I like to watch the live streams of Jeffrey from UNYTea on IG and he recently shared on his livestreams his new teas that he was ordering, and one of them was a new white tea from Japan called Koushun White. UNYTea’s Benifuki Japanese White tea was wildly popular, and delicious, so I knew I had to have the Koushun. I ordered it the first day it was available before I even got out of bed, since he told us on the livestream that only 1Kg of it was made and he was limiting the quantities that could be ordered. As of this writing it is still available here.
I followed the recommended instructions and used 4.5 grams with 185F water and infusions of 25 + 5. I used my trusty ole porcelain gaiwan for this first tasting, but I will be using my tokoname kyusu next time I have this tea.
Holy cow y’all this tea was THICC. I only thought I’d had thick teas before. It was literally like syrup, which was amazing. The texture jumped out at me right at the start and the taste was pretty sweet and creamy with a little bit of vanilla and a little bit of floral notes as well. I thought I tasted something unexpected on the finish, but maybe not. On to the second steep.
The second through fourth infusions were pretty similar. It reminded me of one of those vanilla cookies that you get in the big round tin at Christmas time, but with a hint of floral. But the finish was indeed something else. It was spicy. Like peppery, and it lingered. I still taste pepper on the tip of my tongue as I write this. This isn’t a bad thing, but I have never gotten a pepper note from a white tea. I have however, gotten it in Japanese black teas. I wonder if this is the same cultivar as the Benifuki black or sakura Midori black.
My overall impression of this tea is that it’s very unique and unlike any tea I’ve ever had. It shares characteristics of other white teas but it also has a personality all its own. I enjoyed this tea and I think it’s worth trying for sure!
The price on this tea is $18 for 25 grams. That’s definitely above daily drinker level but this tea is a rare gem and I think that’s a good price. I went for five infusions and could have gone for more, but let’s use five. 4.5g per session is 5 sessions per pouch, which is $3.60 per session. 5 infusions per session comes to $.72 per serving. That’s getting up there, but worth it. It’s still cheaper than any drink you can get at any restaurant.
If you want to try this tea, order it while you can. Otherwise, wait until next year and give it a try. Cheers!
One Man's Tea Journey 