Kyobancha

Tea: Kyobancha - 7433
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $6.50 / 100g
Source: Kyoto, Japan
Vendor Description: Typical Bancha tea in Kyoto. The tea leaves are sun-dried and look almost like dead leaves, but their uneven roasting process makes the tea's flavor richly alluring.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea reminds me of a pile of leaves raked up during the autumn. There are some larger twigs in this tea, larger than most karigane/kukicha teas. The stems are over 1cm in length. The leaves are quite large and flat, there is no rolling or curling at all. The leaf is primarily black in color with some leaves which have a greener color to them.

Infusion Parameters: This tea has some unusual brewing parameters to them. Instead of steeping the tea with the water cooling down from boiling, the tea is boiled during the steeping process. 15g, 2L, 3 min.

Infusion: The tea has a very light aroma to it and a rich brown color. There is a light roasted flavor, but not much behind it. There is a very light to mid flavor and that's the majority of the flavor. There is no early flavor or aftertaste. There is also no bitterness or astringency.

Rating: 4/10

Conclusion: As a hot tea this tea is somewhat unimpressive. There isn't a lot of flavor to this tea, but you make quite a bit for not too much leaf. It is quite inexpensive though and makes for a good everyday tea. I'm curious how this tea will turn out as an iced tea.