I’m not a fan of the texture of bananas and went some 10-15 years without so much as touching a banana until a few years ago. But a banana tea was lacking from my collection and penchant for the banana flavoured snakes in the Natural Confectionery bag convinced me that I could fill this gap with this Fukujuen Banana Sencha. Fukujuen is a tea house in Uji, Kyōto with a long history of producing quality sencha.
The tea consisted of a pyramid tea bagged sencha scented with banana.
Steeping one 2 g tea bag in 150 mL of water at 75°C for 1 minute, the infusion was a clear pale yellow-green colour with a mellow scent of banana flavour. Served hot, the notes of banana came through fragrant but without being heady at the head of each sip and recalled the sweet richness of a caramelised banana. The vegetal notes of the sencha emerge mid-sip and develop in prominence as the banana flavour recedes towards the finish to remind one of an unripe, yet fragrant, banana. The mellow richness of the banana flavour softens the vegetal sencha for a refreshing tea with a slightly astringent finish.
This Fukujuen Banana Sencha contained 5 x 2 g tea bags. The tea originated in Japan and was purchased in Uji, Kyōto, Japan in 2015.