Tochiotome is a variety of strawberries cultivated in Japan best appreciated for its clean shape and beautiful colour, big size and sweet and tender flesh. These sweet gems scent the green tea in this Lupicia Tochiotome Strawberry Green Tea.
The tochiotome scents the green tea with freeze-dried bits of the fresh fruit. It’s also available as a scented black tea, though I prefer my teas green.
Steeping 3 g of tea leaf in 200 mL of water at 80°C for 2 minutes, the tea was a slightly cloudy pale straw colour with a bright nose of fresh and plump strawberries. Served hot, sweet and rich notes of strawberry in the head are restrained by the vegetal and slight umami notes of the green tea in the body and develop with a light astringency. In the finish, the more acidic notes of the strawberry return with more prominence against the green tea in the background, before leaving a clean aftertaste. Overall, the notes of strawberry are juicy and fragrant, gently scenting the tea and making it suitable for pairing with desserts or on its own chilled or hot without turning it into a dessert.
This Lupicia Tochiotome Strawberry Green Tea contained 50 g. The tea was sourced from Japan, packaged in Japan and purchased in Tōkyō, Japan in 2018.