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The leaves used for awa bancha tea are harvested in summer, July and August usually, by striping the leaves off a branch by hand as in the video below (from the local farmers cooperative that produces the tea). Slideshow of the various members of the cooperative:
Bancha Specialty Shop Furyu was established in 2010 by aspiring tea master Nobuhiko Ikematsu, who works directly with farmers in Kurume City, Fukuoka, to develop delicious bancha teas. He is also a specialist gathering rare bancha teas from around Japan.
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This has a flavor that's like a combination of sencha (with a musky/grassy note that I've only ever tasted in sencha), a light sweetness, and a pickled flavor that's similar to the...view more goishicha, but softer and lighter. The goishicha sugar note is more rich, like the sweetness in prunes, but the awa bancha's sweetness is more like light sugar. So, it has a very different feel to it, even though there are similar notes. After drinking the goishicha, I felt extremely cooled down — the effect was dramatic. The effect of this tea was much more gentle. Today the temperature outside was around 91ºF/33ºC and this helped to make the heat feel more bearable. The pickled flavor is not something I yearn for, but it's very desirable for hot weather when one needs something to help them cool down. I have a 300ml teapot and I brewed about 3g of tea in 212ºF/100ºC water for 6 minutes, I then brewed a second cup for 7 minutes and 30 seconds. The first cup had a good light-to-medium flavor, while the second cup was very light with little flavor. So, one should not count on steeping this many times. The leaves were just as pictured. After I brewed the tea, I took a look at them and there were many leaves which were almost completely intact. I love to see that, as the experience of brewing the tea feels that much more natural. Overall, drinking this was a pleasant, unique experience which was comforting during this hot weather. view less
If you enjoy fermented teas, I would definitely give this a try. I personally enjoyed it more by adding more leaf to the recommended 500ml water. To the other reviewer stating they...view more didn't enjoy it and was not pleased with the "rare" tea aspect, I think it's important to keep in mind that it's most likely rare because it is an uncommon tradition from a very specific place. While I can see the similarities from a Chinese ripe puerh, this is quite different experience and almost seems cleaner and more relaxed to a degree. There certainly is a composted element but thing more fall leaves than mushroomy puerh. view less
Another interesting "rare tea". The aroma is distinctly reminiscent of other fermented japanese food-stuffs, mainly various tsukemono (japanese "pickles"). The infusion ist quite m...view moreild, a bit sour but otherwise mellow. I think this tea could be especially good in summer as it does have a certain refreshing and 'cooling' quality.
Large and more or less intact leaves, despite the fact that the leaves are handled heavily during processing (witness the guy with the hat an the large wooden pestle in the photo above ^_~) view less