sencha Overture

Tea: Sencha Overture
Vendor: Adagio
Location: Shizuoka, Japan
Price: $12.00 / 5 oz.
Vendor Description: Green tea from the Shizuoka region of Japan. Sencha translates as 'common,' but there is nothing ordinary about this exquisite 'spider leg' tea. The latter refers to the leaves' long, slender shape. Our 'Sencha Overture' is a wonderfully delicate second flush (summer) tea whose soothing taste and fresh green scent make it a perfect everyday treat.

This is one of the first new senchas that I have had in a while. Although I would have to say that I was not very impressed by this sencha. The first thing that I noticed was the color of the liquor. It is a more yellow shade than I normally expect from a sencha. A sencha normally has a much greener color to it than this. At first I suspected that this may be to overextraction, but I tried a few more after this and the liquor came out this same color regardless.

Color aside, since this was the lower grade of the two senchas that Adagio has to offer my expectations were not that high for this tea. And I would say that they were met. The bitterness that i refer to as the sencha bite came very late in this tea, it seems to have a smooth taste that slowly builds and then kicks in at the end. Like the genmai this tea had a very high astringency and was not very sweet (although this is characteristic of sencha). The taste for this tea is very clean though.

The clean feeling that is associated with this tea is by far the most outstanding quality of this tea. That is part of what draws me to love Japanese Green teas is the clean feeling and lightness that they have.

Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: While this tea is a second flush and not the best sencha out there it is not bad. It has a unique flavor profile while meeting all of the qualities of a sencha quite well. It is not overly expensive, making it well suited as a daily tea.