2 Flushes and a choice. Wakoucha Tasting Teas N°21 and 47: Takachiho Black Benifuki first flush / second flush

We do not always realise this, but a Japanese tea farmer has to make a lot of decisions on the way. One of these is about the harvests. In normal circumstances a farmer will harvest as soon as possible the spring growth and make a green tea with it, a shincha, and the earlier he can harvest the more he will earn. This explains the popularity of Yabukita, a very early cultivar, and tea gardens for green tea will be situated in terroirs that help this to happen. Tea gardens in colder places (higher, or in a different situation) will receive other cultivars where this early harvesting is less important. Some farmers will use it for an inferior tea, especially when they use fertilizers, but on Kyushu some farmers will use the spring harvest to make kamairicha, and some farmers will even make a Wakoucha out of this late first flush harvests. They are not quite the same as a Darjeeling First Flush, though some flavours remind me of them, but if they do there is always that sweet floral touch of a Wakoucha, and you can recognise them quite easily. They are often light and elegant and very interesting.

A second flush tea is harvested later, in summer. There are several reasons to do a second flush harvest and make black tea out of it. Second flush green teas are not worth a lot as the market prefers first flush teas, and tea gardens can also be pruned to prepare them for next year. Some of the best Gyokuro gardens never get a second flush harvest. Some gardens however need one, again to prepare them for next year, and the harvest of a second flush is often beter fit to make a black tea than the first. The coarser and bigger leaves are well fit for the making of black tea, and if well made, it makes a higher price then 2nd flush green tea, especially in export.

In the marketing of Wakoucha information is key, and information about the harvest date should be mentioned on the packaging. Some Wakoucha are a blend of different flushes, even from different tea gardens. This is not a problem, and they can be very good, but again, I think this information should be available somewhere.

Here are tasting notes of two Benifuki's from Takachiho, a place in the NW of Miyazaki on the Kyushu Island. Although I think the first is a 2017 and the second a 2018, we talk about the same tea and the same place, and I though it would make an interesting comparison.

Takachiho Black Benifuki, first flush, 2017?, Hotsoup:

Harvested mid-May, from a tea garden at 350m above sea level. 19.75 euro per 50 gram. This the first Wakoucha I ever tasted, on a tea sommelier training end of 2017, and the tea was made with a kyusu, 90°C water. The dry leaves were black with a touch of green and smelled fresh and floral. The infusion was more yellow and tasted of chicken stock and lily-of-the-valley. The wet leaves smelled like a working kitchen and meat and old flowers. An interesting tea. The tea fascinated me so much I bought some, and in later tastings throughout 2018 and 2019 the tea kept being very floral, but the chickenstock-aroma's disappeared and were exchanged for something more like cocoa. Nice finish. I don't know if the tea changed or the taster... 😊😊😊

Takachiho Black Benifuki, second flush, 2018, Hotsoup:

Harvested august 2018. 23.12 euro for 50 gram. The dry leaves are big, complete and smell fresh and pleasant. I used a kyusu, 90°C, 3 gram, 150ml, 2 min, so a little bit less hot than the other Wakoucha I tasted on this blog. High complexity for the wet leaf. Orange coloured infusion. Very fresh and floral aroma's, a very nice refreshing touch of citrus fruit. Very nice taste, a very full tea, a bit monodimensional, but good structure. A rather timid finish. 😊😊😊

Could I taste a real difference between the two teas ? Yes, but I could not say if this difference was due to the year or the different harvest date (or the age of the tea). So, an interesting experiment, but not conclusive (but I drank two nice teas !).