04.18.07
Tenbu & Tenbu Fuka Tasting Notes
posted by Sandy M. Bushberg | 49 comments
Let me start with a brief summary.
Tenbu (Dance in Heaven) and Tenbu Fuka (Dance in Heaven Profound) are unique sencha teas grown in Kagoshima Japan. These are organic, half-shaded teas that are covered a few weeks prior to picking, allowing only 50% of the sun’s rays to reach the plants.
Tenbu Fuka and Tenbu teas are the best selection from the very 1st picking. Only the very best selection of these fresh, small tea leaves from the first April picking contribute to the Tenbu Fuka and Tenbu tea stock: Less quantity, higher quality.
Recommended steeping temperature is: 60 º C - 65 º C/140 º F - 143 º F.
Recommended steeping times are: 60 sec; 15 sec; 15 sec; 15 sec; 30 sec.
My notes for Tenbu Fuka (TF) and Tenbu (T) Senchas:
I used water filtered through our Tersano Lotus Water Filtration System. I used the recommended temperatures, times and amounts with both teas. I used a 6 1/2 oz ceramic, side handled Japanese pot to steep the tea and a white porcelain tasting cup to better see the color of the liquor.
I very much enjoyed both of these teas. Although I haven’t taken the time yet to experiment with higher temperatures or longer steep times (I am hoping that those who did will post their comparisons), I found the recommended times and temperatures provided a delicious experience.
I noticed that the dry leaves of the TF were more uniformly cut and darkly colored than the T, although there was still some variation. I found the dry leaves to be very aromatic right out of the bag, with a slightly sweeter fragrance when following Phyll’s recommendation of heating the cup first. The color of the wet leaves of the TF were also more uniform in color. The wet leaves had a lovely mellow roasted aroma with little detected grassiness. The liquor was brightly green in both, with the TF appearing slightly more muted to me. I noticed that both were initially cloudy upon pouring due to the fine fannings that made it through the screen ending up in the cup.
The taste of both teas was quite delicious, with the TF having a detectably more pronounced sweetness with the first steeping. I found that the roasted aroma carried through into the taste that added a richness to it. I detected no bitterness with the T and only slightly with the second cup of the TF. They both held up quite well to subsequent steepings (I stopped at 3) but found the T to be more uniform in taste over steepings. For some strange reason I found the TF to be very sweet with the first infusion, less sweet with a slight bitterness on the second and sweet with no significant bitterness on the third but with a slight sharpness that I really couldn’t quite figure out.
I think I particularly enjoyed these teas because of my unique taste profile of having an over abundance of bitter receptors on my tongue inextricably linked with a tendency to crave sweetness (found in a percentage of the population). Although I assume that some of you, preferring a stronger mouth feel due to the higher concentrations of polyphenols/tannins in other teas, might find these teas too mild, I loved the sweetness without the bitterness.
TF - 4 T - 4.5
Please post your tasting notes as comments below. I hope you all enjoyed our second tasting and thank you all for your participation.
April 18th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
SEN CHA TEA TASTING NOTES:
TEA: Organic Tenbu
POT: 6 oz Kyusu
STRAINER: very fine mesh Japanese strainer
CUP: 3 oz white ceramic chawan
WATER: Fiji Bottled Water
WATER TEMPERATURE: 130-140 DEGREES f
AMOUNT OF TEA: 3 grams
AMOUNT OF WATER: 5 oz
DRY LEAVES:
COLOUR: Deep, rich jewel-tone, velvety green
LEAF SIZE: 1/4 inch, generally, varied as leaves were more or less uniform
AROMA: Grassy - freshly cut, very vegetal. Fresh turnip leaves.
TEXTURE AND SHAPE: Smooth, sheath-like, few darker particles. Sharp, linear,
Indeterminate leaf shape.
60 SECONDS:
WET LEAVES
COLOUR: Colour hardly fading - still bright. Moss green.
AROMA: Vegetal (early summer corn), no grassiness or kelp evident; mildly sweet.
TEXTURE AND SHAPE: Still holding form. Clumped together in pot. Spear-like 1/8 to ¼ inch spear; some darker particles.
LIQUOR
VISCOSITY: Leaves separated from liquor, barely cloudy with no floating leaves. No dancing leaves evident in liquor. No discernable meniscus
COLOUR: Lovely pale, pale green with an underlying weak pale yellow hue.
TASTE: Delicately sweet. Refreshing and crisp. Slightly grassy. Vegetal - young, sweet corn.
FINISH: Delicate sweet-corn, lingering, mildly sweet.
OTHER OBSERVATION: Difficult to distinguish flavour of the liquor. Although I never really brew greens for longer than a minute, I am looking forward to a slightly longer infusion because of the lack of real character in this tea.
15 SECONDS:
LEAVES: Beginning to deteriorate. Slightly mushy.
LIQUOR:
COLOUR: Pale green, green celadon, yellow cast fading.
VISCOSITY: Very clear, shimmering. Pale green-pale yellow meniscus
AROMA: Definitely asparagus, slightly sweet, still vegetal. Not fishy or kelpy.
FLAVOUR: Asparagus, corn flavour (fading fast with temperature change), and becoming mildly astringent. No kelp.
FINISH: Very short .Somewhat astringent, very mildly sweet-corn, slightly sweet.
15 SECONDS:
LEAVES: Mush
LIQUOR
COLOUR: Deeper pale green, no yellow undertone.
AROMA: Asparagus, vegetal, becoming stale, green vegetable soup.
FLAVOUR: Becoming astringent, less sweet, vegetal — sweet corn taste has disappeared. Not fishy or kelpy as in some other Japanese greens.
OTHER OBSERVATION: I doubt if this tea can hold up to another infusion. Generally, I can never go three or more infusions with a Japanese green, except, perhaps, with a more robust Gyokuro.
These wet leaves are smelling composted.
OVERALL: 3 - I didn’t care for this tea, tending to enjoy a more flavourful sen cha. The fact that it became so vegetal and lost its sweetness so quickly was disappointing. I did enjoy the young corn taste in the lengthier infusion (60 second).
TEA: Tenbu Fuka
DRY LEAVES
COLOUR: Deep, deep moss green
SIZE: 1/4 inch and smaller. Some broken slivers and particles
AROMA: Delicate, grassy, fresh
TEXTURE AND SHAPE: Fine, needle shapes, more uniform than Tenbu
60 SECONDS:
WET LEAVES:
COLOUR: Deep, rich, emerald green
AROMA: Grassy, vegetal, new-mown hay
TEXTURE AND SHAPE: Discernably spear-like, needles, some open, very small leaves
LIQUOR:
COLOUR: Deep, pale green; some yellow overtone
AROMA: Delicately grassy, vegetal
VISCOSITY: Very clear, shimmering. No tea leaf present in cup. Clear, glowing plae green minscous.
FLAVOUR: Refreshing, comforting, “green”-vegetal and sweet. The taste of very sweet, ripe, raw, young corn. A tiny bit “kelpy”.
