We don't know when or if this item will be available.
“2021 Homemade Advent Calendar Swap – Day 6 From Skysamurai. When I first opened the pouch, I was certain this was a green tea. My initial thought was that it smells vegetal, but after thinking...” Read full tasting note
From the Global Japanese Tea Association (Japanese Tea Marathon) —
Ibaraki Tea Region
Wakoucha is still little known in Japan. It was harvested last year and made from a rare Izumi cultivar, that can produce 6 harvests per year. After harvest it was withered, rolled, oxidised and dried. When brewing the recommendation for this tea is to use 2.5g of tea leaves with 150ml of boiling water and steep for about 4 min. The brew will give a vibrant amber color and a sweet fruity taste with notes of strawberry.
Masahiro Yoshida is the 6th generation tea farmer and president of Yoshida Chaen, a family tea farm in the Koga region of Ibaraki prefecture, that is known for Sashima tea. The family farm was started nearly 200 years ago in 1839 and currently has 2.5ha of tea fields managed mostly by a driven harvesting machine. Yoshida-san is lucky to have 3 young sons who help both on the farm as well as in a recently opened cafe. Yoshida Chaen mostly makes green teas, including sencha and hojicha, but they also produce a few interesting black teas from a rare cultivar – Izumi. More information about Yoshida Chaen on their website (in Japanese).
https://www.yoshida-chaen.com/
https://gjtea.org/japanese-tea-marathon/ibaraki/
Company description not available.
2021 Homemade Advent Calendar Swap – Day 6
From Skysamurai.
When I first opened the pouch, I was certain this was a green tea. My initial thought was that it smells vegetal, but after thinking about it I realized that it reminds me most of moringa or spirulina. Not being familiar with Wakocha, also spelled Wakoucha I think, I looked online and found that this is actually a Japanese black tea – what a surprise!
I steeped according to the instructions on the Global Japanese Tea Association website as this was apparently part of their Japanese Tea Marathon. Also, the Yoshida Chaen website is in Japanese and even after using Google to convert to English I couldn’t find this specific tea. After steeping, the leaves are very large and very green. Even more surprising, this black tea that smells like a green tea actually tastes like an oolong! It has a slightly bitter, roasted quality to it. While I love black teas and can enjoy an oolong on occasion, I think this tea would be better appreciated by someone with a far more refined palate than my own. It’s so unique and complex. I’m definitely glad I got to try it.
Flavors: Bitter, Green, Roasted, Vegetal
