Newby Teas Green Sencha Loose Leaf Tea, 100 g

Refreshing tea

I wouldn’t call myself a master by any means, but definitely a sencha enthusiast. I’ve been drinking it everyday for years. Warming decent dry sencha leaves in the pot pre-brew should give an inviting brothy and/or sweet seaweed scent. The first infusion should have a soft, sometimes oily mouthfeel with prominent top notes. The second should be flavourful and multi-layered. The third and fourth (my favourite) should be balanced. The fifth onward will lose mouthfeel and other characteristics quickly, leaving subtle astringency and caffeine.Unfortunately, this tea has but one characteristic: astringency - from pre-brew scent, to first infusion onward. The leaves are coarse and a bit yellower compared to the famous fine deep green of normal sencha. In the photo of the dry leaves, on the left is a low quality sencha of about the same price, and Newby’s sencha on the right. Note in both the dry and wet leaf photos, prominent brown ‘barky’ stems are visible in Newby’s version. This makes it more of a bancha (an unsorted group of late-harvest leaves and stems used for other tea types). When brewed, the liquor is much yellower than the bright green of traditional sencha.I’m sure other Newby teas are great, but don’t buy this one.

Love Newby’s teas. Always top quality and fresh.

Excellent sencha tea.