Tea Review: “Eiju” Japanese Sencha Green Tea

Anyone that knows me and my journey in tea would know that after several false starts (with tea bags…errrr…. garbage), my interest was first genuinely piqued when I first discovered loose leaf sencha. From there the rest is history… and now my real journey has begun.

This led me to a tea session today with a Japanese sencha called Eiju.  This tea arrived on my doorstep last week from UnyTea.

Japanese teas are some of my favorites so I was excited to get to brewing!

Scope:

Name: “Eiju” Japanese Sencha
Cultivar: unknown
Origin: Wakane Township, Shizouka, Japan
Elevation: unknown
Leaf Plucked: unknown
Type: Sencha Green Tea

The tea is noted as being “slightly roasted.”

The packaging instructions offer two different options:

“Japanese style” brewing: 1 gram per 100 mL at 94 (C) degrees  (201 F) for 1 minute and + 20 seconds per each additional brew.

OR

Gong Fu Brew: 3 grams per 100 mL at 94 (C) degrees  (201 F) for 15 seconds and + 5 seconds per each additional steep.

Mmmmmm… my mouth is watering at this point. Okay, the water is almost to temp…

Tasting Notes:

Steep 1: 60 seconds
Yellow-greenish liquor. Slightly grassy with a hint of umami. Creamy, almost buttery. A slight astringency left my tongue a little dry.

Steep 2: 80 seconds
Held up well on resteep. (I will confess I was a little skeptical this would be the case, especially given the high temperatures.) No umami in this steep — more of a vegetal taste. More astringency that brew 1, but very tasty!!

Steep 3: 100 seconds
Good flavor is still there, albeit slightly lighter. Slight vegetal flavor. This tea is delicious, I decided! It was also in this steep that I decided that the tea reminded me somewhat of an oolong with its smooth/clean taste.

Steep 4: 120 seconds
Still pleasant… less flavor, however.

At this point I put the tea aside, I thought I was done.  However, a short time later I sat in on a Live Session with UnyTea on Instagram where I was discussing the tea with Jeff.  He suggested I push it further… Okay.

Steep 5: 140 seconds
Seems to have lost a little flavor from steep 4, however I wonder how much of this was due to the time that had elapsed from steep 4 (~hour or so).  In lieu, I pushed on…

Steep 6: 160 seconds
The liquor color is much lighter than where it began. Still has flavor though… more noticeable than the 5th steep.

Steep 7: 180 seconds
There are slight slight vegetal notes… oddly I find the scent of grass in my nose.

Steep 8: 200 seconds
Still a little life…

Steep 9: 220 seconds
Tea is dead.

Conclusion:

I absolutely loved this tea. I thought it was delicious. It was a very smooth tea, somewhat buttery to start, with tasting notes of umami, grass, and other vegetal notes.  I was particularly impressed that it was able to hold up under such a high heat — I am used to brewing my sencha teas closer to 80 degrees.  I was also surprised by the number of resteeps that I deemed to have acceptable flavor. I highly recommend this tea and look forward to my next session with it!  I will opt for the stronger brew next time to compare.

 

To read more about the different types of Japanese tea, click here.