Seishin Kōcha (清心紅茶)
This is a fascinating tea: a black tea, made from a variety cultivated in China, popularised in Taiwan for oolong production. This tiny, limited batch (less than 4 kg) was made in spring season, which in Japan is not common: for the farmers who usually make black tea, the second season (nibancha) is usually preferred.
Partially due to the naturally thicker leaves of this cultivar and the colder spring climate: the black tea is not fully oxidised. The steeped leaves are a mottled brown & green. The tea has a fascinatingly complex flavour profile that combines the sweet and fruity notes of an oolong or black tea, but mixes in some savoury green notes.
The Seishin kōcha opens with gentle notes of brown bread and toasted grain before quickly giving way to a sweeter side. As the liquor lingers, juicy tropical fruit emerges: we taste mango with hints of passion fruit, supported by an almost creamy texture on the tongue reminiscent of coconut cream.
Running alongside the fruity note is a fresh green note (green bell peppers) with some light astringency that keeps the tea bright and refreshing rather than heavy. The aftertaste lingers long, and gradually shifts from sweet tropical fruit towards a ‘zingy’ or zesty grapefruit that leaves the palate clean, lively and ready for another sip.
A playful, layered black tea that rewards slow drinking as new flavours continue to unfold with each sip and brew.
Story behind the tea
Tea farmer Koichi Tōzaka (東坂幸一) loves experimenting with tea to search for new flavours. When Marjolein first met Tōzaka, and he realised she had a shared deep interest in tea, he dug out a pan-fired green tea made from the Chinese oolong cultivar ‘Seishin’ (better known as Qīngxīn to Chinese and Taiwanese tea drinkers). Tōzaka shared that he had planted just a few rows of the oolong variety “just to experiment with”.
As Tōzaka is quite experimental in his processing, he often has varying batches, trying to develop his knowledge and improve his skills. Although we often visit him, a few times per year he may dig out something completely new to us. In 2025, Tōzaka brewed for us a 2024 autumn harvest, hand-picked batch of black tea made from this oolong cultivar. We fell head-over-heels in love with this tea and its very fruity, comforting taste and bought the whole (tiny! <2 kg) batch. The tea was incredibly popular and sold out quickly when we brought it with us on one of our European tea tours. Marjolein practically begged Tōzaka to please make another autumn harvest black tea batch from this section of the field with the Seishin cultivar, but Tōzaka was too busy and had no time in between his autumn Winter Hōjicha production and a few big events.
In 2026 spring, Marjolein hopefully pleaded with Tōzaka again: maybe we can try a spring harvest black tea? And lo-and-behold: this is the result! Again a small batch, less than 4 kg in total, machine harvested this time – and a different taste profile to the 2024 autumn harvest batch: complex, ever-changing tasting notes from first sip till constantly changing aftertaste. Fruity and sweet, but layered with a vegetal note, and a zesty aftertaste that reminds us of grapefruit. It’s a fascinating tea, and we’re excited to see how future batches will evolve and change with each season and year.
