Sakura Sencha

Whenever I talk to someone about tea, there's a good chance I'll say how I only drink "real" tea and how there's a difference between tea and tisanes ("herbal tea" that contains no camellia sinensis). And even though Jasmine green tea was the stepping stone into my current tea obsession, I can't remember the last time I actually drank a flavored/infused tea. This week at Wegman's though I saw that they had some Sakura Sencha in their loose leaf section and I can't recall ever seeing it there before. And since I just ran out of my green tea stock, I thought it a good idea to give this a try.

First Impressions:
Oddly enough it smells like sakura... who would have thought! I should probably say that the only experience I have with sakura-flavored consumables are those sakura/matcha flavored Kit Kat bars.

Even though they're probably made with synthetically created chemical flavoring compounds, they're really delicious and have a very distinct taste. I think I tried to explain that taste in another post but simply couldn't find the right adjectives to string together a description. However, the taste of the candy came rushing back to my nose/mind when smelling this tea, so I guess they did a good job in the lab over there at Nestle Japan.

Since the sakura scent is the most prevalent aroma, it's hard to gauge the quality of the actual tea. Wegmans' only "normal" sencha is called Tomo Sencha, which I tried once a long time ago... it was terrible. It was much more like a bancha, but even then it was bad.

In a related note, I was once told that Wegman's gets some of their tea directly from Ito En. The only tea they carry that seems likely to come from Ito En is the Uji Kabuse; I've purchased it from both places for comparison and it was pretty spot-on. In the past Wegman's used to also carry what was most likely Ito En's Chiran Kanayamidori, as well as some type of gyokuro (I never actually tried that one though). So with that in mind, it would be a fairly good guess that this Sakura Sencha came from Ito En as well, which is a good sign.

Tasting:

Thankfully the base tea in this is not sub-par like the Tomo Sencha. The sakura scent wafts over the surface of the tea like a thin, sweet blanket and the flavor does the same. It's the kind of sweetness you would associate with a honeysuckle blossom, but a bit lighter.

Also, there's a slight tingling sensation you get on your lips after several sips, almost akin to sucking on a mint. That was very surprising indeed, and the combined natural astringency of the tea makes it quite nice.

Given the brittle nature of the Sakura flower though results in a fair amount of residue making it into the tea.

Verdict:

I like it, a lot more than I thought I would honestly. I can only imagine that a Sakura Gyokuro would be exponentially more delicious, since gyokuro is so sweet and subtle to begin with.

If I were to compare this to a Jasmine green, Jasmine has a very clean and dry bite to it. The sakura is more subtle and ultimately more robust of a flavor, giving you both that initial fragrance as well the sweetly tingling after-taste. It could be my preference of Japanese tea talking, but technically the steaming process of Japanese teas just makes for deeper inherent flavor profile. And the fact that it's less aggressive than Jasmine tea would also make it a better tea for first-time drinkers, too.