FINISH: Fresh. Longer than Tenbu sample. Sweet-to-corn-to-asparagus-to-mildly, mildly astringent. No tannic after“feel”.
15 SECONDS:
LEAVES: Becoming soft and indiscernible. Asparagus aroma.
LIQUOR:
COLOUR: Deeper, clear, celadon green
VISCOSITY: Very clear, thin. Shimmering.
AROMA: Faintly vegetal. Faintly asparagus. Sweet.
FLAVOUR: Insipid. Barely sweet. Barely astringent.
FINISH: Nebulous.
OTHER OBSERVATION: This tea cannot take three infusions without sacrificing flavour and characteristics. It becomes insipid and unremarkable.
OVERALL: 4 As a sen cha, this is a fine tea; perhaps, a treasure. The 60 second infusion is quite gutsy and memorable (for a sen cha); however, this is “not my cup of tea”.
Having called upon all my senses to co-operate in this seach for extraordinary characteristics, I found few to my liking.
Subjective an opinion as it is, I prefer a hauntingly good cup of green that stirs a plethora of subtle memories. This, to me, is forgettable.
April 18th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
First of all, I’d like to thank the people at T Ching for giving me the opportunity to participate in this tasting. I thought both offerings were of very high quality, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Rather than posting my entire set of notes on each tea, I thought I’d avoid repeating myself by just reporting the highlights (T Ching– if you want the unabridged version, please let me know and I will post it). So, without further ado…
Tenbu
Parameters:
Unglazed Kyûsu (roughly 8oz volume); Brita-filtered tap water; 3 grams tea / 7oz water; 145 ºF for all infusions; 60s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 30s, 40s, 50s.
Dry Leaf:
Nice dark green color, with a fair amount of fannings (this is not necessarily a bad thing in sencha). Deep, grassy aroma. Some marine notes, though not much compared to some other senchas. No hay smell at all.
Liquor color:
Gorgeous, vibrant greens. First infusion was peridot, followed by emerald, then lime in subsequent infusions. Truly magnificent!
Taste:
I thought this was an absolutely stunning tea. The liquor was wonderfully sweet, even candy-like. The first two infusions also had surprisingly thick mouth-feel, which I liked very much. There is little astringency, and I detected just a hint of grassiness in the first few infusions.
Other observations:
I thought it was truly spectacular that this sencha made it through 7 infusions. To be fair, the 7th infusion was weak and a bit insipid, but it was still tea (and good tea, I might add). When I first read that we would be preparing 5 infusions of a sencha, I thought someone was marginally insane, but needless to say I was proven quite wrong. Overall, I think this is a wonderful tea, and I would certainly purchase more if the option were available.
Grade: 4.75 out of 5
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Tenbu Fuka
Parameters:
Same as with Tenbu. Unglazed Kyûsu (roughly 8oz volume); Brita-filtered tap water; 3 grams tea / 7oz water; 145 ºF for all infusions; 60s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 30s, 40s, 50s.
Dry Leaf:
Slightly more robust looking leaves than the Tenbu, with fewer fannings. Nice dark green color. Also, there are a few very long, wiry leaves. The aroma is more grassy and vegetal than the Tenbu, but overall I thought they smelled relatively similar.
Liquor color:
Almost as excellent as the Tenbu, but not quite as vibrant in every infusion. The third infusion was a beautiful lime color, but I found the other infusions to be slightly duller looking than the Tenbu. Still, compared to most other senchas, I thought the Tenbu Fuka displayed excellent color.
Taste:
I think the Tenbu Fuka has the potential to be much more complex than the Tenbu, but unfortunately I do not think 3g is enough leaf. I found the same candy-like sweetness (perhaps the slightest touch of green apple candy), but I noticed a stronger grassy note and slightly more astringency as well. I also experienced a tingly, almost-perspiring body sensation (I know there is a word for this, but it is eluding me at the moment) at times, which I did not get from the Tenbu. Unfortunately, the way I brewed it, all of the infusions were slightly weak.
Other observations:
I was not quite as impressed with the Tenbu Fuka as I was with the Tenbu, though this may simply be due to not using enough leaf. I think that because there are fewer particles in the Tenbu Fuka, it may require slightly more leaf than the Tenbu to provide the same amount of surface area.
Grade: 4 out of 5
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Conclusion:
As my grading indicates, I liked the Tenbu more than the Tenbu Fuka. Like Sandy, I also tend to enjoy sweeter, less astringent teas, so I think the stunning, almost candy-like sweetness of the Tenbu won me over. Nevertheless, I think the Tenbu Fuka has the potential to be a wonderful tea, perhaps if slightly more than 3g of leaf per 7oz is used.
Though not everyone is likely to agree with me, I think sencha’s beauty is in its simple sublety. I do find complex, multi-facted teas to be quite stimulating and enjoyable, but little can compete with the relaxing and quiet nature of good sencha. These two teas were excellent examples of these traits, and I enjoyed tasting them. Thanks again, T Ching!
April 19th, 2007 at 2:22 am
Gosh………………….I wonder if I was drinking the same tea?????
Grateful as I am for this splendid experience (arrigato, T Ching), I am just amazed at how differently we reacted to this tea.
Ah, but, the taste of tea, as breath, is just illusion. Impermanent. Precious, subjective. And gone.
Life goes on. We sip another cup.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Haha, yes, I had the same reaction when I read your notes, Shen! This is definitely one of the great things about tea– that two people can have two completely different experiences with the same leaves. Different methods, different anatomies, different personalities, and different pasts all seem to alter our reactions, so I suppose it is surprising that any of us ever agree! Needless to say, I’m interested to see what everyone else thinks.
April 19th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Yes Shen; isn’t life grand! I noticed it with our first tasting as well. There is as much variation in tastes as there are people.
As I have learned through what years ago I thought was a unique and unusual problem with my taste buds (over abundance of bitter receptors) I have come to appreciate is just a manifestation of one type of variation of the gustatory experience. People have different structural make up of their taste organs as well as different life experiences with the perception and quality of certain tastes they come across over their lifetimes. It makes for interesting experiences and conversations.
I loved your last paragraph describing the precious impermanance of our appreciation of tea. May I have your permission to use that in our quote of the day?
April 19th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I have to refrain from reading your tasting notes! I will be chiming in shortly.
April 19th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Two extraordinary teas. Need time to elaborate on then for the want of right waters for them, which can only be found in Darjeeling.
April 19th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Tenbu Sencha
Water — Brita Maxtra filtered (Scottish) tap water
Temp — boiled then left to cool until lower than normal for green , +/- gyokoro temp
Vessel — 7oz gaiwan — filter — faircup
Dry leaf — mix of normal sized sencha leaves and some very small particles, could spell trouble for the filter. Colour is mix of classic sencha green with some leaves looking darker and more akin to gyokoro.
Aroma — more depth than I’ve ever detected in a sencha before. I usually expect clean freshness, and a newly cut lawn type fragrance from sencha but this has something far more hearty although I’m not exactly sure what it is yet.
