Nakashima Bikouen displays cold brewing bottles on a counter to get more attention of customers (in Ureshino-shi, Saga Prefecture)
The Japanese tea industry and tea producers are trying to boost the consumption of green tea this summer by making cold brew iced green tea a “hot” and favorite drink for boiling hot days. Cold brew green tea has higher level of epigallocatechin content compared to hot brewed one. (Epigallocatechin has a function to boost the immune system of the human body.) The introduction of stylish wine-bottle-shaped containers for cold brewing was also a key to draw attentions of consumers. Some taxies served iced green tea to their customers for free. Iced green tea is very likely to be a hot item in Japan this summer.
Functionality is a key word for the boom of the iced green tea. According to Manami Monobe, a researcher of the Institute of Fruit Tree and Tea Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), cold brewed tea has higher level of functional content, less caffeine and Gallate catechins and more theanine compared to hot brewed one. This result in mild, rich and favorable taste of green tea.
The introduction of fashinable tea brewing containers is also a key to attract young female customers who want to enjoy iced tea with a style. In 2013, a heatproof glass manufacturer HARIO Co., Ltd. introduced a wine-bottle-shaped container with a strainer incorporated in its spout. “Filter in Bottle” it’s called an it allows you to enjoy iced tea more easily. All you have to do is putting water and tea leaves and placing the bottle in a fridge. Tea producers and industry jumped at this product.
Agricultural Corporative (JA) Aozora in Kagoshima Prefecture started to sell the bottle and tea leaves together with a selection of different tea flavors.
Nakajima Bikoen in Ureshino-shi, Saga Prefecture, displays the chic bottles on a counter to promote iced tea brewing at home. The tea producer and retailer produces and sells tea leaves blended with matcha green tea powder for brighter green color as a new product designed exclusively for cold brew tea, in addition to very refined steamed green tea leaves.
A matcha producers association in one of the leading powdered green tea producing regions, Nishio in Aichi Prefecture, is promoting cold brew iced matcha at Tokyo Metropolitan City Hall, starting on July 27.