One of the interesting things about the Japanese teascene is the sometimes bewildering variety of cultivars. The most popular, Yabukita, takes up to 75% of Japanese production, for some others the quantities are extremely small. Fujikaori is one of these, and as it is a very aromatic but also notoriously difficult cultivar, it is only used by a handful of farmers in specific areas where kamairicha is made. The floral aroma's are beautiful but not a succes for sencha. Kamairicha* makers however love it, for the same reason. It was originally developed in Fujieda (hence the name) in Shizuoka by Mr Morizono Ichiji and Koyanagi Mitsugi and is a crossing of Yabukita and Inzatsu 131, itself 50% of Assam descent. For those who like the study of cultivars, this is a very instable one, because the very reliable Yabukita delivered the pollen here and the instable Inzatsu 131 the flower. Other cultivars, also highly aromatic, did it the other way round and are more reliable. It seems to work well for Wakoucha.
Fujikaori, Ureshino, 2nd flush 2017, Thés du Japon:
Ureshino is a
hot spring resort in the mountainous Southwest of Saga prefecture, not far away from Nagasaki. It was in Saga that in 1191 Japan's tea history started when a monk brought teaseeds from China. In Ureshino tea is made since the end of the 15th century.
Mr Ota's farm is about 100 years old and works organic since 1987 when father Shigeki became ill due to the chemicals he used on the farm. The tea gardens are spread over 15 different locations at 150 to 500 m above sea level. The slopes force the family to do the weeding and plucking manually, and makes it difficult for them to produce at low prices or to make money on the popular early first flushes. The farm is not big, they only have 3ha of tea, and specialise in kamairicha and tamaryokucha. Mr Yusuke Ota is the current owner. The tea we tasted here is a second flush, the first flush was used for green tea.
Tasted the 4th of August 2019, in the morning, under a blue sky, nice weather, a root day. 3 gram, 150ml, 98°C, kyusu and 2 mins.
The wet leaves smell beautiful, and touches of vanilla remind me of sunday-afternoon cakes with my mother. The aroma is also very floral. The infusion is a remarkably deep reddish brown, different from many other wakoucha I tasted. It delivers a very high complexity but it is also comfy and warm and homey, and I could not get enough of it. The mouthfeel is fine and even a bit on the thin side but it fits well with the tea and its nice touch of astringency. In the beginning the sweetness of the flowers dominate, but then it gets supported by the astringency, and it lingers long in the mouth.
The second brew was nice, friendly and round, without the complexity but still with sufficient depth to make it worth the trouble.
😊😊😊😊
Sold out at
Thés du Japon.
*
kamairicha is a Japanese tea made the Chinese way...not steamed but pan-fried. These teas are less astringent than sencha and farmers need different equipment so tend to specialise. Made in specific areas. The taste is often sweeter and mildly roasted.
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