[IBUKI bottled tea × Ine to Agabe] Introducing 'Ine to Wakocha', a Collaborative Craft Sake Featuring a Muscat-like Aroma
Luxury tea brand 'IBUKI bottled tea' and craft sake brewery 'Ine to Agabe' have collaborated to release 'Ine to Wakocha,' a craft sake with a muscat aroma made by upcycling Japanese black tea leaves, sold by lottery.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 24, 2026 at 00:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 23, 2026 at 15:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 23, 2026 at 15:33 (2 min after Collected)
'IBUKI bottled tea' (Headquarters: Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture; CEO: Yukiya Komatsu), a bottling tea brand with the mission of 'spreading the value of authentic Japanese tea to the world,' and 'Ine to Agabe Inc.' (Headquarters: Oga City, Akita Prefecture; CEO: Shuhei Okazumi; hereinafter 'Ine to Agabe'), a craft sake brewery driving town revitalization in Oga City, Akita Prefecture, have developed a new collaborative product, the craft sake 'Ine to Wakocha.' This product was sold by lottery as the 22nd installment of Ine to Agabe's experimental sake 'Tameshioke Series' (*).
* About the 'Tameshioke Series'
An experimental sake series developed by Ine to Agabe, offered primarily online and via lottery sales. It is a series where customers can enjoy various experimental brews and imagine the future products of Ine to Agabe.
About 'IBUKI bottled tea'
'IBUKI bottled tea' was born in November 2022 as a luxury tea brand. It uses only carefully selected tea leaves from Shizuoka and water, with no additives, extracting the tea using a special method called the 'Filtered Cold Brew Method,' which avoids heat sterilization. Within one year of its brand launch, it recorded cumulative sales of over 1,500 bottles. It has been introduced at luxury hotels and Michelin-starred/featured restaurants across Japan. With the mission of 'spreading the value of authentic Japanese tea to the world,' the brand passes down accumulated techniques and passion to future generations and proves the value of Japanese tea to the world. The operating company, Kanes Tea Co., Ltd., is a Japanese tea manufacturer in Shizuoka founded 69 years ago (as of May 2026) and has received the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award twice. As tea-making professionals located in one of Japan's leading tea-producing regions, they co-create high-quality Japanese tea consumption experiences.
About 'Ine to Agabe'
Ine to Agabe is a craft sake brewery founded in Oga City, Akita Prefecture, in the fall of 2021. 'Craft sake' is a new genre of alcohol that aims for novel flavors by adding secondary ingredients based on traditional Japanese sake manufacturing techniques. They position their alcohol not just as a beverage, but as 'regional media.' Aiming to get people interested in Oga through sake and actually visit to enjoy it, they have promoted town revitalization originating from the brewery. Within a few years of founding, they have opened a restaurant, a food processing plant, a ramen shop, sauna-equipped hotels 'Hotel Kazemachi Minato' and 'Hirune', the 'Sanaeburi Distillery' producing spirits, and 'Seagull,' a snack bar where people gather. They are active with the goal of preserving the town of Oga for the future, starting with craft sake.
Background of 'Ine to Wakocha' Development
Traditionally, tea can be steeped and drunk multiple times, and enjoying the changing flavors between the first and second extractions is one of the essences of 'appreciating tea.' However, to pursue the ideal flavor, 'IBUKI bottled tea' extracts its bottling tea only once, and the used tea leaves were simply discarded. While exploring ways to reuse them in a challenging initiative, a project began to pursue a new expression of 'Tea x Sake' utilizing the Tameshioke Series developed by 'Ine to Agabe,' which is pioneering the new sake genre of craft sake.
About Craft Sake 'Ine to Wakocha'
The primary tea leaves used this time are upcycled tea leaves originally used in 'NIROKU', a Japanese black tea-type bottling tea popular among all ages in the 'IBUKI bottled tea' series. It is a high-quality domestic black tea blended around the Japanese black tea cultivar 'Izumi,' handled by Niroku Muramatsu, the pioneer of modern Japanese black tea in Shizuoka Prefecture. The tea leaves used for extraction were steeped in hot water again, and the resulting extract was used in place of brewing water.
The most prominent feature is that, despite using black tea, a 'muscat-like fruit flavor' can be perceived. Fragrance components (glycosides) contained in the tea leaves are separated from sugar by enzymes (beta-glucosidase) possessed by white koji during the fermentation process. This releases aroma components such as linalool and geraniol, creating flavors akin to muscat or white grapes. A pleasant astringency of black tea remains in the aftertaste, resulting in a beautifully balanced flavor.
Please experience this surprising transformation of 'Why, even though it's black tea?'
■ Product Overview:
Product Name: Ine to Wakocha (IBUKI bottled tea)
Volume: 500ml
Sales Price: 3,300 yen (tax included) / 3,000 yen (excluding tax)
Manufacturer: Ine to Agabe Inc.
