There are so many tea cultivar in Japan. Some are popular and others are rare. “Izumi” cultivar is one of the rare one, and sometimes called an “illusory cultivar”. Izumi was originally used for “kamairi-cha (pan-fired green tea) to export, but gradually its exports had been shrinking and the cultivar itself became rare.
It is still rare, but now I see more for sure mainly as black or Oolong teas.
Luckily, I have three different Izumi Wakocha (Japanese black) produced by three different tea artisans. All of them are lightly oxidized.
As you know, the taste can be different depending on the area the tea is grown, the producers even the cultivar is the same.
Let's see....
I like the left one best. It has a surprisingly peach aroma with a little bit of pleasant bitterness, which I like. As a tea-lover, tasting tea is always fun and exciting.
