Name: Tokushima Awabancha
Brand: Kettl
SKU: 167978368546
Price: 40.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Tokushima Awabancha

$40.00

Tokushima Awabancha

$40.00

We are extremely excited to release our first Awabancha—a style of fermented tea produced only in the Naka region of Tokushima and was deemed an intangible folk art in 2021. Awabancha is made from summer harvest leaves which are boiled in lieu of steaming, prior to a gentle rolling that primes them for fermentation. The leaves are then fermented for up to a month in sealed wooden vats. When the leaves are finished fermenting, they're laid out in the sun to dry. The resulting tea is unlike anything else—packed full of fermented fruit flavors with a round and silky texture.

Tasting Notes

Kombu
Grape Leaf
Goji Berry

Information

Producer: Kanji Nakata
Cultivar: Blend
Production Area: Kamikatsu
Production Year: 2025
Packaging: 15g

Umami
Earthy
Fruity

We are extremely excited to release our first Awabancha—a style of fermented tea produced only in the Naka region of Tokushima and was deemed an intangible folk art in 2021. Awabancha is made from summer harvest leaves which are boiled in lieu of steaming, prior to a gentle rolling that primes them for fermentation. The leaves are then fermented for up to a month in sealed wooden vats. When the leaves are finished fermenting, they're laid out in the sun to dry. The resulting tea is unlike anything else—packed full of fermented fruit flavors with a round and silky texture.

Preparation

Hot

Water: 100ml (212°F)
Leaf Amount: 1.5g
Brew Time: 4-5 minutes

View Guide

Kanji Nakata

Kanji Nakata is a Japanese tea producer known for making traditional Awa Bancha in the mountain town of Kamikatsu on Shikoku Island. Unlike many Awa Bancha makers who inherited tea production through generations of family farming, Nakata is a first-generation tea grower who came to tea after working previously as a schoolteacher.

Nakata specializes in Awa Bancha (阿波晩茶), one of Japan’s rare post-fermented teas. The tea is produced through a labor-intensive process in which summer-harvested tea leaves are boiled, kneaded, packed tightly into wooden barrels, and fermented anaerobically with naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria before being sun dried. This method has been practiced in Tokushima for centuries and produces a tea known for its gentle acidity, low bitterness, and low caffeine content.