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“So glad my tea swap package arrived today! First time doing a tea swap and it has been super fun so far :). Thank you, Tiffany, for the opportunity to try such a unique tea! I have never had a dark...” Read full tasting note
“As a tea adventurer, I love discovering tea that is unknown to most. This tea is a gold mine for adventurers and info nerds. Before I dive down the rabbit hole of this tea, let me tell you that...” Read full tasting note
Like no other tea you have tried. This delicious full-bodied brew is made using a similar fermentation process to shōchū. The complex malty flavor has hints of fig and an aroma reminiscent of toasted chestnuts with a lingering finish.
A truly unique tea. We love this tea but differ in our interpretations of the flavors. Bob tastes caramel apples while Paula gets more of the malty flavor of a smooth bock beer. We look forward to your reviews to see what you can pick out of this one of a kind treat.
Yamabuki Nadeshiko is a post-fermented tea made using black Koji mold (kuro-kōji, botanical name aspergillus awamori), which is also used to produce awamori, a distilled rice wine from Okinawa. Yabukita zairai (在来 conventional/seed-grown) tea cultivars harvested from Harunocho and Kakegawa, Shizuoka, are processed as green tea, then washed and re-steamed before being subjected to mold fermentation for four days. The product is steamed again to sterilize the tea, then dried and packaged.
The process is similar to how ripe or shou pu-erh tea is produced in China in that micro-organisms are intentionally introduced to the tea, but doesn’t use wet piling – this tea is produced in specially built fermenting cabinets – and uses a mold species that is unique to Japan. Despite the vague similarities in production, the resultant tea is very different from Chinese pu-erh in flavor.
This tea is quite economical in that it requires about a third as much tea leaf as usual for a brew, leading to a much lower cost-per-cup.
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So glad my tea swap package arrived today! First time doing a tea swap and it has been super fun so far :). Thank you, Tiffany, for the opportunity to try such a unique tea! I have never had a dark tea from Japan.
This one is super different from other dark teas I’ve had. The leaves appear much greener than most dark teas, so I have guess that the fermentation period is much shorter than the wet piling of shou. The smell of the dry leaves is actually a very potent and bright raspberry, which is quite unusual for a dark tea. The flavor is also very acidic/sour, though in a nice way. A touch of astringency in the early infusions without any bitterness or sweetness. This is the first time I’ve had such potent sourness from a tea, and it reminds me of kombucha. I have to believe the sourness is from the use of a black mold to ferment the leaves, as other fungal-fermented beverages (wine, beer) and sourdough bread can all have similar sour tastes. On the other hand, shou puerh is mostly fermented by bacteria (as far as I understand), so that likely explains the difference between the overarching flavor profiles.
Mouthfeel is thick and pleasant with good lasting aftertaste. Very intrigued to try some other Japanese dark teas now!
Flavors: Acidic, Astringent, Pleasantly Sour, Raspberry, Thick
As a tea adventurer, I love discovering tea that is unknown to most. This tea is a gold mine for adventurers and info nerds. Before I dive down the rabbit hole of this tea, let me tell you that this is unlike any tea you’ve had before. Yes, it is a dark tea. And yes it does have notes that are reminiscent of a dark tea with musty and earthy tones but it also has intense woody and minimal varnish notes, barely any astringency, and some unique very dark chocolate aftertaste flavors. I also get a slight sensation of a homemade waffle cone as it slides down my throat.
So rabbit hole. Here we go. This tea actually comes from a company called Osada Tea. It is unique in that they are the only company that makes the tea because they are the ones that created it. “Japanese tea made with a patented manufacturing method called the microbial control fermentation method, incorporating sake production techniques to tea.” Fascinating!
