Asahi YOU US introduces Sayama GREEN and Sayama HONOKA TUMBLER IN THE FOREST in Japan, as the Third Round of Products from the UPCYCLE B Project^*1.

Sayama GREEN

• Sayama GREEN is a sustainable craft beer created in collaboration with businesses in Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture, who are involved in the traditional Japanese industry of tea. The beer is made using tea fibers, a byproduct whose low use value prevented it being fully utilized until now. Along with reducing food waste from Sayama tea, we aim to boost the Sayama tea business and contribute to the revitalization of local industry.
• Tea fibers, which the beer uses as an ingredient, is formed of husks from the tea stalks that are removed during the tea-making process. The tea fibers are provided by tea farmers in Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture, and the beer is produced by TOKYO Sumidagawa Brewing, an Asahi Group craft beer brewery in Japan.
• Sayama GREEN takes as its base an IPA (India Pale Ale^*4), made with five types of hops and characterized by its moderate bitterness and refreshing aroma. This is then blended with 30% of that volume of green tea, extracted using cold water from the tea fibers, which has been heavily roasted^*5 in the Sayama tea style. This produces an aromatic green tea flavor and the refreshing aroma of hops. At 4.5% abv, the beer type is a “Session IPA”^*6 that goes perfectly with a meal.
• It will go on sale at 11 outlets across Japan (as of April 2022). Sayama City’s antenna store, “SAYA Market & Café”, which will open on April 1 in a multi-purpose public facility (Civic Center) next to Sayama-shi Station, will sell Sayama GREEN in a set with Sayama HONOKA TUMBLER IN THE FOREST for a limited time, on April 2 and 3. Asahi Food Create, Ltd., which operates the Asahi Group’s food service business in Japan, will sell the product at nine restaurants, including Charcoal Grill & Global Beer Asahi The Grill, which will open on April 1. It will also be available at Akasaka ZIPANGU, a branch of the NADAMAN Japanese restaurant, which is part of the Asahi Group. This is the first time the restaurant has sold a series of sustainable craft beers, and it is planning to offer a menu that pairs well with Sayama GREEN in the future.

Sayama HONOKA TUMBLER IN THE FOREST

• Using the TUMBLER IN THE FOREST reusable eco-cup, Asahi YOU US is committed to reducing negative impacts on the environment in cooperation with the local community.
• 55% of this TUMBLER IN THE FOREST, which was developed alongside Sayama GREEN, is made up of tea dust generated during the Sayama tea manufacturing process. The tumbler gives off a slight hint of the strongly-roasted flavor that is typical of Sayama tea.
• On April 2 and 3, it will be sold as a set with Sayama GREEN at Sayama City’s antenna store, “SAYA Market & Café”. It will also go on sale at the official Asahi YOU US online store, YOU US Mall.

By providing sustainable products and services that are familiar with consumers, Asahi YOU US will strive to co-create a future with fun, great taste and comfort and help realize a sustainable and prosperous society. Following the “coffee craft” beer Kuramae BLACK launched in July 2021 and “bread craft” beer Kuramae WHITE launched in October 2021, Sayama GREEN will be launched as a sustainable craft beer under the UPCYCLE B project, and it will continue to work on solving various local issues going forward.

Collaborating Sayama tea craftsmen

Masahiro Okutomi, Okutomi-en

The 15th-generation proprietor of Okutomi-En, a tea farm that has been in business since the Edo period. The entire production process, from cultivation to processing and distribution, is handled in-house. Working with a variety of teas, including sencha, fukamushi-cha (deep steamed tea), black tea, matcha (powdered green tea), and temomi-cha (hand-rubbed tea), he is broadening the possibilities of tea while continuing to enjoy the process.

Takahiro Yokota, Tobu Yokota-en Ltd.

The entire production process, from cultivation to processing and distribution, is handled in-house. The 6th generation proprietor of a tea shop with a philosophy of “producing tea that makes customers happy.” He produces variety-specific teas and teas made with the “magatama” method.

Yoichiro Ishida, Tea Crafter’s Company Ishida-en Ltd.

The 6th generation proprietor of a tea wholesaler specializing in finishing and processing, founded in 1863. It specializes in the old-fashioned “Sayama-hiire” method, which makes full use of multiple roasting machines. Organic JAS certified.

[Comments from Sayama tea craftsmen]

Amid intensifying competition with other tea-producing regions, the widespread adoption of tea in plastic bottles, and soaring land prices, the environment facing Sayama tea has become more difficult, with the Sayama tea industry being reduced to approximately 200 tea farmers and vendors from nearly 1,000 in the past.
Looking for an opportunity to bring a new lease of life to the region and to revitalize the local tea industry, we arrived at the idea of finding a way to make use of tea fibers, which has traditionally been of low use value.
We are not the only community facing the challenge of keeping up with the changing times. In Japan, which is home to many traditional regional industries, there are endless examples of continued decline resulting from an inability to adapt to the changes brought about by the shift to a mature society. We hope that we can provide hope as a pioneering example of how to sustain the diversity of the traditional industries that Japan prides itself on, including the local tea industry.
 

• A project in collaboration with the sustainable fashion brand ECOALF and others to propose a sustainable lifestyle for the next generation and to create zones of regional recycling and symbiosis.
• The first beer released as part of this project was Kuramae BLACK, a “coffee craft” beer that uses waste coffee beans as an ingredient. The extracted coffee is added to stout beer after brewing, giving an alcohol content of 4.5%. Kuramae BLACK features the fruity aroma of coffee beans, a mild acidity, and a bitter taste like dark chocolate. The second beer, Kuramae WHITE, is a “bread craft” beer which uses dried and processed bread crusts left over from making sandwiches as an ingredient. Kuramae WHITE is a Weizen-type beer made from bread crusts and wheat, and has an alcohol content of 5.0%. It has a mild flavor with the roasted aroma of bread crusts and the fruity aroma of wheat. ^*These are categorized as low-malt beers under Japan’s Liquor Tax Act.
• This is the fine tea dust that falls off when raw tea is sifted, and that produced when tea is shredded as necessary to make tea products. Both are usually removed because they create a muddy taste when mixed into the actual products, and as such, it has not been possible to make full use of them.
• A type of beer produced with large amounts of hops. It is noted for its strong hoppy aroma and bitterness.
• This is the application of heat to tea leaves during the tea processing stage. Heating tea leaves to nearly 200°C allows for a deep, sweet roasted flavor that is unique to Sayama tea.
• A type of IPA with a low alcohol content, a light-bodied thirst-quenching taste, and a restrained bitterness relative to other IPAs.

＜About Asahi YOU US＞
Announcement:　https://www.asahigroup-holdings.com/en/pressroom/2021/1203.html