2009 Shincha: Zencha's Sencha the Ultimate, from Yame

Received this last week, and finally perfected it.

Vendor Description

Estimated date of shipment: April 30, 2009 Please note that shipping date might be slightly changed according to the weather conditions. This is the tea specially produced for exhibition and in limited supply.  Only first two leaves and buds are carefully picked by hands.  Rich in natural sweet aroma and fresh scent with excellent astringent taste.

The tea itself has a very sweet aroma, less vegetal than the previous shincha, the Yukata Midori, likely because this is an asamushi rather than fukamushi.

The leaves are also less broken up from the steaming process. Some leaves are quite long and rolled up.

First Infusion:

Tea: 4g

Water: 1 cup

Water Temperature: 70 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 75 seconds

Review: Beautiful clear green colour. Very creamy and clean tasting, smells sweet, not astringent at all. Sweet aftertaste. Very little residue compared to the fukamushi.

Second Infusion:

Water Temperature: 75 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 40 seconds

Review: OH THE PRETTY MURKY GREEN! Extremely grassy and vegetal, more body and the after taste is quite sweet, and a slight slight astringent feeling hanging in my throat.

Third Infusion:

Water Temperature: 75 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 40 seconds

Review: Similar colour to the first infusion, not much punch left, but still yummy, sweet after taste. 

Overall: Excellent tea, but comparatively too expensive. It was $22USD for 50g including shipping. O-cha's Yutaka Midori is much more worth it at $27.20USD for 100g including shipping. I think the fukamushi taste suits my palate more as well (more punch).