This is the Lupicia Naniwa I Love You 728143. This tea is a love letter to Ōsaka, with ‘728’ being a homonym for Naniwa, an old name for Ōsaka that is still in use in various derivations today,  while ‘143’ was pager code for ‘I love you’ in the 1990s.

It’s a looseleaf black tea, scented with blood oranges and mangoes blended with dried mango, daidai peel (a bitter citrus), rose petals, rosebuds, and marigold petals.

Steeping 3 grams of looseleaf in 200 mL of water at 85ºC for 3 minutes, the resultant infusion was a clear amber hue. It had an invitingly vibrant tropical aroma underscored by nuances of citrus and mango. When served hot, a distinctive mango fragrance assumed prominence, initiating each sip. This flavour gradually evolved, introducing a gentle undertone of citrus acidity within the body of the tea, preceding a subtle note of bitterness in the finishing notes. The sweetness inherent in the black tea complemented the fruity character of the infusion, while the inclusion of rose notes contributed a delicate floral aspect that adeptly mitigated any perceptible sharpness stemming from the citrus. Overall, this was a medium-bodied tea, characterized by a smooth and sophisticated tropical fruitiness.

This Lupicia Naniwa I Love You 728143 contained 50 g. The tea was sourced from India and Sri Lanka, packaged in Japan, and purchased in Ōsaka, Japan in 2023.