is a blended

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

drink produced and distributed by

Asahi Soft Drinks is a soft drink company founded in 1982 and headquartered in the Azuma-bashi district of Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Asahi Breweries. The company sponsors the Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers, an American football team in the Japan ...

in Japan. The drink was originally created and sold by Chanson Cosmetics as a dry blended green tea. Beginning in March 1993, Chanson and Asahi Soft Drinks released Jūrokucha as a joint venture premade beverage. In February 2007, the packaging and flavor was updated.

Description

Jūrokucha literally means "16 teas," and the drink is a blend of sixteen teas (from leaves, grains, and fruits): ''Coix lacryma-jobi'' var. ''ma-yuen'',

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, kuromame (black soybeans),

brown rice Brown rice is a whole grain rice with the inedible outer hull removed. This kind of rice sheds its outer hull or husk but the bran and germ layer remain on, constituting the brown or tan colour of rice. White rice is the same grain without the h ...

, habucha, mulberry leaves,

jiaogulan ''Gynostemma pentaphyllum'', also called jiaogulan (, Pinyin: jiǎogǔlán, literally "twisting blue plant"), is a dioecious, herbaceous climbing vine of the family Cucurbitaceae ( cucumber or gourd family) widely distributed in South and Eas ...

kombu ''Konbu'' (from ja, 昆布, konbu or kombu) is edible kelp mostly from the family Laminariaceae and is widely eaten in East Asia. It may also be referred to as ''dasima'' ( ko, 다시마) or ''haidai'' (). Kelp features in the diets of many ...

, lingzhi,

sasa veitchii is a species of flowering plant in the genus '' Sasa'', in the Poaceae family. Description ''Sasa veitchii'' is a large species of bamboo grass which may reach a height of 1-2m, with leaves about 20cm in length and 4-5cm in width. Young leaves ...

persimmon The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus '' Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-per ...

, sesame,

mikan ''Citrus unshiu'' is a semi-seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as miyagawa mandarin, unshu mikan, cold hardy mandarin, satsuma mandarin, satsuma orange, naartjie, and tangerine. ''Citrus unshiu'' was named after Unshu (Wenzho ...

peel,

eucommia ''Eucommia'' is a genus of small trees now native to China, with a fossil record that shows a much wider distribution. The single living species, '' Eucommia ulmoides'', is near threatened in the wild, but is widely cultivated in China for its ...

black rice Black rice, also known as purple rice, is a range of rice types of the species ''Oryza sativa'', some of which are glutinous rice. There are several varieties of black rice available today. These include Indonesian black rice, Philippine heirl ...

, and perilla leaves. All of these contain dietary fiber (mostly indigestible

dextrin Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch and glycogen. Dextrins are mixtures of polymers of D-glucose units linked by α-(1→4) or α-(1→6) glycosidic bonds. Dextrins can be produced from ...

), and the drink is considered a designated

health food A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A health ...

in Japan. A decaffeinated version is also available.

Promotion

The drink is sold as "Jūrokucha with your meal" to emphasize its healthfulness. The drink is promoted as especially helpful to diabetics who wish to control their sugar levels after a meal due to the sugar-suppressing ingredients contained in it. Celebrities who have appeared in commercials for the health drink include

Yūki Amami is a Japanese actress. Career Amami joined the Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western- ...

Satomi Kobayashi is a Japanese actress from Tokyo. She won the award for best newcomer at the 4th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Exchange Students''. She was previously married to screenwriter Kōki Mitani. Filmography * '' I Are You, You Am Me'' (転校生; 198 ...

Izumi Inamori is a Japanese actress signed to Burning Production. Biography Izumi Inamori was born and grew up in Kagoshima Prefecture. After finished from the local high school, Inamori went to University of Texas at Arlington to study English abroad. Aft ...

Koji Uehara is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), as well as the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (M ...

Tomoko Tabata is a Japanese actress. She won the best supporting actress award from the Mainichi in 2004 for '' The Hidden Blade'' and '' Blood and Bones'', and the best actress award at the Mainichi Film Awards for ''The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky'' in 201 ...

Norika Fujiwara is a Japanese beauty queen, model and actress. She became Miss Nippon in 1992 and was an exclusive model for CanCam magazine. She has appeared in various commercials and TV series and a number of films in Japan. Biography Career Fujiwara was ...

, and

Mikako Ichikawa is a Japanese actress and model from Tokyo, Japan. Her older sister is the actress and model Miwako Ichikawa. Biography Due to her older sister being in the modeling business, Ichikawa made several appearances in the fashion magazine ''Olive ...

Impact

Due to the popularity of Jūrokucha, several other companies have released similar products. Kyushu Railway Company released a product called "Nijūyoncha" (literally "twenty-four teas"), Sangaria has a drink called "Nijūitcha" (literally "twenty-one teas"),

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

distributes a drink called " Sōkenbicha" which has 12 teas combined, and a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n company distributes a drink blended from 17 teas.

References

External links

Asahi Soft Drinks: Jūrokucha

Chanson Cosmetics

USA Juroku Cha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurokucha Drink brands Herbal tea Japanese drinks Rice drinks Tea brands in Japan