If a traditional Japanese tea ceremony feels a tad hum drum to you, then perhaps you might prefer to gaze at a “bleeding” shark in your pot of hot water instead.
Daisho Fishery Company in Saitama is currently crowdfunding to manufacture this amusing great white shark-shaped tea bag that’s filled with a rosehip and hibiscus blend to create the red hue. They’re also planning to produce a whale shark version, which will be filled with green tea. At the time of writing, they had already raised nearly ¥400,000 with their target being one million, and deliveries of the tea bags being planned for December.
Last year, the company held a similar crowdfunding project to produce a dolphin tea bag, and raised a whopping ¥2,500,000 with their target then only being ¥500,000. The dolphin, fortunately, is happier than the shark and gets to brew in a pretty ocean of blue. You can buy a box of Dolphin Tea from Amazon.
If you love the idea of interesting tea bags from Japan, but would prefer to stay away from mammals and fish, we’ve also found a unique range made by Yamasu Sugimoto Shoten. Filled with premium quality green tea from Shizuoka, their “Ensemble Cast” (役者が揃った) Tea Bag range comes with handmade leather cutouts (which double up as stickers) of ninja, samurai, geisha, sumo wrestlers, and other characters attached to the tea bags. They’re available for ¥1,080 from Rakuten. Bound to inspire you right out of that 3pm slump.
