Benifuuki Wakoucha (Japanese Black Tea)

Benifuuki Wakoucha is Japanese black tea from the Benifuuki cultivar — registered in 1993 at the Makurazaki field station in Kagoshima after a 24-year gap in Japanese black-tea cultivar registration. Its 1965-cross pedigree (Benihomare assamica line × Darjeeling-genetics sinensis) makes Benifuuki the most assamica- influenced of the common wakoucha cultivars: the cup has more body, a darker liquor, and a "honey-with-backbone" character distinct from the lighter wakoucha made by converting Yabukita sencha bushes. Wakoucha as a category was revived for export in 1874 and peaked in 1955 (8,500 tons exported, 2/3 of all Japanese tea exports) before the 1971 Free Trade Agreement collapsed production; modern Benifuuki Wakoucha is the high-quality tip of a small revival movement.