Awabancha (Tokushima Lacto-Fermented Bancha)

Awabancha is a lacto-fermented bancha tea produced for many generations in two mountain village areas of Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku — Kamikatsucho (Katsuura district) and Nakacho (Naka district, formerly Aioi). "Awa" preserves the prefecture's pre-Meiji name; "ban" refers to the late summer harvest. After boiling, the leaves are stuffed by pestle or foot into wooden barrels, covered with straw / palm / banana leaves and a heavy weighted lid, then anaerobically fermented for 10–21 days primarily by lactic acid bacteria (recent research has identified up to 30 different lactobacillus species in the process). The result is a sweet-sour cup with no bitterness or astringency — chemically and culturally distinct from any other Japanese tea.