1st infusion 60s — longer than I’m used to steeping. The liquor appears lighter than expected for the time it spent in the gaiwan, maybe I’m used to using too much tea. It has good clarity and the mystery aroma is still eluding me, I now have my nose in the gaiwan. Tasting the infusion is again not what I expected. Far more mellow and subtle, not the fresh almost mint like slap in the face I associate with sencha. This tea, although obviously Japanese, seems to have a little of the subtleties I associate with Chinese greens.
2nd 15s — The liquor is darker this time and closer to what I expected first time around. The clarity is not so good and this is probably explained by me having a small struggle with the filter and my tea digger to get the brew though quicker. The aroma from the gaiwan is fading into typical sencha, I may have to wait until the next session to explore this further — thanks for the 6gram packs! By the end of the 2nd infusion I’m sweating, I’m sure it usually takes far longer normally. The taste is more intense immediately and still has the delicate after taste of the first infusion.
3rd — 15s — Similar appearance to the 2nd. The tastes seemed to have mingled, the upfront more typical sencha taste has joined forces with the subtle character predominant in the 1st infusion to create a nice rounded cuppa.
4th 30s — very similar to the 3rd taste wise although it does taste a lot more like a 4th infusion gyokoro at this stage than a 4th infusion sencha.
Spent leaf — Japanese greens are never of much interest to myself at this point. It does confirm the observation of the dry leaf, some large, some very fine, some light, some dark.
Conclusion — Aside from the fact that analysing my drinking more than usual has made me realise I should really invest in a proper teapot for this stuff, I really enjoyed this tea. As far as green tea goes I have been drinking gyokoro, long jing and liu an gua pian over the past few weeks. I was a little surprised to find a more of those kinds of tea hiding in here than the return to sencha ‘only fresher’ I was expecting.
I will post my thoughts on the tenbu fuka and some kind of comparison once my thoughts on the tenbu fuka are a little more coherent.
Thanks to tching not only for the free samples but also for helping to keep my mind open to brewing variations and not have internal cries of ‘heresy’ when 60s is suggested in the future.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Yes Brent, or anyone else interested, we were fortunate enough to get a hold of some of these 2 teas to sell in our store. I will be adding them to our selection in the next couple of days.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
I decided to post my tasting notes on these two Japanese green teas a bit earlier than requested by TChing. Like always, many thanks to TChing and their supplier for making this free tasting possible. You’ll have to excuse my extreme ignorance in all things green tea as I’ve only had a few times to taste it. According to the description, these two teas are grown in Kagoshima, Japan at a very low altitude compared to most Chinese and Indian teas. Grown organically, they are covered with nets to reduce sun exposure to mimic the growing conditions of wild tea trees in the forest. These half shaded teas (kabuse cha) are the first harvests in April. I’m not sure what the technical difference between the Tenbu and Tenbu Fuka really is; perhaps it is a grading thing.I used the same paramters and setup for both of these teas according to TChing’s brewing recommendations. I used a 150mL (5.3oz) gaiwan for about 3g tea, preheated, and brewed with about 145F water. The infusions were 60, 15, 15, 15 and 30 seconds long. Brita filtered tap water was used.
Tenbu was first up to bat. Just like Tenbu Fuka, the dry leaf was very flaky and small just like a rooibos. I thought a gaiwan would be the best way to brew this as one can precisely control how much water flows out so all of the leaves don’t exit with it. Pouring the water carefully around the lid of the gaiwan in a circle to avoid direct pouring, it was like a green snowglobe. The flakes danced and danced and eventually settled to release their flavor. The first brew, light yellow in color, was full of that “green tea taste”. I dearly wish I could pick out the flavors in a green better. According to my plebian palate, I got mostly the sencha flavor but without the other flavors found in a Chinese green such as long jing’s nutty roasted flavor. It wasn’t until the second steep that the liquor became a very soft lime green color. It lasted quite well through the five infusions.
Second on the tea roster is Tenbu Fuka, an equally good Japanese tea. From the dry leaf, wet leaf, and taste I couldn’t tell much of a difference between the two teas. If this were a blind taste test, I would fail miserably, both in knowing which one was which, but also that I was having two different teas. Regardless of this, I have enjoyed tasting both. While not terribly engaging in the mouth, they are very good mellowing out teas, something I could relax with. Perhaps put some jazz on, drink the tea, then rest my eyes for a bit.
April 20th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I’m drinking this as I’m typing. Did anybody feel a certain greasiness or of similar sensation in the mouth and lips to the Tenbu sample? Or is it just me…
April 20th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Not me.
I guess we just all have our own unique palate weirdnesses. These tastings are really proving to be an interesting experiment in human gustation. The variability is fascinating. As I think Shen said, it’s amazing any of us can agree on anything. It’s interesting to think that even when there is agreement, say when people like the taste of something, the variability of what “I like this” means is something different to each person.
April 20th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Thanks to those whom made this tasting possible. Your efforts are greatly appreciated!
100ml gaiwan, 2 g of tea, glacier osmosis reverse filtered water, boiled then cooled, top throw
20, 15, 15, 15
My choice to brew only 20s for the first brew is due to my experience with greens, 60s is a bit harsh on my stomach.
Tenbu: 3
1st brew was tasty for a green, grassy, veggie, and a hint of nutty, reminds me of a Bi Lo Chun, but more subtle. A nutty sweetness can also be detected.
2nd brew was much lighter than the first, grassy and veggie soup, less the nutty sweet.
3rd was bland like a watered down veggie soup, 4th is ….
Tenbu Fuka: 2.5
Dried leave is slightly darker green than Tenbu. I expected a more pronounced flavor than the previous, and it did.
1st brew was quite interesting, grassy, veggie green, and a rather overwhelming toasty sour/astringent taste followed the grassy and veggie. It didn’t come at the same time, but showed up later.
2nd brew was grassy and veggie but much less astringent. The flavor maintained its strength in taste unlike Tenbu which took a steep dive after the first brew.
3rd brew was much lighter but it’s still tea, taste wise is not much to talk about.
4th was well, water sitting on spent leaves.
My body usually do the talking so to speak when it comes to tea and food. It has its own mind and let it be known to me. I tasted both tea consecutively, shortly after I finished, my body started to feel nervous, like one over dosed caffeine. Despite the subtle flavor of these 2 teas, the strength was definitely hidden till it hit you. I personally avoid tea that gives me the jittery effect. But for those whom live by it, well, you got a winner(s). Although I don’t know which one or both separately or together.
Taste wise, I prefer something more complex with sweet after taste, those are qualities I look for in my cup of tea. Both leaves seem to be quality young picks, Tenbu looks and tasted better in my opinion.
April 20th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Thanks to T Ching for organizing these tastings! They rule!
For easy reading, this is a buzzword description. An ungodly long write up (w/ pictures!) can be found at my site.
