Review #1 : O-Cha’s Uji Sencha Miyabi

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of Mike’s Tea Review. It was a rough go at it for a while but I finally made it and I once again have tea. Today I will be reviewing a japanese green tea from O-Cha.com: Uji Sencha Miyabi.

O-Cha.com was founded in 1998 by Mr. Kevin Moore and is a Japan-based business, located in Iwaki City , Fukushima, Japan.  Their website gives us the following description of Uji Sencha Miyabi…

From the first harvest, a very special sencha from Uji, near Kyoto, this tea is very aromatic and is of the highest quality. From the moment you open the package, that special aroma lets you know you’re in for a treat. Deep green in color, “Miyabi” is arguably one of our very best sencha green teas . We originally found this wonderful tea on a product scouting mission in Japan and brought some back to offer our customers. It’s been popular ever since.

This particular sencha is a chuumushi (or medium steamed sencha).  More information on tea steaming can be found here.

Upon opening my package from O-Cha I found that not only was the tea in a nitrogen-flushed Mylar bag, but that bag was itself sealed in a plastic bag.  I would assume that this extra bag is for if the box were to get wet in transit.  This attention to detail illustrates that the people at O-Cha take their (and your) tea seriously.

When I opened the bag,  the aroma of the dry leaf filled the area.  The leaf was a mixed bag of long needles and not so long needles.  This was my first chuumushi, so I can’t say for sure if this type of leaf is typical ( although it did look like more long needles than my last fukamushi).

Dry leaf on 1/4" graph paper

The brewing guide that O-Cha provides recommends using 0.6 grams of leaf per 1 ounce of water.  This is a baseline ratio and is a good starting point.  Personally, I prefer to brew more leaf with a shorter steeping time.  All of my water temperatures take into account a preheated kyusu.  The following were my observations:

Leaf: 5.4 grams
Water: 6 ounces

Steep 1 – 1:15 @ 160° : The initial steep yielded a very robust vegetal, almost spinach-like flavor.  There was very little astringency and a mild sweetness.  The liquor on this brew was a pale yellow/green.

Steep 2 – 0:15 @ 167° : This steep yielded a deep murky green liquor that reminded me of a fukamushi in appearance.  Upon tasting there was a bit more astringency, but the most noticeable characteristic was the amount of umami.  It was so apparent that it pretty much overpowered even the vegetal taste of the tea.  This is quite possibly the most umami I have ever tasted in a cup of tea.

Steep 3 – 0:30 @ 175° : This steep was probably my favorite of the five.  The liquor was still murky, but not nearly as dark as the previous steep.  There was still umami, however it was nowhere near as overpowering as before.  There was also almost a perfect balance of sweetness and astringency.  One thing that I noticed on this steep that I did not notice on the others is that there was almost a nutty finish to the taste.

Steep 4 – 1:00 @ 180° : This brew was somewhat vegetal however the sweetness is starting to emerge from the leaf.  The liquor is moving back towards a pale green and it was very easy to drink.

Steep 5 – 2:00 @ 190° : The fifth and final brew was pale yellow/green and produced a very mild and sweet cup of tea.  This was a very pleasant drink and the sweetness almost seemed to be a “dessert” to the main course of umami that I had experienced earlier.

The following pictures show the appearance of the brewed liquor.  The first brew is top center.  Following brews move clockwise around the circle.  There is also a picture of some of the brewed leaf on 1/4″ graph paper.

Wet leaf on 1/4" graph paper

Liquor color - 5 steepings

Overall, this was a very enjoyable yet complex tea.  If you like fukamushi sencha then you will almost assuredly enjoy this chuumushi.  At a cost of $25.95 per 100 grams it is not the most economical tea, however the quality is apparent.  As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Thank for joining me and I hope to have another review for you soon.

Happy Brewing!!!

Mike T