■ Tea Ingredients Used:
Product: Bottling Tea NIROKU (750ml/180ml)
* About the 'Tameshioke Series'
An experimental sake series developed by Ine to Agabe, offered primarily online and via lottery sales. It is a series where customers can enjoy various experimental brews and imagine the future products of Ine to Agabe.
About 'IBUKI bottled tea'
'IBUKI bottled tea' was born in November 2022 as a luxury tea brand. It uses only carefully selected tea leaves from Shizuoka and water, with no additives, extracting the tea using a special method called the 'Filtered Cold Brew Method,' which avoids heat sterilization. Within one year of its brand launch, it recorded cumulative sales of over 1,500 bottles. It has been introduced at luxury hotels and Michelin-starred/featured restaurants across Japan. With the mission of 'spreading the value of authentic Japanese tea to the world,' the brand passes down accumulated techniques and passion to future generations and proves the value of Japanese tea to the world. The operating company, Kanes Tea Co., Ltd., is a Japanese tea manufacturer in Shizuoka founded 69 years ago (as of May 2026) and has received the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award twice. As tea-making professionals located in one of Japan's leading tea-producing regions, they co-create high-quality Japanese tea consumption experiences.
About 'Ine to Agabe'
Ine to Agabe is a craft sake brewery founded in Oga City, Akita Prefecture, in the fall of 2021. 'Craft sake' is a new genre of alcohol that aims for novel flavors by adding secondary ingredients based on traditional Japanese sake manufacturing techniques. They position their alcohol not just as a beverage, but as 'regional media.' Aiming to get people interested in Oga through sake and actually visit to enjoy it, they have promoted town revitalization originating from the brewery. Within a few years of founding, they have opened a restaurant, a food processing plant, a ramen shop, sauna-equipped hotels 'Hotel Kazemachi Minato' and 'Hirune', the 'Sanaeburi Distillery' producing spirits, and 'Seagull,' a snack bar where people gather. They are active with the goal of preserving the town of Oga for the future, starting with craft sake.
Background of 'Ine to Wakocha' Development
Traditionally, tea can be steeped and drunk multiple times, and enjoying the changing flavors between the first and second extractions is one of the essences of 'appreciating tea.' However, to pursue the ideal flavor, 'IBUKI bottled tea' extracts its bottling tea only once, and the used tea leaves were simply discarded. While exploring ways to reuse them in a challenging initiative, a project began to pursue a new expression of 'Tea x Sake' utilizing the Tameshioke Series developed by 'Ine to Agabe,' which is pioneering the new sake genre of craft sake.
About Craft Sake 'Ine to Wakocha'
The primary tea leaves used this time are upcycled tea leaves originally used in 'NIROKU', a Japanese black tea-type bottling tea popular among all ages in the 'IBUKI bottled tea' series. It is a high-quality domestic black tea blended around the Japanese black tea cultivar 'Izumi,' handled by Niroku Muramatsu, the pioneer of modern Japanese black tea in Shizuoka Prefecture. The tea leaves used for extraction were steeped in hot water again, and the resulting extract was used in place of brewing water.
The most prominent feature is that, despite using black tea, a 'muscat-like fruit flavor' can be perceived. Fragrance components (glycosides) contained in the tea leaves are separated from sugar by enzymes (beta-glucosidase) possessed by white koji during the fermentation process. This releases aroma components such as linalool and geraniol, creating flavors akin to muscat or white grapes. A pleasant astringency of black tea remains in the aftertaste, resulting in a beautifully balanced flavor.
Please experience this surprising transformation of 'Why, even though it's black tea?'
■ Product Overview:
Product Name: Ine to Wakocha (IBUKI bottled tea)
Volume: 500ml
Sales Price: 3,300 yen (tax included) / 3,000 yen (excluding tax)
Manufacturer: Ine to Agabe Inc.
■ Tea Ingredients Used:
Product: Bottling Tea NIROKU (750ml/180ml)
FAQ
「稲と和紅茶」とはどのようなお酒ですか？
高級ボトリングティー『IBUKI bottled tea』の抽出後の和紅茶の茶葉を再活用し、秋田県の醸造所『稲とアガベ』が醸造したコラボレーションクラフトサケです。
なぜ紅茶を使っているのにマスカットのような香りがするのですか？
茶葉に含まれる香りの成分が、発酵過程で白麹が持つ酵素（β-グルコシダーゼ）と反応し、マスカットや白ぶどうのような香気成分（リナロールやゲラニオール）を生み出すためです。
「稲と和紅茶」の価格と内容量は？
内容量は500mlで、販売価格は3,300円（税込）です。
『IBUKI bottled tea』とはどのようなブランドですか？
2022年11月に誕生したラグジュアリーティーブランドで、静岡産の厳選茶葉と水のみを使用し、加熱殺菌をしない「フィルタード・コールドブリュー製法」で抽出したお茶を提供しています。
『稲とアガベ』のクラフトサケとは何ですか？
日本酒の製造技術をベースに、副原料（お茶など）を加えることで新しい味わいを目指した新ジャンルのお酒です。