Sencha is made from the tender top two leaves and is the most popular green tea in Japan. At first I was afraid that I would not like this tea because my previous experience with sencha was a bad one. The dry leaves smelled incredibly clean and fresh, like fresh vegetables or lawn clippings. They had a beautiful emerald green color to them. That color grew even more vivid when they expanded after brewing. I prepared this tea using my Zarafina tea maker, set on strong green. The liquor had a bright, almost neon green quality to it.The aroma of this tea was fresh and vegetal, very similar to that of the dry leaves. The first few sips were slightly astringent but subsequent sips were much easier on the taste buds. It was light, sweet and very refreshing. It had an almost minty quality to it as well. I have to say that the only thing that put me off was the accumulation of dusty bits of leaf at the bottom of my cup. However, all sencha that I have tried had this issue it is probably just me being weird about it.
