TJ74: Organic Black Benifuki from Upton Tea Imports

TJ74: Organic Black Benifuki

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Organic Black Tea
Flavors
Bread, Dried Fruit, Malt, Wood, Apple, Astringent, Autumn Leaf Pile, Biting, Bitter, Blackberry, Burnt, Butter, Cherry, Cinnamon, Earth, Floral, Fruity, Lavender, Lemon, Muscatel, Oak, Orchid, Peach, Perfume, Roasted, Rose, Soy Sauce, Stonefruit, Tangy, Tannic, Umami, Walnut
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Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Kosher, Organic
Edit tea info Last updated by derk
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 15 sec 4 g 11 oz / 327 ml

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6 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Took two teaspoons for my 300 ml cup. Steeped for 5 minutes. Baked bread notes were first notes I have noted. Then malty, dried fruits. Woody in the end. All together quite works well, enjoyable....” Read full tasting note
    82
  • “Plowing through the teas from White Antlers. This order was ‘Processed on 11/2015’ so it’s at least 5 years old. The dry leaf is aromatic and smells of orchid and burnt, roasted peach. Prepared...” Read full tasting note
    79
  • “Delightful fragrance of flowers, tea, and a touch of grape. Strong bitterness obscures other notes, though it is also medium tannic. Stands up to milk. Probably not for me. Next time, I will try...” Read full tasting note
    78
  • “This is a backlog. I wrote down some notes on an index card the first time I tried it. I just found the card and thought that it would only be fair to include the notes. I steeped it in a Gaiwan....” Read full tasting note

From Upton Tea Imports

Although somewhat rare, black tea has been cultivated and produced in Japan for almost 150 years. Production is limited and seldom exported. Our offering is produced in Kagoshima prefecture from the Benifuki cultivar. The liquor is smooth and rich, with no astringency. A light, grape-like sweetness can be discerned in the aroma. The cup is lively, with a light woody hint and a sweetness that develops over time. Best enjoyed plain.

Steeping Suggestions
Leaf Quantity: 2.25 g/6oz cup
Steep Time: 4-5 min
Water Temperature: 212degrees (boiling)

Ingredients
loose leaf black tea

About Upton Tea Imports View company

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6 Tasting Notes

82
2010 tasting notes

Took two teaspoons for my 300 ml cup. Steeped for 5 minutes.

Baked bread notes were first notes I have noted. Then malty, dried fruits. Woody in the end. All together quite works well, enjoyable. Mild, even the steep was quite long.

I liked it, as it was quite strong and brisk. Woody aftertaste wasn’t a troublesome, instead it was like somehow expected flavour. Again, I haven’t noticed any soy sauce in this.

I still have something left, I think it will be around 1 tsp, which I may try gong-fu (where is my new gaiwan!?) I think it is bit behind the What-cha offer, but still pretty great, especially for the age.

Thank you derk and White Antlers.

Flavors: Bread, Dried Fruit, Malt, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML
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79
1633 tasting notes

Plowing through the teas from White Antlers. This order was ‘Processed on 11/2015’ so it’s at least 5 years old.

The dry leaf is aromatic and smells of orchid and burnt, roasted peach. Prepared close to the directions on the bag which called for 1+tsp, 212F, 4-5min. One+ teaspoon for me ended up being 3g, so I went for my usual 1g:100mL and brewed the tea in 300mL of water off the boil for 4min.

Wow, that is strong! I can’t imagine brewing 1+ tsp for a standard 6oz cup for 5 minutes. Wow, bitter and tannic! Let it cool for a bit. Strong aroma of orchid, malt, complex dried fruitiness like cherry-peach-muscatel; wood, soy sauce, soft cinnamon. The taste is bitter, brisk, biting and tangy with malt, rosewood, oak wood, walnut skin, autumn leaf, mild earth. Finishes a touch umami with complex… long-lingering… slightly perfumey… aromatic tastes of orchid and bitter lavender, muscatel and buttery dried orchard fruits — blackberry, cherry, peach and apple; a hint of soft cinnamon. Second steep is much lighter and lemony!

I recently had a sample of What-Cha’s summer 2019 Benifuuki black tea from Martin Bednar. In comparison, this one hasn’t lost a step in it’s 5+ years of existence. It’s just as strong in presentation and a very unique tea, though too much for me. That said, I wouldn’t search this out but I do recommend it to experienced people who are comfortable with bitterness and playing with brewing parameters. I have another ~3g left and don’t know if I can be fussed to bring this closer to perfection.

