TeaChat

kymidwife wrote:I've lost count of the number of infusions on this tea... tonight I am still brewing the same leaves from last night, and the flavor is still fabulous. Has to be at least 5 or 6 infusions so far. Mmmm.

Oh, that's good to know. I'll have to start my next batch when I have a little more time to get the most out of it.

I love drinking Sakura Sencha. It has such a wonderful armoa and the taste is delicate. I should be receiving my order from Dens in a few days.

Samovar

kymidwife wrote:I've lost count of the number of infusions on this tea... tonight I am still brewing the same leaves from last night, and the flavor is still fabulous. Has to be at least 5 or 6 infusions so far. Mmmm.

Sarah

Wow= how long can you keep leaves?? Are you estimating brewing time on how wet/dry the leaves look for your second and third and... infusions? What do you do with them overnight? Just leave them on the counter??

I loved this tea this am but had to rush off to work and felt very very guilty about only one infusion- never thought to keep the leaves til I got home from work...

Thanks,
Cheryl

Some refrigerate their leaves but I am a slacker and just leave them out on the counter... they rarely go more than 8 or 10 hours before being brewed again, and I've never had a problem with doing this.

I just gradually increase the length of time of the infusion and also the water temp... my last was 190 degrees for about 3 minutes. I'll probably not go much hotter than that because I fear the bitterness.

Funny thing is.. the further I take this Sakura, the more it tastes like a green oolong... and less like sencha... but in a pleasant way. Interesting.

Sarah

kymidwife wrote:Some refrigerate their leaves but I am a slacker and just leave them out on the counter... they rarely go more than 8 or 10 hours before being brewed again, and I've never had a problem with doing this.

I just gradually increase the length of time of the infusion and also the water temp... my last was 190 degrees for about 3 minutes. I'll probably not go much hotter than that because I fear the bitterness.

Funny thing is.. the further I take this Sakura, the more it tastes like a green oolong... and less like sencha... but in a pleasant way. Interesting.

Sarah

Thanks Sarah

kymidwife wrote:
Funny thing is.. the further I take this Sakura, the more it tastes like a green oolong... and less like sencha... but in a pleasant way. Interesting.

Very interesting indeed! Thanks for the speculation! I'll have to take note of that next time!

Does Den's take paypal? My partner is really interested in the sakura sencha but neither of us has a credit card and I can't find on their site what payment methods are accepted...

on their faq's page it says they only take credit card but!!!! you can pay with personal checks according to their paper order forms.

i see nothing about paypal and don't remember seeing anything about it but you could always call them or email them and ask if no one else here has a definite answer?

I just brewed my first pot of the Sakura Sencha, and I gotta say it's pretty good. Honestly when the site said "flavored" sencha, I was expecting a huge amount of the cherry flavor. But it was quite the opposite. Which was actually pretty nice. The only thing I'm wondering though is what you've all been using as leaf volume, temp, and steep time for your initial and subsequent steeps! I didn't realize Den's said to do 45 seconds at 180 degrees. I did 45 seconds at 160 and it was too weak. But then I did about 50 seconds at 180 for a second steep and it was a tad bit strong and a tad bit bitter. Not major, but definitely noticeable! Any info is greatly appreciated

First steep longer and hotter, 180ish for less than a minute.

2nd steep shorter, 20-30 seconds.

This is meant to be a pretty casual and easy brewer, so try not to over think it, use around 1-2 teaspoons per 6 ounces, experiment a bit.

Thanks Chip I'll give it a try

Okay, I just got my Den's novice green tea set with the cute little kyusu included and it came with a sample of the Sakura Sencha.

I have to agree that this is an awesome tea! I think I was short a bit on leaf (2.7 g to 8 oz. water) because it wasn't strong on the cherry flavor as described in this thread. It was still tasty but a bit weak on the second steep so I am going to try again tomorrow with some more leaf.

The kyusu is so cute, I can see why people collect them. Great ... another tea "thing" to get hooked on!

I usually don't steep sencha according to the instructions. I steep it at 180 degees for 2 minutes.

Still tastes wonderful!

geeber1 wrote:Okay, I just got my Den's novice green tea set with the cute little kyusu included and it came with a sample of the Sakura Sencha.

I have to agree that this is an awesome tea! I think I was short a bit on leaf (2.7 g to 8 oz. water) because it wasn't strong on the cherry flavor as described in this thread. It was still tasty but a bit weak on the second steep so I am going to try again tomorrow with some more leaf.

The kyusu is so cute, I can see why people collect them. Great ... another tea "thing" to get hooked on!

I just had one of the Novice kits sent to my house addressed to my 7 year old daughter. She was thrilled by the little kyusu that had a screen. her real starter pot didnt and had big holes which didnt lend itself well to her loose leaf tea blend i created for her on Adagio. She may have to fight me for the sample of Sakura Sencha tho....

I ordered a 2 oz sampler on a whim, and liked it so much I ordered more. It's just perfect for spring.