SHIZUOKA -- Restaurants in Shizuoka city have begun serving alcoholic drinks flavored with tea leaves from Shizuoka Prefecture, the country's largest production center for Japanese tea.
Called yoicha, which literally means "evening tea," the drinks have been developed by the Suruga Marketing and Tourism Bureau, a public interest incorporated foundation based in Shizuoka city, with an aim to reverse sagging demand for the area's tea by creating value-added products that boost consumption.
The drinks were developed under the supervision of Mohee Honda, a 34-year-old tea expert and president of an association that promotes Shizuoka's tea business.
Tea leaves are delicate. Honda said soaking them in alcohol too long makes the drink bitter, while not enough soaking results in a weak flavor. Through trial and error, he discovered that the optimum soaking period is about four days.
The drinks were in development for about a year before going on sale in July.
Ten restaurants in central Shizuoka city, including Chinese restaurant Over Looks Biwa, are serving the tea-flavored alcohol, which comes in eight varieties. These include whisky highball flavored with tea leaves from Fuji in the prefecture and a rum mojito flavored with tea leaves from Shizuoka city. There are plans to expand the variety of drinks in the future.
Other local governments have asked the bureau to share the recipes for these tea-flavored alcoholic drinks.
"We hope both men and women, young and old will enjoy this authentic and simple yoicha," said an official at the bureau.
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