A bogglingly sweet Japanese dark tea that is reminiscent of freshly baked bread and caramelized figs. A unique process: Unlike other Japanese kurocha (黑茶, fermented tea), this is a fairly modern creation. Osada San, tea grower and champion tea taster teamed up with Kawamura San, a local fermentation scientist/artist to develop this unique tea processing style. The fresh tea leaves are initially steamed, rolled and dried (just like producing Japanese aracha); this sterilizes the tea leaves, eliminating any of the native yeast strains that could compete with koji. Subsequently, the leaves are re-hydrated, blended with koji 'grains' and fermented in piles (at controlled temperature and humidity) over 10 days.