underrated gem
just so happened to be in KL and came across this café specialising in japanese tea named OGA so decided to give it a try.
the rei sencha had an incredible umami aroma; the moment i opened the cap i was just hit with the essence of seaweed. apparently there is also sweetness that is supposed to be present, but i felt that the umami and astringency itself overpowered it.
the sencha was so good, that i went back to try their hōjicha as well. surprisingly enough, the hōjicha also had the same noticeable umami aroma similar to the earlier sencha paired with the familiar roasted smell. not something i see often. personally, i found this brew to be a bit mid as it was rather mellow, though it still had the umami taste. probably due to the fact that they brew the first one at 80C (which i found odd).
also a unique concept here where they actually brew the tea 3 times and serve them in 2 cups (1 cup for the first brew, 1 cup for the second and third). personally, i love this idea as customers can better taste the nuances in flavour. one good thing about the sencha is that the strong aroma was retained very well even after the first brew.
drinks here are also very value-for-money as the sencha cost just rm15.8 (usd3.88) and the hōjicha 18.8(usd4.62), compared to where i come from where a sencha from a japanese specialty tea shop can cost you about sgd8(usd6.21). variety was really nice too as they have about 4 types of sencha to choose from.
if you do happen to be in kl, do give this a shot! the desserts do look good too