Shincha

Tea: Shincha
Vendor: Maeda-en

About this tea: I picked this tea up at a Nijiya grocery store back in May. I unfortunately don't know much about the tea, aside from that it is a 2008 shincha crop from Maeda-en. Information regarding this particular sencha has since been removed from their website due to the seasonality of shincha.

Leaf: The leaf had a very enjoyable sweet aroma to the leaf. The tea had a lot of smaller pieces to it, and a very noticeable blend of colors. There were a significant amount of light green bits and pieces in the mix and a lot of very dark colored pieces.

1st Infusion: The tea had a very bright green color and was moderately cloudy. The flavor was very sweet and thick. Even though the flavor was quite light. It has a light sense of astringency.

2nd Infusion: This was a darker and murkier infusion. There was a light sweet aroma to it with a hint of a roasted aroma to it. The flavor was very light and up front, but there was not much flavor on the back end. This infusion also had a moderate sense of astringency.

Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: This tea was rather surprising for a maeda-en tea. All of my previous tries of this brand had been somewhat lackluster and mediocre. This tea turned out to be quite good, although not exceptional. This is a very solid and good shincha. I unfortunately don't have the price of the tea on hand anymore so I don't know how much of a value it was, but the flavor is enjoyable. I will have to give the Maeda-en brand another try.