As I continue through review, I am always learning. When there is a chance to learn even more about tea, I jump at the chance. This is actually my first review with Matcha and rice tea! I did not even know rice could be in tea (silly me!). Senbird Tea is a family-run tea company that is dedicated to providing Japanese tea experiences to every home for tea lovers everywhere. Check out what I thought!
Yuu Hojicha 優ほうじ茶 (Roasted Green Tea): I think I am finally able to identify the exact taste that I am experiencing when I drink this tea. It really reminded me of the teas that you get when going to a Japanese Restaurant (which makes sense since Hojicha is a Japanese Green tea, but is roasted instead of steamed). So, it actually makes a lot of sense that the taste reminds me directly of the times having teas when getting Japanese food. This tea has quite a nutty flavor, which is apparent as soon as I took my first sip. I did not notice anything different about the aroma, besides also having a slight nuttiness as well. This traditional tea was quite exciting for me to try since I usually just review tea blends and not traditional tea leaves and the experiences different leaves have to offer.
Ceremonial Grade Otome Matcha 乙女抹茶: Wow this Matcha froths like a dream. I used an electric frother instead of a bamboo whisk (I know, shame on me), and I found that the tea was extremely well mixed together. However, I have a tendency to take too much time when drinking tea and getting distracted that the tea did separate a tiny bit (which they warn you about on their website). The taste was quite smooth, with quite the normal Matcha vegetal taste apparent in the tea. I ended up making a smoothie with this matcha as well just for variety sake and so I could test other ways of drinking this tea. I used frozen peaches, a spoonful of matcha, and some almond milk. The resulting flavor was quite a subtly sweet drink, with a perfect blend of peach and matcha. I was quite impressed with myself, to be honest.
Suzu Genmai 鈴玄米抹茶入り (Brown Rice Tea w/ Matcha): My mom and I tasted this tea together. I was not sure at all what to expect out of brown rice tea. When I smelled the tea while it was brewing, I was instantly reminded of rice cakes and the aroma that comes out when you open the rice cake container. Very strange, I know. The taste of this tea was quite light and subtle, and very much not like anything else I have tasted before. The matcha taste was quite subtle, embracing the rice taste that exploded in my mouth. This also reminded me of a rice cake (I really like rice cakes…okay?). You could tell that the tea was very high-quality and that they put a lot of care into their product. The entire tea was quite light and pleasant to drink. My mom especially liked this tea, saying that she liked that the matcha flavor was subtle and that there was a certain smoothness to this tea. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this tea.
Price Analysis:
The matcha tea goes for $21.99 for 20 grams of ceremonial grade matcha. I think this is a great price for matcha, especially since matcha can be so expensive. The Suzu Genmai tea runs for $13.99 for 30 grams of tea ($11.99 is the price when writing this post). The Yuu Hojicha Tea runs for $11.99 for 20 grams of tea ($10.99 is the price when writing this post). I think for the quality of tea that you get, I would gladly pay this price. I could really taste the quality in every cup of tea and love the way this brand presents itself.
Packaging Analysis:
I love the packaging for this tea. For the two loose leaf teas, there is a map of where the tea came from on each tea. I think the map adds a personal touch to the tea, knowing exactly where the leaves come from and who was the farmer is great knowledge to have. The quality of the pouches also felt really thick and kept the aroma of the tea in the pouch. The Matcha container had a very minimal design but I thought it looked beautiful. I really love minimal design, I think it looks so crisp and clean. It also seemed to be a very good quality tin, keeping the quality of the matcha intact.
I really am learning so much from writing these reviews. I am always trying to improve my writing. Improve my tea tasting skills. The more diverse teas that I try, the better my reviews end up in the long run! I hope you enjoyed this review, I especially did. Happy Brewing!
-Danielle
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