Amstelween Japanese Tea Workshop – 12th September, 2014

After lots of tea fun in Germany, next place to visit was the Netherlands – first time for Obubu. Invited by our host Tomoko-san, who had attended Obubu Euro Tour 2013 event in Dusseldorf, we came to Amstelveen, a small residential town just a few minutes away from Amsterdam. The event was held at a Japanese okonomiyaki and ramen restaurant called Ishii. Having a bit of time before the event, we could not resist a bowl of ramen ourselves. And what a bowl it was, exactly like the one you would have in Japan!

Returning back to the event, having 13 attendees made the event personable and cosy. The mixture of guests was similar to previous events: both Japanese expatriates living in the area and longing for authentic Japanese tea as well as Japanese culture and tea enthusiasts. And what a surprise, some of the guests had been on Obubu Guided Tea Tour before! It makes us really happy that one encounter is not necessarily the last.

To make this year’s events more special Matsu-san always started with calligraphy reflecting the mood, and Amstelween was no exception. Having heard that people in the Netherlands are not so used to green tea let alone Japanese tea, we thought to try both showing the traditional way of making Japanese tea as well as a more convenient way of using a tea bag. While many people admitted that tea made from our tea bags tasted nothing like the ones they get in the supermarket, eventually loose leaf tea was more popular. It is great to see, that even if very new to Japanese green tea, people are readily accepting of its traditional style.