深むし緑茶 Japanese Pure Green Tea （333g/11.74oz） Sen-Cha Ryoku-Cha Extra Volume & Special Price japanese green tea from Shizuoka Japan with a tracking number

At the time I bought this, it was almsot 2$ an ounce, which is far less than most other brands are selling it for. The sencha is good quality, and tastes just like any other sencha ive had before. If you brew it properly, it will not be bitter.(Edit: After tasting some better quality sencha from places like Sugimoto and Ippodo, I can definitely see why some people consider this to be lower quality or not as good. It's not bad, but compared to high quality sencha it has far less umami and a lot more astringency per cup. However, if you just want some sencha to drink every day and don't care about getting something premium, this still tastes good and the price definitely makes it worth it.)For sencha, I brew it by pouring 12 oz of water thats 175 degrees Fahrenheit* over 2 tsp of sencha and letting it steep for 1 minute, then pouring into the cup to serve. I do a second steep with the same leaves at 45 seconds, and then a third at 30 seconds**. If you want a nice flavor, use a kyusu teapot and cover with lid while steeping***. Leave the teapot lid slightly off to let moisture and steam escape while the tea leaves are not steeping in between brews.You can experiment with how long to infuse your tea for your liking, as well as the proportions of water to tea, to get the flavor you like best.*Be sure not to use boiling water as this will scorch the leaves and cause them to release compounds that will make the tea taste bitter. It is best to take boiling water and cool it using a japanese water cooling vessel called a yuzamashi, as it is specifically designed for the purpose. Boiling the water before cooling it makes the water softer and much better for tea, instead of just heating the water directly to the right temperature and then stopping. (Water softness has to do with the amount of dissolved hard minerals in it, and boiling removes some of these hard minerals for a better taste)**Multiple short infusions are preferred here because the water remains the correct temperature throughout most of the brewing process, and provides the best extraction for this type of tea by controlling how much bitter compounds get released into the tea. If you were to use one long infusion like 4 to 5 minutes and then throw the leaves out after, you would be a much colder temperature by the time the infusion was done, and the tea would be very bitter.***You can use any porcelain or clay teapot if you have one as long as it has a lid, but be sure to strain the leaves and put them back in the teapot. A kyusu is better though because it doesnt move the leaves around as much as it has a built in strainer. Moving the leaves around too much risks releasing more of those bitter compounds and making the tea taste bitter.

This is a pretty decent sencha that balances price and quality and comes from Japan. The flavor is robust yet not muddied, with hints of crispness. The price is fair for the quality and quantity. A 4oz bag of loose sen-cha at aa typical grocery store is about $8-$9 and this is better quality. You get 4x as much tea for 2x the price.I was drinking gunpowder green for a while, which is decent and inexpensive, but this sen-cha's flavor blows it out of the water.The one issue here is there are no steeping instructions unless you are fluent in Japanese. this is critical to making a perfect cup. If you oversteep, the tea will be too bitter. If you understeep, the flavor won't be released. Also you need to get the proportion of tea to water right.I boiled water in an electric kettle and let it cool down for like 30 seconds after reaching a boil. I put about 30 Ml (1 tblspn) of loose tea in a tea strainer and poured into a 20 oz cup filled almost (but not quite) to the top, so that's probably about 16-18 actual ounces of liquid, or approximately 2 average 8 oz tea cups. I let steep for 3 minutes (with a kitchen timer). this results in a robust sen-cha that is on the strong side but not overly-so.In general, i would say, let it steep for 2-3 minutes depending on how strong you want it. if you use less tea, you could probably let it steep for longer but you will run the risk of making it too bitter. i find that 1 tblspn/15 Ml per 8-10 oz cup is the right ratio.One full 20 oz. cup, when properly brewed and steeped, gives a nice mix of green tea antioxidants and caffeinated energy without getting you too wired. Again, steep for 3 minutes max. I have one of these every morning. I typically don't drink green tea all day as the caffeine will catch up to you eventually but YMMV.

If you're accustomed to green tea in tea bags, this will be a delight. And even if you're used to a higher grade loose leaf Japanese green, you will be familiar with how expensive they are.Unlike very inexpensive tea bags, the sencha flavor can be tasted in this tea. However there are also some slightly dusty & seaweed notes that are reminiscent of cheap tea bags; thankfully it is not the overpowering or dominant flavor. It is because the tea has not been properly cared for in order to arrive very fresh -- but this is to be expected at this price. It would be several times more expensive to have fresher leaves.I'm able to get two good steeps out of this tea. My steeping method is:Steep1: 165F for 2 minutes using 1tsp for 6oz waterSteep2: 185F for 75 secondsThis tea is my weekday morning drinker, so that I can save the special tea for the weekend. However if you are new to loose leaf tea or Japanese tea, you may find this to be very special.