Anastasia Sutadji and Yoshimi Miyano give a toast with their company’s newest bottled beverage, Ichi Ocha. (JG Photo/Sylviana Hamdani)
Tea has been recognized as the elixir of life in many countries for centuries. In ancient China, where tea was first discovered, it was believed to cure many ailments, including common colds, diabetes and cancers, and hence, contribute to longevity.
Therefore, tea was traditionally consumed after every meal in China. From China, tea-drinking habits spread to Japan.
Japanese Buddhist monks, who studied in China in the early eighth century, found out about this “liquid jade” and brought it back to their home country.
Tea was immediately embraced by the people in Japan. They developed elaborate tea-drinking rituals that persevere to this day, in which tea is properly brewed, served and savored.
They also grew many tea varieties on their highlands and developed them through a variety of different techniques to ensure their unadulterated flavors and nutrients.
One of the most favorite teas in Japan is the green tea.
To make green tea, the newly plucked tea leaves are pan-fried or steamed to soften them and prevent oxidization. These leaves are then rolled on heated trays to reduce their moisture content, before they are finally dessicated in mechanical driers.
“Therefore, green tea is rich in antioxidants, polyphenols and vitamins, which are very good for the body,” says Yoshimi Miyano, a director of the local drinks bottler Indofood Asahi Sukses Beverage.
IASB is a joint venture between Indonesia’s Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur and Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings Southeast Asia.
The company recently released its first product to the Indonesian market — Ichi Ocha, a brand of bottled Japanese green tea.
“Ichi” in Japanese means “one,” while “ocha” means “green tea.”
“Japanese green tea is believed to be the best in the world,” Miyano says, “and Ichi Ocha is made of the best quality selection of Japanese green teas.”
According to Miyano, for Ichi Ocha, the company gathers the best-quality tea leaves from many different locations in Japan, which are then shipped to their factory in Malaysia.
“The factory has advanced technology and experts that can process the tea leaves as we do in Japan,” Miyano says.
To guarantee the best flavors and benefits of Ichi Ocha’s green tea, the tea leaves are brewed only once in the production process.
“This way, each drop of Ichi Ocha will contain robust flavors and aroma and have the full benefits of Japanese green tea,” Miyano says.
After being cooled, this Japanese green tea is then put in sterilized bottles and shipped to Indonesia.
Ichi Ocha has passed the health standards of Indonesia’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).
The bottled drink has also obtained halal certificate from the Indonesia Council of Ulema (MUI).
Ichi Ocha is currently available in supermarkets and mini-markets in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.
“We plan to expand our distribution channels to all parts of Indonesia within this year,” says Anastasia Sutadji, IASB’s Indonesian director.
Clinical dietician and nutritionist, Emilia E. Achmadi says the bottled Japanese green tea is beneficial for one’s health.
“The quality of [bottled] green tea drinks is determined by two factors, which are the origin of the tea leaves and the processing,” she says.
“And bottled green tea, when it contains the best quality tea leaves and is properly processed, may have more benefits than freshly brewed tea.”
Emilia says Ichi Ocha has high levels of catechins, a natural antioxidant, which are very good for the body.
“Catechins have been proven to improve the metabolism, decrease cholesterol levels and thus help to prevent strokes and heart attacks,” she says.
As green teas in general contain very low levels of caffeine, Ichi Ocha also improves blood circulation and stimulates the central nervous system, Emilia says.
“Thus, drinking green tea also helps to prevent diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” she says.
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