From The Straits Times    |

Photo: Nagi Kyoto/ Facebook

The Japanese have discovered yuan yang.

Or rather, a Kyoto-based beverage company has rediscovered the coffee and tea beverage which has long been popular in South-east Asia, from Singapore kopitiams to Hong Kong cha chan tengs. 

Nagi Kyoto is now selling four blends of what it calls Tea X Coffee, a tea-flavoured coffee made with Kyoto’s renowned Uji tea leaves and organic coffee beans roasted by a professional roaster from Nishijin, Kyoto. 

According to its website, the four available blends are Houji, sen, mugi and ban.

Houji combines the fragrance of hojicha (a roasted green tea) with the mild caffeine kick of a medium-roasted coffee.

 

 

A post shared by nagistyle (@nagi_kyoto_style) on

 

Sen uses deep-steamed green tea and a light roasted bean for a more acidic finish while Mugi is the decaffeinated version which offers the flavour of a medium roasted coffee.

Last but not least, Ban uses bancha, the coarse grade of green tea with a dark roasted bean for a deeper flavour kick. 

 

ALSO READ: CAFFEINE ADDICTS: THESE ARE THE 12 BEST PLACES FOR COFFEE IN JAPAN

 

The four blends are called Houji, Sen, Mugi and Ban. Photo: Nagi Kyoto

All four blends are available on Nagi Kyoto’s website in powder, bean and drip bag versions, as well as organic and non-organic options. Prices range from  1,200 yen for a 100g box of Ban powder to 1,700 yen for a 100g of Mugi powder or beans. 

These beverages are unlikely to possess the hardcore caffeine and flavour kicks that Singapore and Hong Kong versions pack. But given that the company uses Uji tea leaves, and the Japanese love of aromatic coffee, the drinks will likely to pack a punch in the fragrance department. 

 

This article was first published on The Straits Times.

 

ALSO READ: 5 INSTAGRAM-WORTHY TEAS YOU NEED TO TRY AT LEAST ONCE