Continuing from my last post, I’m going to talk about Awa Bancha. This is what I purchased at a local shop in Kamikatsu 🍵
First of all, Awa Bancha. In the farm-inn where I stayed the owner’s wife brewed tea with boiling water. So I decided to copy her and see what it taste like!
:: Today’s recipe ::
Tea leaves 4 g (mine were in tea bags)
Water 500 ml – 1 litre
Temperature Once water is boiled, put tea leaves into a kettle
Steeping time 5-10 minutes in a boiling kettle
Once the color turns gold it’s a good time to drink it. You can adjust the steeping time depending on your preference. You can also pour boiling water into a tea pot instead of using a kettle.
The sourness of Awa Bancha refreshes your palate 😄 You can enjoy its subtle smoked aroma and astringency as well. It has a light taste and is relatively low in caffeine which means you can drink a lot of it. You can also enjoy this tea as iced tea instead. 👍 With this tea I ate mochi (rice cake) that I bought from the same shop.
Next is bread with Awa Bancha mixed in. You can taste the flavour of the tea as you eat it. Since you are consuming the whole leaf the nutritional value is very high. Although I did prefer it as toast.
I made a big batch and left it overnight. The colour of the tea turned orange and the taste became a little less sour. I was surprised that it wasn’t too strong either and was very enjoyable. 😌
The last one here is Awa Bancha ice cream. 🍨 At first I thought it was similar to milk tea (black tea) but the unique flavor of Awa Bancha definitely came through!! Even though I didn’t taste the sourness which I did when I drank it as tea, I was sill able to taste the aroma of Awa Bancha. I had no idea it turned out to be this kind of flavor with milk!! I think this would make a great latte. Awa Bancha latte! 🤔
Even me, someone living Tokushima, didn’t know that Awa Bancha had so many variations. All of these were delicious and made me want to explore the potential even more. I shared this rare tea hoping it will inspire the next generation to also use it. 😌✨✨
