I got some samples with one of my recent ANMO orders. I had ordered two of their delicious senchas and got 4 samples of other Japanese green teas. Today I’m drinking one of the samples: the Shikoku Temple Tea. It’s not the first time I’ve had this one but I thought it would be nice to sit down and focus on the tea after a very busy week.
Shikoku Temple Tea
The Shikuko temple tea is a Japanese sencha from the 2020 harvest. It comes from Shikoku island in Japan, which is the smallest of the country’s islands. This is a really interesting tea because it comes from tea trees around the main Buddhist temple on Tsurugi mountain in the Tokushima Prefecture. These zaikai trees are around 100 years old.
Tea Tasting
- 4.5g for a 140ml Tokoname Kyusu
- 70°C water
These are some really interesting leaves because I’m seeing all shapes and colours. There are darker and lighter shades of green and even some yellow tints. It looks authentic and less fabricated, if that makes sense, because of the irregularities. The aroma is nutty and there is also a deep grassiness with a touch of sweetness, but nothing specific.
Infusion 1 (20 sec): this is a subtle infusion. There is an initial hit of grass, but this quickly fades and transforms into a deep sweetness with a nutty finish. The aftertaste is long-lasting and feels deep.
Infusion 2 (25 sec): this one is more intense right from the start. It feels grassy with a sharper edge and it transforms into a pleasant nuttiness. The infusion feels good and the liquor is thick. The sweet and grassy aftertaste lingers for a while. Really nice infusion.
Infusion 3 (25 sec): it’s fresher, but it’s also sweeter and nuttier. Really refreshing infusion with a dark sugar aftertaste. The aftertaste lasts a long time.
Infusion 4 (30 sec): less intense infusion, but still nice. The fresher edge has disappeared and it’s mainly about a subtle nuttiness that slowly drifts off into the aftertaste.
Infusion 5 (long): I wanted to do a longer one to see if the leaves gave everything they had. Some of the nuttiness remains, but it’s definitely not intense. However, it lingers for a while in the aftertaste.
Conclusion
This Shikoku temple tea was a nice tea. Nothing extraordinary, but a solid and enjoyable tea. The combination of fresh and nutty was good. The grassy freshness was prominent in the beginning, while the finish and aftertaste were more about a deep and sweet nuttiness. It’s an interesting combination that I did not expect from a Japanese sencha. If you like sencha, this is a tea I definitely recommend!
If you want to try the Shikoku temple tea, you can buy it over here.
