Brewing
I did not have a kyusu, and my previous attempt at brewing this using a gaiwan went pretty terrible; the tea leaves were tiny so it was not possible to effectively constrain them while pouring, clogging the mesh strainer. The tea came out overbrewed and had that dreaded 'vegetable spinach' taste. Yuck.
My second time around, I tried a different approach and used this makeshift set of teaware to brew it
Waited for the water to boil, and poured it to a cool, empty glass to quickly cool the water. Poured from the glass into the pitcher which brought the temperature to around 80 degrees, and then dipped the mesh strainer w/ the leaves in it for a minute.
I brewed it 2 subsequent times, the second steep at 80c for 45 secs, and third steep at 85c for 1 1/4 minutes.
Tea
Just opening and whiffing the tea bag alone is enough to give you joy: it has an amazingly soothing green smell that reminds you of a garden. The brewing process further invigorates this scent, and honestly I was so excited to drink it just from what my nose was picking up.
The taste is strong for a japanese green. I could pick up on some seaweed notes, accompanied by strong umami that lingers even after you drink the tea. The first steep was such a great experience that I was slightly disappointed the subsequent steeps no longer lived up. The second steep was more mellow than the first, and no longer as sharp. By the third steep, it tasted like green tea still but it has lost most of its complexity.
I also tried this tea cold-brewed, and its amazing still! It has a slightly sweet seaweed tinge to it, and it is remarkably refreshing. When it's cold-brewed, the flavor profile is different but not in a bad way. I constantly try to keep a bottle of this in the fridge, but it's proving difficult to maintain it as my family loves it as well :P.
This green tea has effectively blown away any notion I previously had about Japanese green tea. I have never had any green tea as good as this before, and it's better than most overpriced sencha you find at higher-end Japanese restaurants. Verdict: 4/5
