Sencha question..

[Deleted User #18181]

I've recently got hold of some sencha, which I have no idea about the origin.. However it has a very strong grass/vegetable smell/taste and it makes it a bit hard to drink. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like that or if this is just bad quality or old tea? I've never drunk sencha before so I can't really compare it to anything else.

[Sydney]

What you're describing sounds pretty sencha-like. And sencha is quite unlike other teas in the green tea category.

If you don't know its origin, age, or what kind of sencha it is, you might try working with some vaguely generic sencha brewing parameters. I've rounded some off here, but depending on what you actually have there, these may have to be tweaked to get the best cup possible.

1 level teaspoon
6 oz 180° F water
1st steep: 90 seconds
2nd steep: 45 seconds
3rd steep: 60-90 seconds

With most senchas I've tried, the 2nd steep is much more potent and interesting than the first, despite the significantly reduced steep time.

[joelbct]

I've recently got hold of some sencha, which I have no idea about the origin.. However it has a very strong grass/vegetable smell/taste and it makes it a bit hard to drink. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like that or if this is just bad quality or old tea? I've never drunk sencha before so I can't really compare it to anything else.

I've found that lousy Sencha often has that overpowering "Grass" taste. My first Sencha was also from a non-Japanese supplier who carried good Chinese and Indian Tea, but awful Sencha.

Good Sencha, on the other hand, is still vegetal, but in a sublime, balanced, succulent, mouth-watering way, not in a "why-am-i-drinking-my-lawn" way.

The first rule of Sencha: Source it from a Japanese-Tea-Specialist Supplier:

http://www.itoen.com/leaf/

http://www.o-cha.com/home.php

https://shop.ippodo-tea.co.jp/shop/en/

Second rule of Sencha- Brewing needs to be relatively precise as Padre mentioned. 170-180 degree water, for 1-2 minutes on a first brew are good general parameters to start from. Definitely try a second infusion on the same leaves too.

Good luck! I myself was a Black Tea Only man for years until I discovered good Sencha, and now I drink Sencha and/or Matcha every day and wouldn't have it any other way...

[Deleted User #18181]

Well this one almost gives me a sick feeling in my stomach, due to the overpowering taste and smell. I'll try to get hold of some samples of good quality sencha and see if it's the same. And no matter how I brew it that taste seems to be there. The 2nd-3rd and further infusions seem to be slightly better because the grass taste is not so strong, however there's hardly any taste left at all and the color turns from greenish to yellowish.

[Sydney]

Well, that sounds like it may just be some tea that's gone wrong some how.

Sencha is generally mildest on the first steep, and much more full-flavored on the next 2 to 4 steeps.

Even some fantastically good sencha can taste pretty nasty to people who don't like it, though.

[Smells_Familiar]

^^Really? The vegatal flavor of most senchas is almost always strongest in the first brew's liquor compared to the second for me. The second is almost always sweeter and more balanced, with a darker color. Maybe that's because my second steep is normally more like 20s to 30s at beginning of pour.

[Deleted User #18181]

I gave this another try, with some measuring instruments (for temperature and duration) and I think I have been brewing it at too high temperature before and using too big cups. I brewed at 80C for 1min and put it into small cups (2oz) and it was much more enjoyable. It definately has a unique taste (like.. sweet and grassy) but I think I'm on the right track and it was quite enjoyable, compared to before. I use a metal pot right now and I think it would be even better with a porcelain or clay pot..

[BryanP]

If you plan on brewing other types of green teas, such as gyokoru, maybe you should think about investing in a japanese tea pot (the ones with a strainer that takes on the shape of the inside of the pot itself).

[Deleted User #18181]

I've grown to like this tea, especially the first few infusions, however later infusions tend to give a very strong "fish" taste which I absolutely can't drink.. Never tasted that in a tea before! Is that something normal?

[Chip]

Usually a sencha tones down as one resteeps although some sencha have a stronger second steep. How are you brewing it?

I brew the second steep around 20 seconds, then 40, then 2 min, then whatever.

I have never noticed fishiness.

I really think it is the sencha. Maybe it is not Japanese. Unless the metal pot has something to do with it.

[Deleted User #18181]

I use a glass pot now actually. I also left the tea overnight, thinking I could get another brew in the morning (maybe that taste had to do with that?) and used boiling water for that last one. For the first two-three I use around 80C and 30-2min infusions..

With cooler water and shorter infusions I find the tea quite enjoyable actually. Except that fish taste I got the last time. My negative experience from the beginning was because I was using too hot water and too long steeps. I should really get some known-to-be-good sencha from one of those internet sites. I'm thinking of getting a kyusu from hibiki-an, so I might go for that.

[Chip]

This sencha literally changed my life... Yutaka Midori

[Smells_Familiar]

This sencha literally changed my life... Yutaka Midori

If that ain't the most compelling testimony you ever heard, I'll eat my drawers!