So I was hoping Hibiki's Sencha Superior could be an alternate to Ippodo's Nichi getsu which while it is not great I think it is a great price vs value ratio and when it was 11 dollars for 100 grams was a sencha I was content to drink nearly all the time.
But upon cracking into the Sencha Superior I had possible the worst sencha session I have had in quite some time, though it was something that I did not believe was the teas fault. As my stomach had been feeling slightly funny, and while tea usually settles it this time it did quite the opposite and my stomach was in serious pain after the first infusion, and stayed so throughout the session. Now it could be as I poured the bag out into the container then scooped directly from the container there may have been a large amount of smaller broken leaf bits which added a bit extra astringency causing the discomfort.
It does not change the fact in my mind that the worst session I have ever had with a sencha, happened on my first try with this tea. So now I am worried that I might always view this tea in a negative light, especially since today I had another session and the session was perfectly fine, no stomach problems, or really problems of any sort. It was a perfectly enjoyable session, but I still feel my view of this tea is still tainted. But I honestly feel I did not enjoy it nearly as much as I should have because constantly in the back of my mind is the reminder of the first session with this tea.
So here is to hoping my opinion of this tea improves through many more good sessions.
3 comments:
Green tea, especially one as green as sencha, is always going to be upsetting for the stomach. Drink a cooked pu instead if you feel something's not right, it'll usually solve the problem.
A simple lobotomy might solve your problem... ;)
It is sad when a bad stomach experience makes you dislike a food or drink that was not responsible for the upset. However...I've found that if you continue to sample the food or drink, and you feel well, the reaction eventually goes away. Humans are adaptable creatures!
Contrary to what MarshalN said, I have not found that green tea, nor sencha, tends to be universally hard on the stomach. I find that when I brew a green tea, especially a pan-fired Chinese tea, with water that is too hot, it can be very hard on the stomach; this is especially true of teas like Chun Mee which are on the acidic side anyway.
But in general, I find all tea to be gentler than coffee, and I find the harshest teas to tend to be highly tannic black teas, like a strong-but-not-particularly-great Assam.
I also find, among green teas, sencha tends to be gentler than, say, gunpowder or chun mee. But maybe that's just my own taste (and my own stomach?).
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