Round 1
2.2 g of leaves, brewed in a covered 5oz stoneware cup using a Japanese fine steel mesh strainer and Ice Mountain spring water. Water temp: 140-143 °F. Five infusions: 60s, 15s, 15s, 15s, and 30s.
Tenbu
1. A little watery, but soft mouth feel. Sweet taste—vegetal sweet grass, strong notes of plum/apricot jelly. No astringency. No bitterness.
2. Watery at first sip, but then it blooms. Sharpness of fruit more mellowed, rounded by developing sweet grass/vegetal.
3. Holding steady in rounded mouthfeel. More vegetal—artichoke, slight grassy feel. Kinda weak though.
4. Watery. Flavor profile same as three but very watery.
5. Sweet water.
Tenbu Fuka
1. Mildly deeper than Tenbu. Has a more mellow apricot tone. Sweet but not grassy. Rounded vegetal, touch of nut. No roast. No astringency. No bitterness.
2. Brighter apricot notes than Tenbu, but vegetal comes through more than fruit. Vegetal finish.
3. Oooh! Pronounced sweet strains! Definite fruit mellowed into full cup. Definite artichoke notes. More pronounced legs than Tenbu.
4. Much sweeter than Tenbu and less watery. Could be stronger. Artichoke more muted than #3, but nicely present in aftertaste.
5. Water. Artichoke flavor, but no real character.
Round 2
4.2 g of leaves, brewed in a covered 5oz stoneware cup using a Japanese fine steel mesh strainer and Ice Mountain spring water. Water temp: 145 °F. Five infusions: 60s, 20s, 15s, 20s, and 60s.
Tenbu
1. Nicer mouthfeel than round 1. Vegetal more pronounced, but very sweet. Spring corn (Thanks Shen! I couldn't place the vegetal in the first round, but it does really taste like spring corn!). A very faint apricot note maybe. Full round taste, no bitterness.
2. Soft mouth feel, not watery. Corn vegetal, buttery notes/texture.
3. ARTICHOKE! Big, full wonderful artichoke! Sweet corn present in aftertaste.
4. Awww…becoming quite watery. Artichoke greatly faded. Weak corn/butter taste.
5. Faintly flavored hot water.
Tenbu Fuka
1. Nicer mouth feel than first infusion. Silky/buttery. Slightly brassier in taste than Tenbu—not as rounded. Mildly flat, actually. Sweet ”˜strings' that pop from vegetal, sweet corn background.
2. Buttery feel, spring corn taste prominent.
3. Artichoke very strong. Taste a slight fruitiness too maybe, but a lot of similarity to previous infusions.
4. Holding down the fort in mouth feel. Fruitiness/artichoke faded. Very much corn/butter taste.
5. Odd, a little watery but still has character. Taste predominant sweet corn.
VERDICT:
Tenbu: 4
Tenbu Fuka: 4.5
April 20th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Hmm, I wonder if it’s the new teapot that is causing this oily feel. I’ll brew the rest of the sample with a gaiwan later.
April 20th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I’m about to brew both simultaneously, but am short on proper Japanese brewing accoutrement. Will this work in a gaiwan, or am I going to end up eating most of the leaves?
April 20th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
If it’s the new Japanese pot, that’s the same one I used and didn’t notice any sensation of greasiness when I first used mine.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
I’m sure it’s too late Ian, but a number of people have used Gaiwans for the tasting. You just need to create a very fine separation between lid and cup. You will get dust in the tea no matter what. I did even with a fine mesh screen.
April 21st, 2007 at 7:34 am
Thanks to Sandy & Co. at T-Ching for arranging this tasting of the fresh 2007 shaded-growth Japanese teas. Grown relatively low-altitude (compared to other major tea-growing nations), the leaves flush under shade for the final few weeks before picking, allegedly to emulate “wild” growing conditions.
Photographs to accompany this review may be found at:
half-dipper.blogspot.com
I’m not clear of the relationship between Tenbu [tianwu? / heaven-dance?] and gyokuro [luyu / jade-dew], excepting the latter’s infamous rarity, and its primary retention for the Japanese market.
Received wisdom has it that gyokuro and its ilk should be brewed at particularly low temperatures (50-60C), with a surprisingly large leaf-to-water ratio - large even by gongfucha standards. The first infusion is traditionally held much longer than usual, for reasons that I could not uncover.
T-Ching has recommended infusion parameters (I believe passed on from the distributor) in line with this: 3g of leaf to 200ml of water; infusion times of 60s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 30s, 40s, 60s at 60C. Following Sandy’s request that we attempt brewing with the suggested parameters, our first session obliged (using a little less water), but my results were poor. I will be the first to confess that Japanese tea and its brewing is something with which I need more practice.
For the second session, which yielded particularly pleasant results, I reverted to familiar Chinese gongfucha-style parameters: 1.5g leaf in a 100ml gaiwan, water at 60C, with infusion times 2s, 8s, 16s, 30s.
Given the immense amount of chopping that these Japanese teas undergo, it is reasonable to assume that they obey similar laws to chopped hongcha: juices, exposed during the chopping process, are dried onto the outside of the small leaf segments, which rapidly make their may into the brew during the first few infusions. Thus, brewing Japanese teas via Chinese gongfucha methods, we find that the first few infusions are most flavoursome, with a rapid decline after the second. Also, this immediate solubility of the dried juices from the chopped leaf surface results in particularly potent first infusions; we keep the first few brews particularly short in order to avoid excess bitterness. Furthermore, we perform no rinse, in order to avoid discarding all of this dried leaf-juice before tasting.
Results are pleasant, but I suspect not what might be achieved if we had more familiarity with Japanese brewing styles.
Throughout this article, the Tenbu and Tenbu Fuka will be designated A and B, respectively.
Method: simultaneous comparison in 2 gaiwan-gongdaobei sets; Caledonian Springs @ 60C, no rinse.
Dry leaves:
A: finely chopped, rather dark and homogenous with the occassional twig that appears to have survived the ubiquitous industrial chopping process. Light, grassy aroma.
B: similar, if a touch darker, with a lower bass aroma - also containing a little of the “fishiness” that is sought after by some. From the appearance and aroma of the leaves, we wonder if Tenbu Fuka is a larger-leaf, perhaps lower-stalk, variety, compared to Tenbu. Web-based information on this seems limited.
Tea A appears particularly lime in colour, captured well by the imfamous Dodd photograph, while B is more yellow/green. Could this confirm the suggestion that A is a lighter, tippier grade than B?
A: a creaminess in the mid-taste that melts into a light, fresh grassiness of flavour and aroma. This pollenated grass sits in the nose for the long, enduring aftertaste. A hint of roasting, and a touch of welcome sourness near the finish.
B: Similar in fresh grass to its cousin, but with a richer, deeper base with a constant, gentle aroma and flavour of fish. This is a calming tea, in comparison to the brightness and energy of A.
