My Notes
2020/12/20
This is wakoucha, which literally translates as “red tea”. First time I’m tasting Japanese red (black) tea.
Astringency is low, the taste is very mild. I didn’t taste chocolate this time, but the earthy-woody-yet-smooth taste won over my heart. This is nothing like Indian Assam or Ceylon tea, the “blackness” is there, but also something very different, much milder and with a different aroma.
From P&T Site:
A rolled japanese black tea
A special and rare treat, Japanese “red tea”, or Wakoucha, is a form of black tea produced in small quantities using native cultivars. Compared to more familiar black tea varieties, Wakoucha is mellow, with little astringency, and some malty sweetness with hints of chocolate.
TASTING NOTES
chocolate, fresh pine, malty
Quantity: 2 tsp / 250 ml
Temperature: 90° C / 195° F
Time:
1st infusion 60 sec.
2nd infusion 40 sec.
3rd infusion 90 sec.
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
In a region famed for its green teas, its black teas are magnificent in their own right. As thus, we sought one of these teas for our latest limited harvest. Black teas hailing from this part of Japan are particularly recherché, a product of different cultivars than those found in India or China. These teas are known as Wakoucha. They typically maintain the earthy, sweet flair of black tea, while also retaining a delicate flavor with little astringency. The beauty of Wakoucha’s rolled leaves are second only to the resplendent amber colour they produce. To drink this tea is to experience hints of chocolate and woodyness with a sweet malty finish; exactly what you’d want from a high quality black tea.