Sencha

Tea: Sencha
Vendor: Teavana
Price: $4.80 / 2 oz.
Source: Japan
Vendor Description: A high quality, everyday tea from Japan. Flat, dark green leaves with a sweet aroma and taste. Low in caffeine. High content of vitamin C.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit a Teavana store. This was my first time visiting a Teavana and to be honest I was not that impressed. The selection of teas was not that large, with only a handful of each class of tea present. Tea yet to be purchased is stored in very large high containers, so anytime they open them to present the aroma to a customer or to remove some tea for purchase a large amount of tea is exposed to new air for oxidation. The tea purchased is packaged into paper bags very similar to the kind you use when you buy loose coffee at the grocery store. A stark contrast to the resealable bags of some vendors or the small mylar bags of Lupicia. The one impressive aspect of the Teavana store though was their selection of cups and teapots. They have a very good selection of different teacups.

The tea itself has a slighly grassy scent to it which is paired with a equal flavor at the beginning of the taste of the tea. This is followed by a long lasting bitterness, which due to the duration, just doesn't quite seem apt for the term of a bite. This is finally finished off with a mild astringent flavor.

Rating: 1/10

Conclusion: This tea is expectedly unremarkable. It is a somewhat poor representation of a sencha, and I have actually had better tea from a grocery store. The price is rather expensive for what it is. I don't recommend this tea for anyone looking to enjoy a sencha.

Dragonwell

Tea: Dragonwell Green Tea
Vendor: Teavana
Price: $9.30 / 2oz.
Source: Lung Ching Garden, China
Vendor Description: Legendary tea from the Lung Ching Garden. Flat jade-green leaves produce a mellow-sweet tea with a nutty undertone. Known in China for more than 1,500 years, Dragonwell is still hand picked and processed according to the ancient methods of “Ch’a Ching.” Dragonwell is thought to boost mental alertness and and fend off disease.

When I found out that Teavana had some Dragonwell I felt that I had to try it. I have heard very interesting things about Dragonwell tea, from it being one of the ten legendary teas to it having it's very unique flat leaf shape. This was unfortunately before I had tried the sencha that I had picked up from Teavana at the same time.

The tea has very large leaves, due to the difference in Chinese and Japanese harvesting methods. It is apparent from the second you scoop up some of the tea to the final brewed tea. There is a different aroma to this tea that differs greatly from the regular aroma of Japanese green tea that I am used to.

The brewed tea has a very different taste than a sencha. It starts off with a very mellow start which builds up over time. This leads to a bitterness that is different in a sencha in that it lasts for a surprisingly long time, and it lasts at the same level for a surprisingly long time. It tapers down from that to leave you without a sense of astringency to it at all. Unlike a good sencha this does not leave your mouth with a particular clean feeling. It somewhat stays with you.

Rating: 5/10

Conclusion: Given the different nature of this tea it is difficult to tell if this is due to it being from Teavana or if this is indicative of Dragonwell. Regardless, I found this to be an unremarkable tea that did not live up to it's name. I'm not giving up on Dragonwell though and intend to try it when I can source some from a better vendor.