Chiran Sencha Supreme

Tea: Chiran Sencha Supreme
Vendor: O-cha
Price: $17.95 / 100g
Source: Chiran, Kagoshima, Japan
Vendor Description: From the first 2008 harvest, a very special sencha from the very old samurai town of Chiran, located in Kagoshima prefecture at the southern tip of Japan. This wonderful tea is a variety of the "Yutaka Midori" breed green tea plant. Compared with most of the other Chiran samples we tried, this green has a deep steamed characteristic to it, giving it an exceptional green color, in addition an aromatic, unique Chiran green tea taste. We urge you to compare this Chiran sencha against any of the others available on the internet for that nice emerald green color and wonderful taste. Try some today!

Leaf: This tea primarily consists of very small pieces. There are a few longer pieces, but the tea definitely has the appearance of a fukamushi. The leaf is a nice shade of green with a smattering of light green bits. The leaf has a very sweet aroma to it.

1st Infusion: The infusion has a very dark murky green hue to it, with a hint of yellow in the shade of green. The tea has a very grassy and sweet aroma to it. The flavor matches the sweet aroma and finishes with a very light sense of astringency. The tea is very full bodied and flavorful and has a very strong flavor on in the middle-back end of the flavor. The flavor is very reminiscent of a fukamushi on the backend.

2nd Infusion: The second infusion is very dark green and murky in color. There is a light bitterness and it is very flavorful. There is a very strong contrast of the fukamushi flavor with the more characteristic yutakamidori flavor. It feels very thick for a sencha, with a medium sense of astringency. If thinking of this primarily as a fukamushi it has a very good flavor.

Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: When i tried this tea it was primarily in comparison to the Chiran Yutakamidori from Lupicia. The Lupicia version was not quite as strong of a fukamushi. In comparison this tea feels more like a fukamushi more than the yutakamidori flavor of the Lupicia. It represents a nice fukamushi though, but I would prefer the Lupicia over this one.