Ogose #08: Naturally Grown Wakoucha, Shizuoka Black Tea

So, yesterday my phone went missing, which was very unsettling. It was, as I suspected, with Ben, and will be for a few days now. His phone died a miserable death (it was a piece of garbage anyway) and he needs one for work, so I said he could borrow mine until his new one arrives. I am only regretting this decision a little, mostly because my day feels like it hasn’t started. When I develop a routine and it gets interrupted I tend to become very disoriented, so starting my day has been super hard.

Today I am looking at Yunomi’s Ogose #08: Naturally Grown Wakoucha, Shizuoka Black Tea, and let it be said, I have a serious fascination with Wakoucha. This is more than my usual obsession for the darker teas, I just love teas that are not necessarily ‘normal’ for the region it is produced by. When most people think of Japanese teas they picture the vibrant greens, they produce a ton of other teas but the greens are iconic, so you know I go all ‘gimme gimme’ at the black teas! The leaves are delicate and slightly curly, with aroma notes of malt, lychee, yuzu, distant flowers and a bit of a brisk woodiness. It is not a very aromatic tea, it is light and sweet with a very crisp quality.

Into my shibo the leaves went, at this point I had far too much fun watching the floating stems. The aroma of the wet leaves is malty and woody, with notes of peanuts, toasted soy beans, a bit of honey, and distant crisp citrus. The liquid is sweet and malty, with light notes of honey and mochi, giving it a starchy quality. At the very end is a distant citrus quality like a fresh peel of yuzu.

Ah, that is a mild tea! It is very smooth while also being crisp, not at all bitter or brisk, the crispness coming through like biting into a citrus of some sort, it is more texture than taste. The flavor starts with a sweet lychee and smooth malty start, it then moves into a roasted soybean and mochi (specifically the mochi not the filled sweet) for a sweet yet starchy middle. The real surprise was at the finish where the tea picks up a coconut and sage leaf quality giving it an almost savory tinge. Sadly this tea only really had a single steep in it, the second was very mild and almost ghostly, so I thought to myself, why not cold steep the rest of my sample?

Cold steeping was a good idea! This really brings out the lychee sweetness and crisp citrus notes for one of the most refreshing cups of a chilled black tea I have had in ages. I was amazed at how sweet it was, really it was like someone took black tea and squeezed a bunch of lychees into it. The tea is enjoyable hot but I definitely recommend trying it cold steeped as well.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/08/yunomi-ogose-08-naturally-grown.html

Naturally, I don’t really know what to expect from this new kind of tea. It might probably taste like mix of green and black or something completely different.

The aroma of tea is completely unique, I haven’t met another tea like this. Malt with cacao, wood and fruits. The aroma is not strong, it’s fairly mellow and soft and reminds me from Assam teas from India. I was waiting for something closer to Darjeeling or Chinese black teas, but this is far from those.

Small 10g package has crushed some leaves for good. Luckily, most of them are fine. Leaves are dark brown with reddish brown stems.

Yunomi suggest to steep 5g in 200-300ml of water, but I don’t own a pot that size. Closest one is my new 145ml Ruyao-teapot, that will have to do. I compensated the size by putting only 3g of tea.

Steeped leaves have extraordinary aroma. I think I can smell some carrot and broccoli. Generally the fragrance is vegetal and sweet. The color of the brew is dark amber.

Yup, the flavour is as weird as the aroma. I haven’t tasted anything like this before. It has some kicking tannins with floral aftertaste. Spicy start with tannins, red berries and vegetal carrots and broccoli. It has also some funky orange zest note.

Really, really weird tea. Not in a negative way though. It is really entertaining tea. It could be compared to a roller coaster, the flavour has a lot of unexpected turns, ups and downs. That is how quickly the flavour chances.

I tried Haruo Ogoses wakoucha as a milder version and to be honest, it was better for my tastes. Taste is the same, but not as crazy and strong. I can suggest trying this tea if you want to try something completely different.

Full review with photos:
https://finnsips.blogspot.fi/2016/07/a-tea-review-yunomi-haruo-ogose.html