YAMAEI, Loose Leaf Japanese Green Tea, KIYORAKA

From my original Amazon review:

Right from opening the pack, the leaves look the part, a really vibrant deep green, and on the finer side, which straight away made me think this was likely fukamushi, or deep-steamed, sencha. Fukamushi just means the tea leaves get a longer steaming time during processing. This usually makes them a bit more delicate and results in smaller leaf particles and a different character to your standard sencha. The dry leaves also have a quiet, pleasant, slightly sweet smell for a sencha.

I brewed it accordingly to package instructions, 60C for 90 seconds. After brewing, the wet leaves unfurl to a bright, cooked spinach green and the liquor itself is a beautiful, rich yellow-green colour with a bit of cloudiness. but that's a classic trait of fukamushi because of those finer leaf bits getting into the cup, so don't worry about that. What you get is a really nice, full-bodied taste. There's pretty much no bitterness to speak of; it's very smooth and gentle on the palate. This smoothness and the rich body, along with the lower brewing temp and time, really confirms to me that this is fukamushi style.

The only reason I've docked a star is personal preference. While the quality is clearly there and it tastes good with a strong, savoury umami character, it felt a little one-note for me, focusing mainly on that full-bodied umami. That's absolutely fine and many will love it for that purity, but I was looking for more complex notes.

For the price, around £7 for 70g, I'd definitely say this is easily worth the value. It's one of those few times where the 'Great Taste' awards is actually correct. It's a solid choice if you want a fukamushi sencha experience.