The Tao of Tea, Sencha Shinrikyu Green Tea, Loose Leaf, 3 Ounce Tin

One of the best Senchas I’ve ever had. The leaves were surprisingly fine. Judging from the photo, I expected them to be larger, like some of the lower quality Senchas I’ve had in the past. These leaves were so fine they were nearly a powder. They had a deep vibrant green color, and rendered a dark yellow-green infusion.As with any good tea, the flavor was the best part. The smell and initial tasting gives you a sense of seaweed that quickly passes over to a buttery and very lightly bitter flavor.Usually folks describe Senchas and Gyokoros as having a “vegetal” flavor. This one certainly has that. As the infusion hits the rest of your taste buds, you’ll get a hint of spinach lightly sautéed with a pinch of salt. You’ll also taste a bit of raw cucumber.Great tea for a hot day. I brewed it at a lower temperature – between 140 and 150 F – and only for 30 seconds to a minute. Any longer or hotter than that and you’ll start to draw out more of the bitterness that should only be hinted at in this tea.

Love this tea and drink it almost every day. My first taste of sencha was at the Japanese Garden in Portland, OR. I bought the one they were selling at the time after a tasting session.( It is my understanding sencha is the most popular tea in Japan). When it was gone, I bought this and another sencha the Tao of Tea was offering. It was also wonderful, but more expensive. I like this just as well so I keep drinking it. I look forward to each of my two cups of this a day. Enjoy the mood elevating, calming effect I receive from it.

Taste like it was filtered through a dirty sock...I swear the japanese have no clue how to make tea..

The taste and aroma was more a Chinese or Taiwanese (please no flame-war over the distinction) green tea than the Japanese sencha profile I was trying to buy. Then again, this is always the risk when using an online shopping platform: you never know the quality of the product until it arrives.

I have sampled over a dozen varieties from The Tao of Tea and this one remains my "pound for pound" favorite across all varieties and types. It does so much of what a Sencha should at a reasonable price. It is amenable to differing types of brewing and hard to damage. I brew under 72C at varying concentrations and all are good. Weaker brews showcase a mild natural sweetness andlong low deep umami background notes. Not too fishy or grassy. Brewed strong and thick it has a luscious viscosity not found with many Senchas at this price point along with a deep rich umami and vegetal broth flavor.All Tao of Teas teas are much better than most grocery store teas but still suffer realistic limitations of teas at this price point; much more costly than grocery market tea but not close to truly premium rare teas, they simply are never going to be great, but this variety at least makes a good show of it.If you are going to give The Tao of Tea a chance make this variety one of them.

Not the worst tea I've ever had but brews up yellow and bitter without a lot of flavor at all, and the astringency doesn't go away through multiple infusions.

If you've tried Tao of Tea's regular sencha (not this one, a different one, which is just called "sencha"), you might be thinking they don't sell any decent sencha.I would agree that their regular sencha is absolutely not authentic sencha and they should not be selling it with that name. It is an inferior grade of tea that should really only be used as a mix for genmaicha or some other cheaper tea (and I love genmaicha, by the way). I would never buy that tea again.Having said that, Sencha Shinriku is actually authentic sencha and I would absolutely buy it again. It is definitely not be the highest grade of sencha, but for the price it is a really wonderful beginner's. If you are wanting to try sencha for the first time and don't want to spend and outrageous amount of money on something you may not even like, then this is a good way to have a sencha experience without having to worry about the cost.This is a good thing because the flavor of Japanese green teas is definitely not for everyone--Very savory, brothy, grassy, and tastes a bit like seaweed or ocean smells. It can also be a bit on the bitter side.But if you are curious and have always wanted to try sencha to see what all the hype is about, Tao of Tea's Sencha Shinriku is a great place to start.

When you open this container, it smells like a fresh-mowed lawn. Which is a good thing. And go on the low end as far as the amount of tea to use and the length of time to brew it. Use too much or go too long and it'll be too strong. But with the right amount of tea and time, it tastes very buttery. And who doesn't like butter? And like the packaging says, you can use each set of leaves at least three times, so you definitely get your money's worth. And I love the packaging that the Tao of Tea uses with the double lid. The presentation is great, like each cup of tea is a special occasion. Love it.