#194 Emily J Huang (USA) | Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms

New Jersey, United States of America

Instagram and Tiktok: @emxtcha

Being at Obubu has taught me so many life lessons.

My first lesson: Don’t worry about tomorrow, just worry about getting through today.

As a person who used to ruminate about my future, I would often paralyze myself from my overthinking. But here, I had no time for that. I couldn’t stay still, I had to be on my feet, just doing things in the present moment.

My first cafe shift, I had no idea what to do–only that I had to serve lunch for 30 guests and a vague fever dream of an assistant manager going through the motions a few days ago. First step: make rice. Where is the rice? Oh, found it. How do I turn on the rice cooker? All the buttons are in Japanese and google translate is not loading(I don’t have the wifi password). Ok I’m just gonna press this one and check if the rice is hot in 5 minutes. Turns out the outlet needed to be pressed in order for the power to start, despite the rice cooker being plugged in. Little culture shock. Looking back, I don’t know how I got through that shift, but I did. And that itself is an achievement. I did it all by myself!

Such simple things become so big that it’s easy to stress out from the smallest issues. Honestly the first week of being here, I was stressed, tired, and my brain was going to explode from all the information. After all, my life back home and here couldn’t have been further from different. I had just quit my job and been at home with my cat, aimlessly wondering what to do for the day. It was going from 0→100. But humans are meant to adapt. So I adapted. Being put into such a new environment has taught me to change, to learn, to grow, and now I feel my mind is more open and resilient. I feel like I can face anything.

My third day here, I went on a walk with Alex and Chihiro. I enjoyed a cup of cold-brew gyokuro in the neighboring tea fields. It was a sunny day filled with adventure!

The interns found a huge tea branch and decided to pose with it. How tall do you think this branch is?

This day left my body feeling like jelly~ Can you believe we moved all these tea bags in one day? From the factory and to the garage.

I went to Kofuku-ji Temple in Nara on my holiday(a.k.a weekend). I was moved by everyone’s wishes. It seems people desires health, happiness, connection, love, and success.

My second lesson: People come and go, but they leave something with you.

Just when I started getting to know two interns (my senpai’s), they’re leaving already! Two interns, Eva and Josh are leaving and I’ve only known them for a month! Eva, from Slovenia, inspired me to mesh my sourdough skills with Krompiruša. I made a Slovenian inspired dish for her graduation party. Josh, from Singapore, left me with a innovative lint roller tool that you can roll on the floor while standing. It blew my mind and I geniunely think I won’t be able to keep my room clean without it. Everytime I use it, I’m grateful he gave it to me! Being here, I’ve grown and learned a lot about myself. I picked up little traits, habits, and knowledge in everyone.

This is when I attended a matcha factory, Hasegawa-Ei Tea Factory, in Uji! I enjoyed it so much. From visiting the shaded tea bushes, to their factory, and then tasting the matcha in their shop, the experience was amazing. The shaded tea bushes captured a serene environment, the treats were tasty, the matcha was the deepest green I’ve seen, the shop was beautiful, and the staff was friendly. I want to share their matcha with people back home!

At a local community bbq, I befriended local pizza shop owners: Ikuko and Michael! They started making pizza for the local community and created Blodge Lodge Pizza. Hearing this, I wanted to share my love for baking with them and introduce them to sourdough. That is how I became their sensei for a day. We made sourdough bread and sourdough pizza together. I learned from them and they learned from me. It’s not everyday you meet such friendly bakers.

My third lesson: Some mistakes lead to the best discoveries.

My 5th day here, I had my sourdough starter all ready to make some bread! I had just met 2 interns that also make sourdough bread and I wanted to share my focaccia (and impress them of course). However, I searched PLANT (a gigantic grocery store) and couldn’t find a jar of chilli oil, my special ingredient. I’m sure it was there, but my first time there was too overstimulating as everything was in another language and it felt like a maze. But then I ended up experimenting with green onions, sesame seeds, and making do with the seasonings in the kitchen and it turned out much better than I expected.

Hungry, but having no place in mind, a couple interns and I stumbled across this hidden gem.

Garance and Jackie, and I walked into a discreet, tiny bar. We were served by the kindest couple! They had a radiant smile and wanted to talk to us, despite the language barrier. I thought the drawing was the most accurate picture of them.

Burnt, caramelized brown sugar, wakoucha, cinnamon and peanut cream sourdough bread. I wanted to make a caramelized sweet sourdough bread, but my heart dropped when I realized I had burnt it. Nonetheless, I shortly realized this might have been the best bread I made.

Making white tea was sort of by accident. Alex and I experimented with the tea processes. We divided the tencha leaves into different batches and tried different methods on each. We even tried steaming a little batch to halt oxidation and see if it could become tencha. I think our main result is a white tea with oolong notes, but it’s absolutely perfect. It turned out sweet, floral, fragrant, and delicate. I can see how making tea can become addicting!

When picking up Thursday night pizza, Jackie, Skai, and I arrived a bit early. We then decided to go on a night walk. Climbing random steps, we came across an abandoned swimming pool and wellness center, and were overcome by the beautiful scenery of our village at night.