Black tea from Tsushima, Benifûki cultivar, first flush

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Allspice, Almond, Apricot, Bark, Blackberry, Blood Orange, Camphor, Chili, Cinnamon, Cream, Dark Bittersweet, Dry Leaves, Drying, Floral, Forest Floor, Lychee, Malt, Mandarin, Orange Zest, Osmanthus, Rosewood, Spicy, Tannin, Vanilla, Woody, Bitter, Cherry, Cherry Blossom, Cherry Wood, Citrus, Dry Grass, Rose, Sweet, Tea, Wood
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by derk
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 oz / 300 ml

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2 Tasting Notes View all

  • “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. ...” Read full tasting note
    88
  • “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...” Read full tasting note

From Thés du Japon

[Grown without pesticide]
Lychee,Coconut dumplings, almond
Oxidation: ★★☆ / Intensity: ★★☆
Astringency (tannins): ★☆☆

Tsushima is a small island in Nagasaki Prefecture located not far from the coast of the Korean Peninsula. Ninety percent of the island is covered in forests, and it is famous for the Tsushima leopard cat (Tsushima yama neko), a subspecies uniquely native to it. In the Sago region of Tsushima, Mr. Ôishi grows tea to make kama-iri cha but also to make black tea that often draws attention at events and competitions.
This batch was made using the Benifûki cultivar, Japan’s black tea variety par excellence. It is a light yet complex Benifûki. It starts with soft almond aromas and light camphor notes in the nose. Then, as the infusion cools, floral fragrances with fruity notes, reminiscent of lychees, appear.
For a Benifûki, this black tea is very light on the palate and even rather refreshing. Aromatically, it is also subtle, without astringency, but with rose fragrances and lychee scents.
Benifûki is now the cultivar most often used for Japanese black tea, and this is yet another delicious example of its aromatic range. Type of tea : Black tea
Origin : Kamiagata town, Tsushima city, Nagasaki Prefecture
Cultivar : Benifûki
Harvest : May 10-11rd, 2021

Brewing suggestion

Quantity of leaves: 3g Quantity of water : 150ml / 2/3 cup Water temperature : 95-100°C / 203-212°F Brewing time : 5min

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2 Tasting Notes

88
1624 tasting notes

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.

Flavors: Allspice, Almond, Apricot, Bark, Blackberry, Blood Orange, Camphor, Chili, Cinnamon, Cream, Dark Bittersweet, Dry Leaves, Drying, Floral, Forest Floor, Lychee, Malt, Mandarin, Orange Zest, Osmanthus, Rosewood, Spicy, Tannin, Vanilla, Woody

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 300 ML

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1725 tasting notes

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.

Flavors: Almond, Bitter, Cherry, Cherry Blossom, Cherry Wood, Citrus, Dry Grass, Dry Leaves, Drying, Floral, Rose, Sweet, Tannin, Tea, Wood

derk

You’re welcome. Now that you mention it, I can see this tea as grassy. Never crossed my mind! Thanks for trying this tea. It’s good to get other perspectives :)

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