Overall:
Both teas perform similarly in duration: they are enduring in the wenxiangbei for the first two infusions, before vanishing entirely. Aroma is largely representative of the flavour: there is little complexity in the interplay between them (compared to, for example, zhuyeqing lucha, in which the grass notes of the aroma play well against a reedy, “yellower” flavour). What we experience is straightforward, but definitely fine and pleasant.
For complexity and depth, B shows more variety. The first infusion even has a brief lengxiang, of sticky-sweet candy. We particularly enjoyed the gradual and smooth evolution of deeper flavours in comparison to the more up-front, vigorous, and yet one-dimensional A.
We look forward to experimenting further with infusing parameters, using the remainder of the samples, in order to better approximate that which a Japanese might enjoy from these refined and yet uncomplex leaves.
Thanks again, and toodlepip,
Hobbes
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:54 pm
hello!
i was away to one of our recently certified organic gardens. i am really very very sorry for not being able to publish my comments.
i shall taste the teas first thing tommorow and revert with detailed testing reports.
i am really impressed and thankful to everyone for sharing their online comments — it is a real learning process.
thanks
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:25 pm
As an afterthought:
I had a moment to myself this morning and brewed up the remaining tea - same amount of the same bottled water, same amount of time, temp., etc. Used a larger pot, though, and a slightly longer brewing time - 1 1/2 minutes and guess what - I actually liked the Tenbu Fuka very much. I did really get, not only the nose, but the flavour of very fresh young corn. And, I really enjoyed it!
Since I was visiting my mother, there were no special cups or utensils available. I just poured a cup of tea. Didn’t think much about it; then, had another. The second cup was richer, deeper in colour and even sweeter, though that asparagus smell and under-taste were evident. And noticeable. How lucky I am to have the experience of these things!
Perhaps, it was the daybreak and the syrupy sunshine was pouring in the window. Perhaps, it’s just Spring and that’s reason enough. Perhaps, probably, because I had no need to be critical, merely to be present with my cup of tea.
And grateful: solitary time with a cup in hand. I am not thirsty or hungry or needing. I am gifted with this cup of tea and in this moment, it is peace. It is everything.
So, thanks, T’Ching et al: for a second chance.
Shen
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:49 am
Hello!
Please forgive me for not being able to write in more details. This being our season time and with acquiring two new plantations, we are all tied up in getting our bio-dynamic certificates - i could not write in length.
Tenbu Fuka — Tea brewed using bottled water. Temp: 70 C: Time: 60, 15
It brews bright yellow, full-bodied liquor with copious aromas of alfalfa and freshly mowed grass. With a mellow, buttery body, a taste that is as crisp as ripened fruit, and a fishy, lightly sweet finish.
2.5 Out of 5
Tenbu — Tea brewed using bottled water. Temp: 70 C; Time: 60, 15
It brews a clean, straw-yellow cup with scent and a mellow taste. This tea has the distinctive herbaceous character of a green tea. It has a soft, delicate lightness with a hint of astringency and acomplex aroma of a green tea.
3 out of 5
Frankly speaking - i am not satisfied with this quality of japanese teas - i had expected better as japanese teas are really looked unto and probably we buy the top notch ones as per the samples i got. I am sorry but i thought everyone would appreciate an honest opinion.
Thanks
Ankit Lochan
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:30 am
There is no need to apologize for not liking the Tenbus. As you have seen from the tastings on your own teas, everyone has their own taste perceptions. Like the Darjeeling oolongs, the ratings have ranged from 2.5 to 4.5. That’s what makes this so interesting.
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:44 pm
After using my first 3 grams of each with the given parameters, (the now infamous 60 second infusion and all), with disasterous results, I used the remanider with some gongfu parameters, (5, 10, 5, 15), and got some much more pleasent results. Using a gaiwan, and not wanting to put a screen in between, I ended up eating as much as I drank. In retrospect, the flavours were potent to the point that I do not think I would have noticed any metallic taste from any filter of sorts.
I preferred the Fuka for the hitherto mentioned “fishiness”. It lent it some complexity that I found lacking from both teas. I should clarify, although not being all too experienced with Japanese tea in particular, I found these to be amongst the more interesting Japanese teas I have tried. In general I find them loud and two-dimensional. This was a pleasant surprise. Many thanks to the kindly folk at T Ching.
3 of 5 for tenbu
3.25 of 5 for tenbu fuka
-C.O.B.
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Interesting that you mentioned ending up eating as much leaf as liquid, Ian. I don’t know if anyone else tried it but after a few steepings when the leaves were very soft, I ate some and found them quite tender and delicious. I could almost make a Tenbu pate out of them.
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:08 pm
funny you should say, I even considered incorporating table water crackers and soy cheese.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:22 am
We really enjoyed the opportunity to taste the delightful Japanese teas from T Ching Teas. I say we because when I started to prepare the tea and tea accessories, my family came out and all wanted to try.
Here is a little background on us: I am a Conversation English Teacher in NW China. My wife is a home school mom — teaching our two children (8 and 12). We normally drink; Pu'er, Long Jing, Mao Jian, Oolong, Darjeeling, and a few other Chinese and Indian teas. We have never really experienced Japanese Sencha before.
Our family has enjoyed drinking teas from around the world for many years. However, we have never ”˜officially' graded tea for a tea tasting. We saw this as a great opportunity to start logging our tea drinking adventures.
We normally drink tea ”˜Gong Fu' style so we utilized some of our tea accessories from that set to perform the tea tasting. Instead of using a zisha teapot, we used a 200ml white, porcelain, Gaiwan. We also used two, white, porcelain tasting cups and two, clear glass tasting cups. The tea was brewed with generic, bottled, Chinese water from a 19L dispenser. We first poured the tea into a clear, glass sharing pitcher, after being strained with a fine mesh strainer.
We strictly followed the parameters outlined by T Ching in tasting both teas.
Tenbu:
This was the first tea we tasted. We loved the aroma of the tea. It was fresh, clean, and had a hint of honeydew and peach. The dry leaves were smooth, a little shiny, and emerald in color. About half of the sample was comprised of fannings and dust. Approximately one-quarter of the sample consisted of leaves over one-inch long with the remainder being around ¼ inch.
We were a little shocked at how cloudy the tea first appeared. It did however, have a refreshing, clean, aroma. Yet, the taste was grassy, a little bitter and a tad rough on the tongue.
The second infusion was a little clearer — and greener. It was also much smoother with just a bit of unpleasant bitterness.
Something must have happened to the third infusion as it was very mild and very light — I double-checked the water temperature and it was at an acceptable 141 degrees F. Hmm, not sure what went wrong.
The aroma of the fourth infusion was very faint. However, it did have a slight perfume scent to it. It too, had a very mild taste.
The fifth and final infusion was probably the most enjoyable out of all of them. Although the aroma was very faint (if any at all), the color was clear - -yet more yellow than green. The tea had a clean, crisp taste that was much smoother and less bitter.
Tenbu Overall Score: 3.8
Tenbu Fuka:
We held this tea to the same brewing parameters as the Tenbu.
