Superior Grade Sencha from Hibiki-an

Here is a tea that I've been enjoying more and more recently, especially after refining the brewing a little (I make it with water that's very slightly cooler than suggested, but more on that later). Anyway, sencha is the most commonly consumed tea in Japan, and probably the first Japanese green tea that people come into contact with. That isn't always a good thing however - with a sencha, there will almost always be some degree of bitterness present (this is a key part of the flavour profile), and brewing it too long or too hot (as many newcomers would) leads to something nearly undrinkable. The first sencha I had was like this, and I avioded it for many years afterwards.
Hibiki-an's offering quickly fixed this! Additionally, the instructions on the packet are always helpful to the newcomer. I'd also recommend you complete three infusions of this tea - it's absolutely worth it, as you'll read later on. It costs US$32 per 200g, which is definitely good value for the quality you get.

Brewing Instructions: 8 grams of tea (1.5 tablespoons) in 80 degree celsius water for 1 minute.

Leaf Appearance: Emerald, mostly intact, with no stems in sight.

Dry Aroma: A milder seaweed/grass smell is present.
 

Brewed Aroma: A mild cut grass.

Flavour: The mild grass and seaweed flavours carry over from the aroma nicely. The first infusion has a clean flavour with the typical mild sencha bitterness on the edges of your tongue. The second infusion is slightly milder (as expected) and cleaner, with a savouryness and the beginnings of floral notes. The third infusion is incredibly clean, with the dominant seaweed/grass notes gone, leaving a mild floral taste and no bitterness. I strongly, strongly recommend the third infusion.

Overall Score: 4 out of 5 - the way this tea evolves over multiple infusions makes it worthy of more than a score of 3.5, due to the demonstration of higher complexity which is indicative of a higher quality tea. Even if you don't like the vague hint of bitterness present, it would still be worth your while to get this tea, brew it slightly cooler (say around 70 degrees), and acclimitise to the flavour before taking it back up to that 80 degree temperature. While there may be better 4/5 teas around, this is certainly an excellent example of Japanese Sencha.