Apple Wood Smoked Black Tea

Hiroki Matsumoto, the young farmer at Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden is always challenging himself to create unique and unusual teas. His inspiration comes from the fact that many tea farmers around him in Shizuoka (perhaps, the best known prefecture for tea in Japan) are already making very good and high quality tea. While the focus of the generations before him was to sell cultivated tea to wholesalers, during his time as a tea farmer, Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden began to make their own products, which allowed Matsumoto-san to directly interact with customers (i.e., the people who drink his tea!). These interactions shifted something in him as began thinking about creating his own style of tea, one which wasn’t limited by the labels placed as “Shizuoka-cha” or “Shimada-cha”.

The apple wood smoked black tea is just one of Matsumoto-san’s unique teas. Matsumoto-san has been experimenting with other woods such as sakura (cherry blossom), yuzu, pine, etc, you may want to compare across his smoked black teas! This innovative black tea has been smoked for 8 hours with apple wood. Although apple wood may sound mellow and the infusion looks rather transparent, this tea is actually quite powerful (with respect to smokiness) with an aroma that is rich and profound. One may pleasantly come across hints of vanilla and it can also be enjoyed with some milk.

Please note that all aspects of the production at Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden adhere to the environmental conservation cultivation method world renown as GIAHS (i.e., Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System). Therefore, tea bushes are cultivated in the traditional Japanese chagusaba method where grass is used as mulch to protect and flavor the tea leaves. Please note that no flavorings and additives have been used.