Tea Reviews

I like tea. I keep notes on tea I like. I don't add sugar to my tea. Where I've added milk, I'll mention it.

Shimada Sakura Smoked Wakocha

Purchased from Curious Teas. Priced around 50p/cup, two brews per basket.

Shimada Sakura Smoked Wakocha is a unique smoked black tea from Shimada in Shizuoka Prefecture. It is gently smoked over wood from cherry blossom trees, resulting in a smoky and fruity liquor. The warming flavour has complex notes of sour cherries, leather and tobacco.

• The smokey notes are present from the get-go. Not smoked like Lapsang Souchon or Pumphrey's Russian Caravan - more like Shoyeido or Baieido incense. Light and woody.
• I'm not sure the smoke being made from cherry blossom wood is particularly key here. I've heard of extracts made from the flowers, and I've heard of extracts from aromatic woods like Sandalwood. But I can't detect anything other than 'wood smoke' in the cup.
• The "sour cherry" notes are there. I don't think they're terribly sour, and the cup tastes well-balanced. Very drinkable.
• The after-taste is clean. It isn't palate-cleansing, nor is it like green tea - but it is light and citric.
• The "tobacco" element of the description was interesting. But I don't taste it in the cup. Frankly, I think a lot of products that refer to "tobacco" in regards to flavour are really just describing acidity. It tastes nothing like Dunhill's Nightcap, nor Gawith's Skiff Mixture, nor any other tobacco I've tasted.
• It is smoky, fruity, and warming. I like it.

Ashikita Izumi Wakocha

Purchased from Curious Teas. Priced around 31p/cup, 2+ brews per basket.

Ashikita Izumi Wakocha is an unusual Japanese black tea from Tsuge in Kumamoto Prefecture. Crafted from the very rare Izumi cultivar plants, it produces a clear amber liquor. The lightly mineral taste has sweet notes of fruits and honey with a lasting floral and chalky aftertaste.

• Two brews is pushing it.
• The mineral taste is there. It vaguely reminds me of the after-taste from multivitamins, which is of course where the aformentioned 'chalky aftertaste' comes from. It isn't unpleasant, but it does make for a tea that doesn't really work with milk.
• There's a mild sweetness, but I can't discern what it might be similar to. I'll perhaps give them a pass for the 'honey' comment, but not the 'fruit' part. At most, I'd say it tastes a lot like black tea.
• It reminds me a little of Pumphrey's Flowery Orange Pekoe in that respect. Their FOP is my go-to for "this is what black tea tastes like".
• I don't think I'll buy it again. Not because I dislike it - it's certainly an interesting tea because of that mineral taste. But outside of trying tea, interesting isn't enough for me.