The Dontaku Festival is a popular festival held annually during Golden Week in Fukuoka, Japan. It featured teams of extravagantly costumed dancers as well as decorated floats called hana jidosha. The name of the festival, dontaku, comes from the Dutch word zontag (meaning Sunday) and is from where this Lupicia Zontag finds inspiration. The tea is a region limited tea and available only from the Hakata Hankyu store.

The tea consisted of loose leaf black tea scented with Fukuoka’s Hakata Amaou strawberries and blended with azuki. The vibrant colours of the loose-leaf are said to express the gorgeousness of the festival.

Steeping 3 g of loose-leaf in 200 mL of water at 85°C, the infusion is transparent and red-brown in colour with the sweet aroma of berries and azuki. Served hot, the azuki notes came through prominently at the head with its characteristic sweet nuttiness before the gently acidic sweetness of the strawberries emerged in the body. The black tea is bold but allows the flavours to hold their own without dominating.

The addition of azuki to strawberry creates a rich, earthy strawberry flavour that recalled traditional Japanese sweets using azuki that incorporate more modern elements, such as strawberries. This is a unique, modern and elegant take on Japanese sweets in a traditional tea format that we enjoy immensely.

This Lupicia Zontag contained 50 g. The tea was sourced from India and Vietnam, packaged in Japan, and purchased in Fukuoka, Japan in 2019.