Country of Origin: Japan
Leaf Appearance: small, dark, and slightly curled
Water Temperature: 194 degrees
Steep Time: 5 minutes
Preparation Method: glass infuser
Liquor: coppery red
Yunomi has been one of my go-to companies for purchasing Japanese teas for many years. I love digging through their massive catalog to find new and interesting teas. Years ago I enjoyed a black tea that was smoked with wood from Japanese whiskey barrels. It turns out that Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden produces a wide variety of interesting smoked teas. I couldn’t resist picking up this sakura (aka cherry blossom) wood.
Leaf
The dry leaf was small, dark, and slightly curled. There was a noticeably smokey aroma, but it wasn’t artificial or overwhelming at all. They had a slightly more green caste visible under my bright photography lights. This is something I’ve noticed with most wakocha that I have tried. I prepared this tea in a glass infuser using Yunomi’s recommended brewing parameters: 5g of tea in 8oz of 194℉ water for 5 minutes.
Liquor
Yunomi Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden: Sakura Wood Smoked Black Tea brewed up a nice coppery red liquor. The taste was sweet and woody with a subtle smokey note. This is not lapsang souchong by any means. The smoking is much more delicately done in a way that lets the tea shine through. There was a pleasant sourness that reminded me very much of sakura blossoms. It almost came across as jammy.
There was some astringency, but I wouldn’t say that it was very black tea-ish. Overall it was a unique sipping experience. I often find myself reaching for this tea on cold rainy days. It does a great job of chasing away the chill. This might be a good choice for people who don’t usually like black tea. You’d definitely still need to be a fan of smokey teas, though.
Have you ever tried Sakura Wood Smoked Black Tea from Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden: Sakura Wood Smoked Black Tea was purchased using a discount provided by Yunomi.
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