Day 98: Sencha "Omaesama"

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Green
Brew Time & Temperature: Gaiwan method today
Leaf Appearance: Small, broken up dark green leaves; sizes range from broad to thin & grasslike
Color: Dark (but bright), emerald green; a bit cloudy from particles, but overall clear
Smell: Brothy, vegetal, somewhat salty with very light sweet, vanilla notes
Recommended with/as: As is
Rating: 8/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
Looking back, this isn't really a good tea to use in a gaiwan (especially the leaves in the tea bag). They're much too small, particles get past even my best strainer, and the leaves just get everywhere. However, despite the oversteeping and light bitterness, this is a green tea with a strong umami taste. It starts off with the brothy taste, which soon turns into umami (and also some bitter) notes. It finishes off with grassy, somewhat tangy (and minty?) notes, with the umami lingering in the mouth long afterwards. It's somewhat astringent, leaving the throat a bit dry, but not the mouth. I got about 8 brews out of it, with the taste becoming less bitter and more sweet each time and the color becoming more bright green. Overall, it's a good green tea, but I've had better in this project (also having larger leaves wouldn't hurt too).

Other notes:
-72 HOURS REMAIN-
Oh shiiiiiiiiii- I can't believe I've done this for almost 100 days straight (bar 1 or 2 days). I'd talk more about how I feel about it, but there's work to do (screw this AP bio lab y'know). I'll do it later. Anyway, in short, pretty much all I did today was buy groceries, get the rest of the job application (and talk to the boss there), and work on homework. I'll start studying my ass off tomorrow for that AP Bio final + AP test, and I have a piano recital tomorrow. My first piece is super easy and not really my choice (I was going to play Howl's Moving Castle, but screw the 2nd half of that piece), but I really like my second piece (Schroeder's Failure from Darwinia). Here's to me doing well and actually doing what I set out to do.

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: Kilimanjaro