Cha no Furyu

Tokushima is located in southern Japan. In the summer they harvest the leaves for this tea, usually around July. The first part of the name (Awa) comes from the original name of the prefecture and bancha is the name used for older leaves/later harvests. The leaves are a mish-mash of light olive, browns, and some dark brown/green. Kind of crinkled. You can tell it’s been pressed. The leaves are quite large. The liquor aroma is definitely the best part in my opinion. It is very brothy. This would make a good soup base. Maybe for ramen or just a dashi for udon or soba. drooling Uh, but it’s also a bit picklely. Just a bit. And the flavor is high in pickling spices. Not off-putting but very different indeed.