The dry leaves (placed in the preheated gaiwan) were a little darker than the Tenbu. They were also much more aromatic. The Tenbu Fuka seemed much sweeter with a hint of caramelized peaches or very ripe honeydew. We really enjoyed the aroma of this tea.
The first infusion was a little lighter than the same infusion of the Tenbu. However, it was still a little cloudy. It was satisfying with a fresher taste. It was also lighter, smoother and had somewhat of a decent ”˜haigan.'
The second infusion almost turned us off the tea altogether. It was strong, bitter, and astringent and it tended to overly dry our mouths. It did have a nice, sweet aroma though.
The third infusion was a little better — yet still on the bitter side. It did however, have more taste to it than the 2nd infusion. It was also not as dry.
The fourth infusion changed — it had a slightly sour aroma to it and it was still a little bitter.
The fifth and last infusion had little to no aroma, it was not bitter at all. It was also very smooth and a little more pleasant to drink.
We liked the aroma of this tea better than the Tenbu. But, we felt the tea attacked to quickly and then tapered off equally too fast.
Tenbu Fuka Overall Score: 3.5
Final notes: I think we are just not accustomed to drinking Japanese Sencha. I'm looking forward to trying the remainder of the samples. Maybe I will start to like Sencha a little more and add it to my collection of teas.
Thanks again T Ching and everyone else who made this tea tasting possible.
Mahai217
Ningxia, China
April 24th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
I continue to be amazed at the variation in people’s taste perceptions while simultaneously sharing similarities. John and his family experienced considerable bitterness whereas I, and many others, detected very little if any.
Phyll, I’m curious. Have you seen this kind of variation with wines as well?
April 24th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Thank you, Michelle and Sandy, for the tea samples and the opportunity. I had the Tenbu and the Tenbu Fuka on three separate occasions before chiming in today. Please pardon my lateness.
Parameter
Volvic bottled water, 60-65 C, 3gr:200ml or similar ratio. 60s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 30s.
Dry leaves
Deep emerald green, healthy and fresh looking. The leaves of both samples were visually similar. While there was an equal amount of fanning, those that were not were quite short in length. Is such brokenness representative of both teas' original condition, or perhaps it was broken in transit?
Highly fragrant! The smell was savory, buttery, green and sweet all at once. I noticed that the Tenbu Fuka's smell was sharper and had a slightly higher note than that of the Tenbu. The smell of both reminded me of a delicious Japanese food seasoning (not diced seaweed). I was almost tempted to sprinkle some on top of steamed rice and eat it as is.
In summary, by looking at and smelling the dry leaves alone I was hard pressed to find any differences between both teas.
Tasting Notes
There was a considerable amount of soft fanning that flowed out of the brewing vessel into the cup (unfiltered). Not liking that much tea dust in my cup, I employed a fabric mesh filter, which became clogged halfway through pouring out of a gaiwan. The new Kyushu teapot that I purchased from T Ching has a built-in metal strainer that kept the fanning in the pot quite effectively. I wonder if customarily this tea is served with a lot of residue in the cup or not.
Tenbu: The first infusion was light green in color and the liquor was cloudy. It tasted vegetal with a creamy sweet undertone and buttery texture. The second infusion was bright, limey green and stronger and thicker tasting than the first, which made the tea rather soupy. The third infusion was weaker and more balanced in my opinion. The fourth and fifth infusions were watery. I enjoyed the 1st and the 3rd infusions the most out of each five-cup session.
I should note that I felt my mouth and lips as if coated with grease, though I believe it is due to the polyphenols, the protein (L-theanine?) or both. The texture was present at every session I had, whether the tea was brewed in a clay teapot or in a gaiwan.
Tenbu Fuka: Similar tasting note to the Tenbu in most respect, except it was slightly more vegetal.
Brewed Leaves
Wet, soggy mush.
Conclusion
I was quite surprised to find that the second infusion yielded a stronger and thicker cup of tea than the first, despite the fact that brewing time was cut to one-fourth of the first. By the third brew, the tea was weaker than the second, but was still enjoyable. The fourth and fifth brews were too watery.
Having no prior benchmark against which these Sencha's can be evaluated, I would defer any attempt at scoring until I have tried and experimented with more teas of the same genre. For these samples, I loved the smell of the dry leaves, though I found the tea rather vegetal for my preference. The presence of too much tea leaves in the cup was also rather hard to enjoy.
Pictures
Dry leaves
Tenbu session with clay teapot
Tasting set up with gaiwans
Brewing 1st infusion in gaiwans
1st infusion
2nd infusion
Wet leaves
April 24th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
It was fun to read everybody's tasting notes. I posted mine above before giving myself a chance to be swayed by everybody else's opinion.
Sandy — To answer your question to me, the opinions in an online wine tasting tend to vary as well, but not as greatly as this Sencha tasting has shown. When I read another's wine TN, I would often nod and think “Yeah, s/he's right on spot with that description.” Blueberry and boysenberry are different, but one would discount the possibility that different people have different associations with dark-colored berries. Cat's pee and tiger's pee…maybe about the same, I think.
In this Sencha's tasting, however, I didn't get to enjoy the green apple candy, plum/apricot jelly, honeydew, alfalfa (I did think grass), artichoke, or even corn as others did. (I want my money back! Oh, wait…). These are amazing differences, and some of them are out of the spectrum of what I would usually associate with green teas. The other taste profiles seemed to be more or less in line with what I experienced, though expressed differently.
Then again, there are so many different variables at an online tea tasting. There are, too, with wine but not as drastic as having different water quality, temperature, amount of leaves, infusion time, size of leaves, etc. among the participants. It’s almost akin to giving people the grapes and a set of instruction to make the wine themselves and evaluate.
Having said that, however, the combined overall impression from all the Sencha TNs above is very relevant, in my humble opinion. I learned a lot from others’ TNs.
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Shen — Asparagus and green vegetable soup! Yes, I agree.
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Brent — “A fair amount of fannings …this is not necessarily a bad thing in sencha.” Ah, I see. “Peridot” this is such a nice association of color and I have to steal your term for next time.
I didn't get any green apple candy! “I think sencha's beauty is in its simple sublety.” I can't say these Sencha's were subtle, though, imho.
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Steven — “If this were a blind taste test, I would fail miserably,…” As would I, totally!
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Mary R — plum / apricot jelly, artichoke?!?! Interesting. I didn't get those.
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Hobbes — “Thus, brewing Japanese teas via Chinese gongfucha methods, we find that the first few infusions are most flavoursome.” Ah, I need to try your parameter out. I still have about 1.5 gr of the Tenbu Fuka left. You reminded me that I need to finish up my zhuyeqing stash…quickly!
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Ian — “I ended up eating as much as I drank.” *chuckle* I did too.
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Mahai — honeydew and peach? Wow!
April 24th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Phyll, L-theanine is an amino acid. Amino acids are molecules that, as the building blocks of proteins are strung together in chains (polypeptides) to form a protein. I think (but I’m not sure, so don’t hold me to it) that there may even be some amino acids that are independent and not involved in protein synthesis. My 2 cents for what it’s worth.
