Black Tea from Nearai, Karabeni 1st Flush

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Bread, Bread Dough, Cream, Dark Wood, Earthy, Leather, Red Currant, Round, Soft, Sugar, Vanilla
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Cameron B.
Average preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 oz / 300 ml

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2 Tasting Notes View all

  • “May 2021 harvest The leaf is clearly thin and delicate and when dry, has a soft, high scent of butterfat with an even softer ‘dark’ undertone. The cut is small and uniform, about the size of sea...” Read full tasting note
  • “Uh-oh. No notes on this one yet so I’m going to have to figure out the flavor without any help from fancier palates than mine. The cup was a little like a sensory jigsaw puzzle! Plain old Missouri...” Read full tasting note

From Thés du Japon

[Grown using organic methods]
Vanilla sugar, red fruits, camphor
Oxidation: ★★★ / Intensity: ★★★
Astringency (tannins): ★☆☆

Karabeni is a black tea cultivar that is very rare nowadays. It was selected in Shizuoka from seeds brought to Japan from Hubei in China. Unlike other Japanese cultivars that are called “beni,” Karabeni does not have Indian roots.
Do not be tricked by the dried leaves’ appearance; this quite a rich black tea from Nearai, west of Shizuoka Prefecture. Its aromas are very sweet, have vanilla notes, honey notes, and a milky sensation. As it cools, slightly acidic berry nuances appear and develop the complexity of the tasting.
With its very light astringency reminiscent of black tea, the overall impression on the palate remains sweet and aromatic. The infusion is very fluid despite its richness and depth.
This spring Karabeni is an excellent black tea with character. It is perfect when drunk “black,” but is even better with milk. It is also a tea with a lot of potential for aging and maturing.

Type of tea : Black tea
Origin : Nearai, Kita Borough, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Cultivar : Karabeni
Harvest : May 8th 2021

Brewing suggestion

Quantity of leaves: 3g / 1tsp Quantity of water : 150ml / 2/3 cup Water temperature : 95-100°C / 203-212°F Brewing time : 180s

About Thés du Japon View company

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2 Tasting Notes

1597 tasting notes

May 2021 harvest

The leaf is clearly thin and delicate and when dry, has a soft, high scent of butterfat with an even softer ‘dark’ undertone. The cut is small and uniform, about the size of sea salt flakes, which allows for quick infusion. Despite this, there is very little astringency and no bitterness. It is best prepared as a one-steep tea with long infusion time. Probably well suited for a European-style large teapot brew.

A doughy aroma gently stimulates the senses. I think of it less like yeast, which gmathis aptly noted, and maybe more like a fresh, doughy and warm soft pretzel.

As far as the taste, this tea is all about the tones and lacks distinct flavor notes. Low tones of well worn soft leather, old dark wood, dark bread and forest soil earthiness with some red currant brightness are so soft and rounded. Tinges of astringency and acidity. When prepared with higher leaf:water ratio, I do notice some of the vanilla sugar Thés du Japon suggests.

This profile is a bit of a mystery to me. If I am to categorize its character, it’s maybe like an African black tea with a leathery Assam but without the typical assamica punch of either. The velvety and full body is more like a high-quality Chinese Qimen and does not match what the leaf visual brings to mind.

Interesting tea and worth a try for the curious. Read more here: https://japaneseteasommelier.wordpress.com/2017/12/24/karabeni-cultivar-black-tea/

Flavors: Bread, Bread Dough, Cream, Dark Wood, Earthy, Leather, Red Currant, Round, Soft, Sugar, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 300 ML
gmathis

Pretzels! There you go.

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2955 tasting notes

Uh-oh. No notes on this one yet so I’m going to have to figure out the flavor without any help from fancier palates than mine. The cup was a little like a sensory jigsaw puzzle!

Plain old Missouri farm girl western-style steep; four minutes. The scent—-and I had to keep sniffing and thinking about it—reminded me of yeast that had been left to rise in the sun just a little too long, but in a good way. (Fermented a little, I guess.) The flavor doesn’t quite fit my usual favorite toasty or bready adjectives; it was more like a heavy Christmas fruitcake or plum cake—definitely a dark, heavy fruit thing going on.

I’ll add an amendment when I try the second steep, but in the meantime, thank you, derk—this is one I would never have stumbled across without you! It is unlike any straight black tea I’ve ever tried.

derk

I’ve had this once or twice and like you, have had a difficult time groking it. Just thought I’d toss a little your way for something different.

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