Flavors: Apple, Astringent, Autumn Leaf Pile, Biting, Bitter, Blackberry, Burnt, Butter, Cherry, Cinnamon, Dried Fruit, Earth, Floral, Fruity, Lavender, Lemon, Malt, Muscatel, Oak, Orchid, Peach, Perfume, Roasted, Rose, Soy Sauce, Stonefruit, Tangy, Tannic, Umami, Walnut, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 300 ML
5 comments
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Martin Bednář
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That sounds like completely diffrent Benifuuki!

gmathis
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Sounds strong, even for me!

derk
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Martin, the flavors and structure are similar to the one you sent. A shorter steep time this morning was a lot better, very lemony :)

gmathis, this morning’s brew might be too weak for you!

derk
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It’s also good with bacon and eggs after I found out somebody polished off the grapefruit juice.

Martin Bednář
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I don’t recall mine being bitter and tannic :)

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78
Not Recommended
236 tasting notes

Delightful fragrance of flowers, tea, and a touch of grape. Strong bitterness obscures other notes, though it is also medium tannic. Stands up to milk. Probably not for me.

Next time, I will try steeping it with less time to see if it improves. But as of now it’s a no.
Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
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23 tasting notes

This is a backlog. I wrote down some notes on an index card the first time I tried it. I just found the card and thought that it would only be fair to include the notes. I steeped it in a Gaiwan. I didn’t write down quantity, temp or time. It was bitter the whole way throughout. There was a celery/cilantro/burnt flavor that I didn’t find desirable in the first steeps. When the flavor was pretty much dead there was some caramel and smoothness to it. Certainly less one dimensional sounding than my other tasting note. At the time I remember it not being complex, and not liking it, which is weird given what I wrote about it. Go figure.
11 comments
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Tea and Cheese Lover
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I only got from them because there were some rave reviews about their Rooibos. The Rooibos wasn’t bad but Premium Steap’s (my local shop) was better for me. I figured I might as well get a bunch of samples while I was at it… Darjeelings (apparently they’re very strong there), some oddball black and green, and herbal. My experience is the same as yours so far. I haven’t been blown away by anything. I still samples left to try, so who knows, one of them may be great.

White Antlers
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Upton has not impressed me with anything so far. I was on a ’builder’s tea’ kick not so long ago and got close to a dozen samples so I could get my fill of the malty brutes. Nothing was really bad, nothing was particularly good and a lot of things tasted very much the same. I think one gets lulled by the low prices of samples which usually range from $1 to $3.50 for an envelope that can afford quite a few steeps, should you have sufficient interest in going back to re-brewing your sample.

Tea and Cheese Lover
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@CWarren: I’m very inexperienced with Darjeeling, so you’ll have to take my tasting notes on them with a grain of salt. Since my local shop is extremely consistent with quality, I’ll get a couple from there for comparison.
@Whiteantlers: Exactly what you said about the samples is what lured me in.

White Antlers
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Me too, @Tea and Cheese Lover. I am hankering to put in an order with Premuium Steap. I was told the bricks and mortar store is closed but I have drooled over the website.

Tea and Cheese Lover
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@Whiteantlers: Their old storefront is closed, but they have office space in Chinatown (13th between Race and Vine) which they have pretty much set up like the shop. WAY more selection available than they have online, especially with the harder to get teas.
“Our office location 211 N. 13th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone 215-568-2920”
They’re generally there from 12-5 M-F. Call ahead, because there’s a good chance that they’re there longer hours on some days. It’s nice to be able to smell them in person and be guided by someone who knows the teas well. The owner is very straight to the point and knows her stuff. Very Philly!

White Antlers
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Excellent! Nothing like being up close and personal with the product. I always love an excuse to hop on the #9 bus. I’ve read Yelp reviews saying the owner is not a hand holder or warm and cuddly, but neither am I, so I’m sure she’s a wonderful tea guide.

MadHatterTeaDrunk
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Looks like a need to take a trip to Philly!

White Antlers
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Everyone needs to take a trip to Philly! :-D

MadHatterTeaDrunk
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I have week off in August, I might make an excuse to explore the city. I’ve been to Philadelphia once when I was younger. I think a historic place such as Philly would be good to write in. :)

White Antlers
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That is probably one of the hottest and most humid months of the summer, but you can visit E.A. Poe’s house, Old City, great beer gardens and floating parks-well, I am biased. This is my home and I love nearly everything about it.

MadHatterTeaDrunk
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Sounds splendid! :)

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Not Recommended
35 tasting notes

Malty taste without anything else of note. I have always wanted to try Japanese non-green teas, so at least I’ve got that done.
Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 g 8 OZ / 236 ML
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