When animal waste turns into a refreshing beverage, do you pour it down the sink or take a gulp hoping for the best? Chu-hi-cha is a tea brand created by a Japanese researcher at Kyoto University, which contains the unusual ingredient of caterpillar droppings that have feasted on various plants.
Tsuyoshi Maruoka felt inspired about creating caterpillar tea during graduate studies at Kyoto University’s Faculty of Agriculture. A senior associate presented him with 50 gypsy moth larvae in the lab and told Maruoka that they were a souvenir. Unsure of what to do with it, he kept them alive by plucking some leaves from a nearby cherry tree and feeding them to the caterpillars. When cleaning the droppings left by the critters, the fragrance was enticing enough for him to come up with a beverage.
“This is going to work!” Maruoka said. Although the secret ingredient sounds a bit revolting, it’s the cherry blossom’s aroma that made it possible to drink without squirming.
Maruoka expanded his experiment to include 40 different types of plants and 20 insects and larvae and the results were promising. He can play around with different combinations to get the right taste for the customer. Maruoka claims that “the aroma and taste of Chu-hi-cha change dramatically depending on the type of plant and insect that are crossed.”
Maruoka was set to push this product into the market and launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Japanese platform Camp-Fire. He exceeded his initial goal of $7,800 and the funds continue to pour in as support for his business venture. Camp-Fire supporters will receive samples from the two currently available Chu-hi-cha varieties — “Sakura x Iraga” made out of cherry tree leaves and “Kuri x Omizuao” made out of chestnut leaves.
Chu-hi-cha is the first commercial tea made from caterpillar droppings. It’s off to an encouraging start but it’s still a difficult task to convince people to take a sip.
Source: https://chuhicha.com/