The dry loose leaves for this tea are wonderful to look at. Some leaves are forest green, others appear nearly white and there are some kind of seed looking things mixed in as well.

The dry aroma is grassy with notes of spinach and what I think are hints of squash. Once brewed the liquor becomes a very nice light yellow-gold. The aroma remains grassy but sweetens a bit.

There’s some palate pleasing dryness to this tea, though the palate and tongue don’t dry out. A grassy and vegetal freshness come out in the flavor profile. This tea reminds me of a shade grown Fukamushi style sencha from Japan. It’s flavors of spinach and arugula lighten the grassy bitterness.

While not Japanese, this tea certainly tastes like one. Its flavor profile, astringency and vegetal qualities are all very similar to a Gyokuro or other shade grown tea the Japanese are so fond of.

I would recommend this tea to fans of senchas and other Japanese green teas.

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Bancha is used as a base for so many different teas. We see it in stuff Frank over at 52teas makes. We see it in most bagged green teas. We even see it in iced green teas and as a base for blended greens like Genmaicha. This Bancha from Harney & Sons is a nice quality brew.

The thick gritty looking green leaves put off a nice grassy smell when dry, but once brewed the leaves smell more of roasted leeks than grass and carries a mild sweetness.

This tea brews a bright yellow liquor and the flavor is a bit more astringent than I expected, but contains notes of collard greens, steamed brussels sprouts and a vegetal smoothness similar to artichoke.

There’s a light drying of the palate and the vegetal tones from this tea have a long tail from the finish.

I recommend this tea to fans of any Japanese green tea, be it Genmaicha, Hojicha or Spring Rose tea. Fans of the more shade grown teas from Japan such as Gyokuro or other Fukamushi style teas may find this tea hit or miss.

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As a child one of my favorite flavors of candy (re: jolly ranchers & such) was always sour apple. There’s just something about the combination of sour, sweet and pucker I can’t keep myself away from.

This pretty blend of Chinese sencha and sizable apple chunks looks a bit like thick blades of grass and smells like a sour apple candy with a bit of vegetal pucker thrown in for good measure..

The liquor brews to a nice light yellow and provides a vegetal aroma with hints of steamed bok choy and roasted leeks amongst overtones of apple sweetness.

Green Apple Green Tea brews a smooth flavor set. While there is some trace of apple sweetness, the pucker I was expecting wasn’t there. It’s not bad though. The apple flavor helps to balance the vegetal astringency and grassy tail of this brew.

I recommend this blend for fans of fruit teas, lilghter Chinese green teas such as Lung Ching as well as fans of Rooibos.

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This loose tea blend is actually rather nice to look at. The slender Sencha leaves are artfully blended with beautiful Japanese cherry tree (Sakura) blossoms and the dry material carries the sweet but tart cherry scent with it.

A bright yellow-orange liquor is produced by this tea, but once brewed the aroma is much lighter than anticipated. Scents of sakura blossoms and a light vegetal grassiness come through balanced.

The flavor is stronger than the aroma with a notable astringency that dries the palate a bit. The unique cherry blossom flavor lingers with a nice long tail.

I would recommend this tea for fans of Sencha teas looking for a changup from their usual blends. I also see fans of Jasmine green teas finding this cuppa Sencha Kyoto quite enjoyable.

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If you’ve not seen a “New Tea” from Japan before, you’re in for a treat! This tea is a bright grass green. Its leaves appear as extra-thin slivers of leaf with lots of powdery leaf particles and provide a clearly vegetal and grassy aroma that hints at artichoke.

The leaves are picked earlier in the season than those of a standard Sencha. They produce a lighter sweeter brew trending toward artichoke and hints of steamed bok choy.

This Ichiban Sencha from Harney & Sons produces a wonderfully vibrant yellow-green liquor. It comes out a bit cloudy from the ‘dusting’ leaf particles. But otherwise is as expected.

While the cloudy appearance can be off-putting for some at first, the flavor is wonderfully fresh. A clear vegetal astringency exists for this Ichiban Sencha, though it’s certainly softer than the bite from a Bancha or a standard Sencha.

The boldness from this tea is different than that of a black tea. While I’ve rated this teas’ boldness a 4 out of 5 I wouldn’t add any milk, sugar or honey to this. I would also steep this tea, perhaps three times at most. The flavor dies off quickly after the second steeping.

I heartily recommend this Ichiban Sencha or “First Sencha” to fans of Shincha new teas from Japan and other Japanese greens such as Gyokuro, Bancha, Matcha and Hojicha. Fans of Genmaicha may find this tea too astringent.

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