Wakoucha is a black tea from Japan. Due to growing conditions with few temperature differences, this black tea has a mild flavor, with floral and sweet notes.
The tea is made from the ‘Yabukita’ cultivar which is used for some’75% of all Japanese tea.
The production process is as follows. After harvesting, the leaf is wilted to make the leaf a little more flexible. After this, the oxidation process is started by putting the leaf into a dense vessel that rotates.
The leaf is now sieved. The large pieces are again damaged and mixed with the smaller pieces to get an even oxidation process. The oxidizing process takes about 3 hours.
After oxidation, the leaf is heated with hot air to dry the leaf and then it is still picked out for irregularities.
Shizuoka has 8 areas where tea plants grow and leaves from the Honyama and Kawane area are paid the most money. Oyaizu Seicha sources leaves from areas to make tea. The area is hilly and has temperature fluctuations that create fog from the river. The fog hangs over the tea bushes so they receive less sunlight which enhances the flavor.
