This Lupicia Daruma is a blend of black tea and Indian fruit, taking its name from the Japanese traditional doll modelled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism.  According to Japanese tradition, both of Daruma’s eyes are white initially. After a goal or wish is selected, one of the figure’s eyes is painted. Only after the resolution or goal has been achieved is the second eye filled in.

The looseleaf is a black tea blended with cubes of dried mango and pink peppercorns.

According to legend, Bodhidharma was angry at himself for falling asleep during his nine-year meditation and cut off his eyelids to avoid falling asleep again. The pink peppercorns are said to look like the discarded eyelids.

Steeping 3 g of looseleaf in 200 mL of water at 85°C for 3 minutes, the infusion was a clear red colour with a sweet cherry nose. Served hot, mellow tropical fruity notes beginning with mango at the head develop with a brief hint of the sweet-sour flavour of Japanese cherries in the body. The finish is dominated by the piney notes of pink peppercorn that give an immensely refreshing, gentle mouth-tingling mouthfeel followed by a clean aftertaste and a moderate astringency that lingered on the palate.

The flavour — both in terms of taste and smell — remind very much of Lupicia Sakurambo Vert, which has a more prominent vegetal and cherry flavour while this one tends towards a more tropical fruitiness with a sweeter black tea base.

This Lupicia Daruma contained 50 g. The tea was sourced from India and Vietnam, packaged in Japan, and was purchased in Tōkyō, Japan in 2018.