Tea Review: Single Cultivar Sencha Asatsuyu (Yunomi/Dobashien)

Advent Tea Calendar Day 3

Single Cultivar Sencha, Asatsuyu
Dobashien/Yunomi
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture
Product Description: Sencha Asatsuyu is a single cultivar green tea made from Shizuoka's asatsuyu cultivar, famous for naturally providing a gyokuro-like taste profile filled with umami richness.

Temperature: 175° F

Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 1 minute

The dry leaf aroma is sweet, nutty, and marine green, with light mineral notes.

The opaque green infusion has a savory, grassy green, and nutty aroma.  The taste is mildly astringent, freshly green, savory and sweet with umami, with a long, fresh green finish.

This sencha has similarities to gyokuro and I found that steeping at two minutes brought out more astringency than I prefer.  A shorter steeping time of one minute resulted in delicious umami and a pleasant, mild astringency.

This tea was purchased by me.

Dobashien

Dobashien/土橋園 opened for business on Hitotsugi-dori in Akasaka, Tokyo in July of 1892. Though it has been rebuilt twice, the tea shop continues to reside on Hitotsugi street to this day.

Among its achievements, Dobashien pioneered the creation of automatic tea dispensing machines in 1967, initiated the first sales of aracha to the public in 1969, and is currently one of only two official tea suppliers to Japan Air Lines (JAL).

Dobashien sells teas sourced from many growing regions across Japan, Chinese tea, herbals, nori, teaware, and pottery, as well as offering personalized tea blending services.  Guests can enjoy tea, tea lattes, and sweets in the tea shop and as take-away.  

Upon entering, head toward the back of the spacious shop where staff are ready to welcome you and provide assistance.

During my visit, I was fortunate to meet Dobashien's 5th generation director, Takeo Dobashi. He prepared a sample of Higashiyama Sencha using water from a chagama (iron tea kettle used in Japanese tea ceremony), explaining that this is a green tip tea from Shizuoka with an ideal steeping temperature of 76C/170F.  The tea was so nice that I had to buy a package to take home.

While my visit to Dobashien was brief, I'm grateful for the welcoming spirit and personalized service and look forward to a future visit.

Address: 赤坂3丁目17-8 土橋ビル Minato, 東京都 〒107-0052
〒107-0052 Tōkyō-to, Minato-ku, Akasaka, 3 Chome−17

Hours:
Monday-Friday 10:00am to 6:30pm
Saturday 11:00am to 6:00pm
Closed Sunday

Tea Review: Higashiyama Sencha (Dobashien)

Advent Tea Calendar Day 8

Higashiyama Sencha
Dobashien/土橋園
Type: Green
Origin: Japan, Shizuoka
Product Description: Available on the website (Japanese).

Temperature: 175° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 2 minutes

The dry leaves have a  grassy green, savory and nutty aroma with salty marine notes.

The infusion is bright yellow-green with a buttery, brisk green aroma and flavor with a touch of spice. 

This seems to be a fukamushi sencha and it reminded me of late-Spring and the aroma of freshly cut grass. With a naturally bold flavor and astringency, a shorter steeping time of 30 seconds after the first infusion brought out milder, sweeter results.