April 24th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Thanks for the clarification, Sandy. I was a C- student in chemistry (that’s after begging the teacher).
April 24th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
I’m curious as to whether there are any published studies indicating differences in the taste buds of men and women. It seems there were more similarities within each gender.
Having lived in “wine country” for quite a while and imbibing in many a generous tasting, I have noticed that my husband, a non-smoker (as am I), and I had used very different words (tastes) describing our wine experiences. He’s a pretty articulate guy and where I would find “jammy”, often he would find “tobacco”. Often, we’ll have the same meal and he’ll find something sweet and nutty and I’ll discover salty………………………..?
Phyll, this is right up your alley - any science of which you’re aware? Any one? Men? Women? Similar tea experiences? Wine?
Curious as ever,
Shen
April 24th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
PS - I just remembered that women have more taste buds than men. I am still curious, however, if there are differences in taste perception.
Shen
April 24th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Shen, all I know is that my wife is a damn good tea and wine taster. Though she probably doesn’t have as many “tasting vocabulary”, she would say something like “Hmmm, very apricot-ish, but this [gewurtz] feels too filling in the stomach, like having a beer.” Or “Why do you like your tea so overbrewed?!”
Then as a good husband, I would say (with an honest face) something like “Really? (sip) Yeah, you are right.”
Danica, one of the friends who I drink tea with is a very gifted taster, too. She said that as a vegetarian she has more (or more sensitive) taste buds. I am a male omnivore…that seems to be a double whammy there, if the theory is right.
Our female members on Winexiles are some of the best commentators.
But my sister is a lousy taster (she won’t read this). It’s Yellow Tail whenever she visits.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Shen,
Your ‘jammy’ v. ‘tobacco’ comment reminded me of a short study I read some time ago, (something I’ll try to scrounge up so that I might cite), but the difference in your “perceptions” may only be a difference in your manner of verbalizing those perceptions: simply put, your reactions may be just as much sociological as physiological(sp), nuture over nature.
A specific example I can give now come from a seperate but i think related and relevant study, taking two groups, caucasian women and African american women, stripping them naked, putting them in front of a mirror, and asking them to state the first word that came in to their head. Overwhelmingly, the caucasian women said “Woman”. the African women said “Black”.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Considering the amount of influence the sense of smell (olfaction) has on what we perceive as taste, I would be hesitant to say that tasting ability is only linked to the sensitivity or number of our tastebuds.
That being said, it is possible that women could have better integration of gustatory and olfactory sensations in the brain than men, which if true, could result in a higher aptitude for tasting. I don’t know of any research that has been done on this, but I don’t keep up with these things and I’d be interested if any of you have come across such studies.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
I can totally pipe up here!
Sandy–Only 20 ’standard’ amino acids are used in protein synthesis (which is essentially governed by the genetic code). There are two ‘nonstandard’ amino acids that can be rarely involved in protein synthesis (pyrrolysine and selenocysteine) but so few organisms use them they are a large exception. There are numerous ‘nonstandard’ amino acids, though. L-theanine is one of them, so it has no role in protein synthesis. The nonstandards do have a tremendous range of purposes–of course, not all of them are understood.
Shen–The journal Chemical Senses will likely have several good studies on this topic. From what I can ascertain by quick searches and abstract content is that females tend to be more sensitive when data is collected over a very large sampling number, but that the genetics behind taste perception are so varied that the ‘overlap’ between the sexes is also very large.
Phyll–yup. Apricot and Artichoke. However, artichoke and asparagus taste very similar to me, with artichoke being sweeter, having a stronger ‘bloom’ in the mouth (to steal my mum’s phrase), and possessing a longer aftertaste. Since the tea was very sweet to me, the vegetal seemed more ‘artichoke-y.’ Had I found it more grassy, I would have probably characterized the taste as asparagus. I did only get the apricot from the liquor in my first trial, though.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:00 am
Ah, Phyll, you may have a point. I, too, am a vegan and my husband is an omnivore. Interesting.
Oddly enough, a friend just wrote to me of a double blind wine tasting in Santa Rosa with all women tasters and followed by an all women wine-makers tasting. My friend, who is a female vineyard owner (HUGE zins for Rodney Strong), did say the women chose “guttsier, bigger” flavours than men had selected in a similar Sonoma County tasting.
Any women out there owning tea plantations?
Shen
April 25th, 2007 at 2:28 am
Right you are Brent. Our olfactory sense does play an extremely significant role in taste, to the point that people who lose their sense of smell neurologically often have a significant diminution of their sense of taste.
I don’t know the research very well (if anyone is interested in pursuing it more, I can recommend one of the leading researchers in the field - Dr. Linda Bartashuck - I think she may still be at Yale, but you can probably just Google her), but if we assume that olfaction does play such a significant role in taste, my guess would be that men are more sensitive. Looking at it from an evolutionary standpoint, men as the hunter probably had a more heightened sense of smell to help locate prey, as well as part of a protective mechanism for early warning that he was about to be something elses lunch. Clearly as we evolved we have lost some of that sensitivity, but we all do retain our more primitive rhinencephalon to a degree that can still trigger powerful emotions from smells.
I may be wrong, but I also think that some of the most highly paid individuals in the perfume industry are those individuals with highly sensitive olfactory skills who create the scents and most are men.
April 25th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Here is a little more information about the difference between the Tenbu and Tenbu Fuka teas:
They are from the same early picking but Tenbu Fuka is deeper steamed in a special way, so the pores of the tea leaves are more open and the constituents dissolve easier and faster in the hot water. The color of the infusion is deeper green and the taste is a little stronger.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
First the Excuses:
1) Living outside the US my samples arrived a bit later.
2) Tasting the teas while I was having a cold would have done injustice to the teas. So I waited a bit. Sorry for the late tasting notes.
The Participants:
A professional candy taster (seriously!).
A guy that never drank tea in his life.
A beautiful smart girl.
Me (the times I had Japanese tea could be counted on one average human hand)
The Event:
We had a number of teas that evening. The Japanese teas from T Ching were some of the first ones. Perhaps this is the place to say a HUGE THANK YOU T CHING!
The Dry Leaves:
Some leaves looked long and green, others shorter and dark green and some just looked like beautiful green ”˜dust'. Visually we were more impressed with the leaves of the Tenbu sample, albeit they are of lower quality then the Tenbu Fuka. Overall, the leaves are dark green, very healthy looking and even artistic in a way.
The guy that never drunk tea before said it looked like birds food. Obviously he never feed any birds! (maybe fish)
The smell of both samples reminded all of us a bit of the sea. The scent is very strong in both teas although the Tenbu (light?) felt a touch more dominant and less sea-ish and vegetal.
The Preparation:
I tried to prepare the teas by the book (as instructed by T-Ching). However, having what some people might call a concentration disorder plus the fact that my friends were making fun of me; I did find it difficult to concentrate on the timings.
