石鎚黒茶について

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無形民俗文化財指定。
霊峰石鎚山の大自然が生み出す幻のお茶。

愛媛県・西条にて江戸時代から続く石鎚黒茶（いしづちくろちゃ）。
西日本一の標高を誇る石鎚山の麓で代々空海が伝えたと言われる製法を受け継ぎ、現在もすべての工程を手作業で行っております。石鎚黒茶は、日本国内に4品しか存在しない貴重な後発酵茶の中でもさらに珍しい二段発酵茶。二段発酵させることによる独自の深い香りと品のある酸味が特長のお茶で、色は黄金色をしております。
＊平成30年無形民俗文化財に指定。

伝統製法、人と自然が共創する唯一無二のお茶。

石鎚黒茶づくりは、7月からはじまり、8月までの炎天下で行われます。
硬化した茶葉を山から切り出し、枝葉を切りそろえて洗浄、数時間こまめに様子を見ながら蒸し加熱作業をしたあとに発酵用の木桶に詰め込み山へ運び、石鎚の大自然に預けます。山では、桶に住み着いた菌でもある天然の微生物、糸状菌による好気発酵での一次発酵、乳酸菌による二次発酵を行います。2段階における発酵の間には一斉に並んで行う手揉み作業があり、どの工程も大変な手間と体力を要します。最後に太陽の下での天日乾燥の後、石鎚黒茶が仕上がります。
土地が生み出す独自の味わいや香り。変わらぬ環境や製法を受け継ぐ人々がいるからこその貴重なお茶です。

This legendary tea, which has been designated as an intangible folk cultural asset, is produced amid the natural surroundings of the sacred Mt. Ishizuchi. Ishizuchi dark tea has been cultivated in Saijo, Ehime Prefecture, ever since the Edo period.
We have inherited the production method that is believed to have been handed down by Kukai from one generation to the next at the foot of Mt. Ishizuchi, the mountain with the highest altitude in western Japan. Even today, every step of the production process is performed by hand. Ishizuchi dark tea is an extraordinarily rare tea that undergoes a second round of fermentation among the priceless fermented teas, of which only four exist in Japan. This additional round of fermentation gives Ishizuchi dark tea its uniquely deep aroma and elegant acidity, as well as its distinctive golden color.
*Ishizuchi dark tea was designated as an intangible folk cultural asset in 2018.

This unique tea is produced by a traditional method that requires close collaboration between man and nature.
The process of producing Ishizuchi dark tea begins in July every year and ends in August under the blazing sun.
The hardened tea leaves are harvested from the mountains, with the twigs and leaves carefully trimmed and washed. The tea is then steamed and heated for several hours with constant supervision, before it is packed into wooden vats for fermentation and transported to the mountains, where it is entrusted to the natural surroundings of Mt. Ishizuchi. Once in the mountains, the tea’s primary fermentation takes place via aerobic fermentation by filamentous fungi, followed by a secondary fermentation by lactic acid bacteria, both of which are natural microorganisms that line the sides of the vats. Between the two rounds of fermentation is a laborious and time-intensive step where the tea needs to be rolled by hand by lining them up. Finally, the tea is left to dry naturally under the sun before it is ready.
Ishizuchi dark tea has a unique flavor and aroma that embody the qualities of the land where it is grown. This rare tea only exists today because of the people who have inherited the very same environmental conditions and production techniques as those of our predecessors.