TEA CHEST + CULTURE QUEST | Ishimoto Akemi's Winter Tea (Kancha)

Join a team on a quest to preserve Japanese folk tea culture!  

87 year old Ishimoto Akemi San is the last living producer of Shishikui Kancha (more on that below) and the star of our upcoming documentary 'A Postcard for Ishimoto'.  

Drinking her tea is like a short trip to Japan's past (before the Showa era and industrial production).

With this package you get:

• 108 grams of Ishimoto San's ridiculously limited production tea.  These leaves will brew about 55 cups of very special tea.
• A collectible pinewood chest.
• A postage paid card addressed to Ishimoto San. She wishes to hear from the people who enjoy her tea... and we want to honour that wish.
• An invitation to one of five private viewings of the documentary 'A Postcard for Ishimoto' at O5, as soon as the film is released.  Estimated date:  January 2025.  Drinks and snacks will be served.

GPS: 33.6°N, 134.3°E
Origin: Shishikui, Kaiyo, Tokushima, Japan

What is Kancha?

Kancha (寒茶, literally translated as 'cold tea') is the first tea to be harvested every year in Japan.  Ishimoto San picks Kancha between mid January and early March. It was never meant to be a fancy tea; it is a traditional thirst quencher for farm people. Ishimoto San attributes her uncanny energy and good health to this tea; we believe that she is such a powerhouse both because she both makes it and drinks it.

Ishimoto San's tea trees were naturally propagated by mice over several decades. There are several different varieties of 'wild' (zairai) cultivars growing throughout the field. Every micro batch of tea is truly unique!

How is Kancha made?

The handcrafting process is relatively simple but very labour intensive:  

• Picking: Ishimoto San picks one leaf at a time, but is not overly picky (intended) about the appearance of each leaf.

• Withering & Sorting:  Ishimoto San spreads the leaves over a piece of canvas and inspects them carefully, removing any leaves or twigs that she may not deem appropriate.

• Steaming: The leaves are boiled with a small amount of water over roughly 25 minutes. They acquire a dark olive green colour and a softer texture.
• Rolling Step 1:  Ishimoto San uses a very old machine which gently squeezes and shapes the tea leaves. She is very careful as she supervises the process.

• Rolling Step 2: The leaves are now massaged by hand.

• Resting: The leaves are placed in a very old wooden bucket, covered with cloth and pressed with a stone over 24 hours. There must be some kind of fermentation going on throughout this process.
• Sun-drying in a Greenhouse:  A greenhouse comes in very handy for this process, as the weather is quite cold and it rains often. This gigantic structure was build decades ago to farm 'suppon', a type of soft shelled turtle that was once popular in rural Japan. The suppon business in this village tanked decades ago, but the old building is perfect for kancha.

• Sun-drying outdoors: Ishimoto San believes that a final few hours under direct sunlight improves the taste of her tea

Experience:  You are sipping Japanese folk history, with sweet notes of green raisins and winter grains. The tea is particularly sweet and does not become astringent even when over-steeped.