The result was a less then perfect optimal brewings. So with this in mind.
The Teas:
Overall both teas tasted very similar to all participants. Yet we all felt differently about them. Having said that, the Tenbu was more subtle and easier to drink for most of us.
The teas tasted as they smelled. Very grassy, but not the kind of grassy taste that I usually can taste from low fermented Taiwanese or Chinese oolongs. I thought this was quite an interesting finding by itself (do they have a different grass in Japan? :-).
Although we ranged from “not my cup of tea” to “love it” we all felt it was impossible to miss on the texture of these teas. One could really feel the tea on the tongue, the throat and stomach (was it the little bit of dust parts that slipped through?). For those of us who liked it, it was naturally great, for those who disliked it, it was not the best of feeling.
The after taste of these teas is so strong that all the teas afterwards had a hint of these two Tenbus. Similarly, the scent is very strong and if it was just me there I would think it was all in my head as the scent just refused to go away. Personally I preferred the third brew if only because it was much more subtle.
When all is almost said, these teas are very, very special. However, perhaps because of my poor brewing, what I felt from my tea tasting event is that these teas are very much like “Marmite” (the yeast extract spread) you either “love it or hate it”.
I loved it.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Ido, just a small clarification: The Tenbu is NOT lower quality than the Tenbu Fuka. Both contain the same high quality first pickings, but the TF is processed slightly different as you can read in my recent comment just above yours.
April 29th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
With what I have left (about 1.5gr of the T-Fuka), I brewed it using a lower temp. water (~50′C) and 45 secs 1st infusion. The resulting tea was less “green” tasting than my previous attempt, and the tea tasted sweet and refreshing. I prefer it this way. After 2 infusions, I decided to eat the leaves, which are not bitter in the mouth.
April 30th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Finally received the samples in the mail this morning… Will taste them soon!
May 13th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
–Brewing method–
Water: Mill Valley Spring Water , 60C +- 3C
Proportion: 3g with 200ml.
Time: 60s, 15s, 15s, 15s, 30s
—Tenbu Fuka—
Initial Observations: Very finely pulverized leaves, dark greenish flakes, reminds me of iodine crystals.
1st
-Strong xian taste, a slight bitter taste that goes to gan
-Smell of seaweed and cut grass
-A pale yellow green colour, liquor is somewhat cloudy
2nd
-Overall increase in flavour intensities
-Stronger seaweed will lessening of cut grass notes
-Dramatic Xianwei increases with slight increase in the bitter gan
-A bright neon green, very striking. The liquor was very cloudy
3rd
-Quick fading of seaweed and bitterness
-Similar xian and gan as the 2nd infusion
-A greenish yellow colour. Still very cloudy.
4th
-Similar to 3rd infusion but less gan
5th
-Similar to 4th infusion but even less flavour
-Very pale green
Other:
A nice tea. I was initially put off by the brokenness of the tea, but the taste proved otherwise. This is a tea with a surprisingly strong chaqi. I was feeling quite drunk even with the amount consumed. I was sweating on the forehead, even with the low temperature of the water used to make the tea. I’m no expert with sencha but from the taste, the aroma and the “wooziness” I’ll say this is pretty darn good.
Score:4/5
—Tenbu—
Observations: Larger leaves than Tenbu Fuka, less pulverized.
1st
-Light seaweed aroma with no cut grass
-Very slight xian taste no bitter or gan
-Very pale green
2nd
-The appearance of a strong seaweed-y aroma
-Sudden appearance of gan, xian, and a bitter that goes towards gan
-The liquor way darker green and quite cloudy
3rd
-Slightly less seaweed aroma
-Very pronounced xian but not much bitter and gan. It feels like it just disappeared.
-The tea became bright emerald green and less cloudy
4th
-Like 3rd but overall lighter flavours. Xian taste remains though.
5th
-Overall dissipation of all tastes. Like hot tap water.
Other:
Seaweed, grass smells, and bitter gan is less then fuka but the xian is about the same, if not stronger. This tea is also much less cloudy than tenbu fuka. It’s not a bad tea. I compared it with another sencha I had and this one is noticeably better in all categories. Still when matched against Tebu Fuka it’s flavour “impact” was just not there.
Score:2.5/5
June 28th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
I finally was able to taste my sencha samples, two months after receiving them. Here is what I have to say:
Tenbu:
Using an 8 oz Shudei Kyusu with re-mineralized reverse osmosis water. 6 grams of leaf to 220 ml of water. 1 min, 1 min, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min.
Overview: This tea is a good, hearty sencha. Keeping in mind that this tea was stored in my refrigerator in a ziploc (still in its original bubble wrap parcel) for two months, the taste was excellent and the tea sturdy, as it aged well.
1st brew: Dark, strong, vegetal, mineral. Very green liquor with a thick body. This is a powerful tea. Leaves have a lot of broken pieces but no bitterness.
2nd brew: Similar to first, reminds me of a forest. My body reacts well, as it still retains a feeling of health and vitality. Liquor is still very green and has good body.
3rd brew: More floral, lighter green but still good body.
4th brew: Much lighter, floral tea notes dominant.
5th brew: Very light, thin green liquor but still tasty. I could have passed on this one.
What I like about this tea is that storage doesn’t seem to be a problem, they way it can be with some more delicate Japanese greens.
Tenbu Fuka:
Using an 8 oz Shudei Kyusu with re-mineralized reverse osmosis water. 6 grams of leaf to 220 ml of water. 1 min, 1 min, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min.
Overview: This tea was lighter, sweeter, grassier. It’s durability was not as good as the Tenbu, but it is friendlier to the palate in its initial infusions. Given its storage it was also still a delicious tea to drink.
1st brew: Sweet grass and vegetal flavor. Rich green liquor, good body. Not as thick as the Tenbu, but in some ways ‘friendlier’ to drink. Leaves are a lighter color than Tenbu.
2nd brew: Still sweet grass with some floral notes coming through, the liquor retains a lovely flavor. Lighter green color than the Tenbu, excellent body.
3rd brew: More floral, still lighter green, the body is giving out quicker than the Tenbu.
4th brew: Much lighter. I stopped here.
I think these teas are both good, with a nice flavor that has quite a bit of dimension to it. I prefer the Tenbu because of its strength and depth, it is a really rich tea that seems to have aged well. I think it is good steeped strong, I didn’t get a chance to do it with less leaves to see what kind of floral notes that might bring out. However I feel that the tasting captured its essential character.
On a day-to-day basis the Tenbu Fuka may actually be easier and more fun to drink, because of its sweetness it will go with food, fruit, and on its own. This accessibility should appeal to a wider base of tea enthusiasts, but it’s not as complex or rich a tea as the Tenbu.
Well done TChing–I really like these teas!
September 28th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Just wanted to add in case anyone didn’t know that shading the sencha causes more theanine to rise from the roots and into the leaves which is why gyokuro has such a strong sweet vegetal protein flavor.