Black tea from Tsushima, Benifûki cultivar, first flush

May 2021 harvest, grown without pesticides

Following TDJ’s parameters, I wasn’t impressed by the level of barklike bitterness; however, the flavor itself was pretty good and the aroma spectacular. I remember the second infusion smelling like blood oranges. I’m wondering how TDJ picked up a descriptor of ‘coconut dumplings’.

Steeped 3g:300mL for several minutes, again the aroma is pronounced, with a mixture of lychee, apple, blackberry, cream, cinnamon and almond, a touch of malt. The body of the tea consists of dominant qualities that are dark and tannic-drying, reminding me of rosewood, with a dark and dry leaf litter vibe. The aroma does flow very well through the taste and lingers like a thick vapor. Camphory, cypressy freshness abounds soon after the swallow, spreading from the chest to the throat, eventually taking over the mouth with minty freshness; not overbearing, just very natural and a marker for me of a high-quality tea. A candied orange peel aftertaste blooms slowly and grows with the sense of calm that this tea induces.
That aftertaste morphs into a tree-sappy returning sweetness with notes of something more like mandarin-apricot. I also notice a rasp on the tongue which reinforces the notion of cinnamon I caught in the aroma.

This is a tricky leaf, as I’m finding out with my exploration of Japanese teas, but it has an elegant heaviness and depth if approached in an appreciative manner. In other words, it’s a tea to respect, to sit with, not one to brew and drink in a rush.

Thank you Derk for all the teas!

I started with the oolong, but started with this one blind. I picked it out because I’m somewhat familiar with Tsushima due to video game popculture, and made the choice for this reason.

Parameters-30, 20, 40, 50, and 60. I need to do a disclaimer first: I tend to find Japanese blacks very sweet, but very grassy or woodsy with a complex dryness. Sometimes I like it, and other times I don’t. Going into this one, the first steep was sweet and aromatic, making me think of anything colored brown and hot pink, though the liquid was a bright light red. I personally thought of cherry blossom, roses and fall leaves, cherries, almond, and lots of wood. The second steep had a little bit more fruit in the form of satsuma orange with a cooling acidic rise into a tannic finish. The last few steeps were generally almondy, woody, and floral again with the cherry blossom.

Interestingly enough, the description for this one said Lychee. I can kinda see that, but it wasn’t fructose-y enough for my palette to go in the direction. I know cherry blossoms is the most basic white person response, but it did remind me of salted cherry blossoms in tea.

I don’t think I’m going to rate it, but I will say it was a fun tasting experience. I don’t love it since it’s a little bit too tannic for me, but I really like the kind of profile it had. More of a tea nerds kind of tea though rather than a newbie tea.