Description
Benifuuki WaKoucha (Japanese Black Tea). 2024 Shincha (New Harvest Tea). Naturally grown with no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
Origin: Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture.
Cultivar: Benifuuki
This WaKoucha from the major tea-growing region of Kakegawa, in Shizuoka Prefecture, infuses to a rich dark amber color, with flavor notes of maple syrup or caramel sweetness and minimal astringency. There are some very light floral notes as well. The best description I can give is that the tea is very smooth and balanced, with both sweetness and low astringency. It's really smooth and easy to drink as is, but if you prefer your tea with milk and sugar, I'd suggest brewing an additional minute or adding extra leaves, and use the milk and/or sugar very sparingly, since it's not a very "brisk" tea. Brew a bit stronger for iced tea as well, and the natural sweetness really comes without adding any additional sweetener.
Benifuuki (Red Riches & Honors) is the most popular cultivar used for black tea production in Japan. It's a cross between Benihomare, an assamica tea, and MakuraCd86, a sinensis tea that came to Japan from the Darjeeling region of India. Japanese Black Tea, or WaKoucha (literally "red tea,") is not nearly as well-known as Japanese Green Tea, even though black tea has been produced in Japan since the late 1800's as an export item to Europe and the United States.