Issaku Japanese Green Tea Loose Leaf – Premium Japanese Green Tea – Loose Leaves – Vegan and All-Natural Loose Green Tea – Antioxidant-Rich Fukamushi Sencha Tea – 3.5 oz

Don't like the taste very much. Smells and tastes a bit like grass

Very nice testing tea .

This is a very good tea. I enjoy drinking green tea. Not all green teas are the same. This is not the common green tea one finds at the supermarket. This is the kind that you brew with care. Steep in a decorative tea pot. Serve in the perfect tea cup. In my case, I have the perfect Japanese teapot and cup set that I received years ago as a gift.What this is: I received a cylinder box. Inside it is a foil bag. It is not resealable. Inside the box is also directions on how to brew. There is 3.5 ounces in the bag.How I tried this out:In trying out this tea, I followed their directions.I measured 2 teaspoons to 12 ounces of water that was about 185. I let it steep for one minute. I took a taste. It was flavorful with just one minute of steeping. I let it steep for two minutes. It became a pretty strong tea.Appearance:Fresh from the can, it looks like green grass clippings.Brewed, This has a green murky/cloudy color.Flavor:This does NOT taste like your traditional green tea that comes in a tea bag and priced around $4 a box from the supermarket shelves. This has a completely different flavor profile. I have tasted a few Japanese teas at this point. This one is much like the other ones I have tried. It tastes almost grassy. Earthy. Bitter but not a bad bitter. This is a tea I don't need sugar. It is not a sweet tea but the flavor is complex and I don't want to lose it adding sugar or other sweetener to it.This is a great tea for someone looking for a Japanese green tea. It has a different flavor profile than any American Green tea that I have tasted.

I am going to begin by saying that I was very intrigued to know from the Amazon product description that this tea is a “Global Tea Championship Winner.”ACCOLADEI looked that up and I will quote an article in The Tea House Times entitled, “Global Tea Championship Announces Winners of the 2019 Spring Hot Loose-Leaf Tea Competition:” …“Global Tea Championship awarded five Gold, 12 Silver and 30 Bronze medals to the best, premium hot loose-leaf teas in various categories from around the world. The Championship, which is an independent competition that evaluates and distinguishes the highest quality and best tasting specialty teas, took place Sept. 28 - 29 [2019] in Boulder, Colo. at Informa Exhibitions.”It turns out that this tea won one of the 12 silver medals, specifically for the category for Sencha tea. From what I’ve read, that’s quite an accolade.FIRST IMPRESSIONSo with that knowledge, I impatiently waited for this product to be delivered to my door. The first thing I noticed when arrived is that it says on the cylindrical box, “Best Green Tea by Japan Minister of Agricuture” and “Global Tea Champion 2017, 2018, 2019.” I didn’t do any further research on all those awards, but my anticipation was really high at this point!SCENTThe first thing I did was take a deep whiff of the tea. I can only describe it as smelling like “green.” The best I can do is tell you that it smells very fresh and mildly grassy. You will understand what I mean when you smell it yourself.TASTE – NEXT LEVELHow does it taste? It’s out of this world. When I was little my parents frequently took me to an open air tea house (it was a pagoda) surrounded by a koi pond with fish that were likely double my age several times over (they were huge). With that first sip, I am instantly there. The taste is mild without even a hint of bitterness. The green tea flavor coupled with the warmth of the tea is very relaxing. This tea is definitely next level.FINAL THOUGHTSI’ll admit, this tea is on a level far beyond my expertise. However, I certainly can appreciate its subtlety and richness. Is it good for everyday use? Undoubtedly! I, however, cannot afford it everyday… so likely I will only revisit my tea pagoda every now and then. I concede to you that it is expensive… but it is worth every single penny!!!

This tea almost looks like mowed grass mixed with matcha powder. It has a strong but sweet vegetable aroma. I brewed 1.5 teaspoons at 185 degrees for 1 minute in 10 ounces of water. The resulting brew was cloudy, had some sediment, and was sort of fluorescent green. The flavor is deliciously sweet and vegetal - almost like drinking sweet spinach water. This tea really tastes excellent to me.I actually feel like I am drinking something very healthy when drinking this with a hint of dessert (the sweetness) blended in. I also love that this comes from Japan instead of China.Note that the instructions in the package are well-written, which is also a plus. That is not always the case with teas that come from other countries.What is interesting about this tea is that for the hot version, it says to strain the tea. However, for brewing the cold version it says to dissolve the tea in the water. This is another reason that I feel it is very "matcha-like."In summary, I really love this tea. At $65 per 3.5 ounces, this is expensive tea but it is a cut above most of the other greens teas I tried previously. A very good green tea is typically expensive and I can taste the difference with this one. It is absolutely excellent to my palate!

Review of Issaku Japanese Green Tea Loose Leaf – Premium Japanese Green Tea – Authentic Green Tea Loose Leaves – Vegan and All-Natural Loose Green Tea – Antioxidant-Rich Fukamushi Sencha Tea – 3.5 oz sold by BLU LLC DBA Japanese Green Tea Co.Received with a Best By date approximately 8 months from date of receipt or so I assume based upon the format on the label which appeared to be YY MM but I do not speak or read Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji and did not try to research translation of the label.The instructions are printed on a small flyer found inside the cardboard container.I used my single-brew coffee maker as a controlled hot water heater to brew this in single servings with an infuser in the mug collecting the water. I have found that the water temperature will decrease by 18 to 20F simply starting with a room temperature mug and room-temperature infuser so I slightly pre-warmed the mug with hot tap water when brewing the tea. The tea was a slightly darker green than expected and the tea was great. Since I used the infuser I did not have to strain the tea. For 11.5 oz of water I used a little under 2 teaspoons of tea and allowed to steep for a minute.Some green teas are actually good for 2 and sometimes even 3 brewings so I gave a second use a try and this tasted the same although it was cloudier.The instructions were to use 1 or 2 teaspoons of tea per 12 ounces of water and brew for 30 seconds to a minute.One can store the tea in the cardboard container leaving it in the mylar bag (non-resealable so a clip or paper clip might come in handy) or transfer the contents to a metal tea tin, etc. One can also use a resealable plastic bag to hold the tea with or without the mylar bag.