Tokushima (Awa)
In the mountains of Shikoku they make awa bancha, a post-fermented tea. The method has nothing to do with green tea: the leaf is lactic-fermented. In March 2021 the technique was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
Land and climate
Carried on in mountain settlements a few hundred metres up — Kamikatsu, Naka and Minami among them. Picking runs through July and August, taking leaf that has hardened over the summer. Nothing like the early first flush of the big regions, in timing or in leaf.
How it is made
The cultural agency's record lists the steps: picking, boiling, rubbing, packing, drying and sorting. The leaf is boiled in a cauldron to stop oxidation, rubbed to scratch the surface, then packed down through the summer heat so lactic fermentation takes hold. What comes out is sun-dried and sorted by hand.
Cultivars
- Local seed-grown stock
What to look for
It carries a sourness closer to umeboshi than to tea, and almost no astringency. Green tea is the wrong yardstick for it, so start with a small amount. Kochi's goishicha is also post-fermented, but made differently and tastes it.