6 Reasons Used Tea Leaves are Best Household Helper

In love with your cup of tea but don’t know what to do with loads of brewed tea leaves? Instead of disposing them, Japanese like to dry and re-use these tea leaves (also called chagara) in many ways, be it beauty care or household maintenance. Here’s how chagara can be used to enhance our household […]

Chagayu (Tea Porridge)

Recommended for those who follow a vegetarian/vegan diet or for someone who is ill:   Ingredients for 3-4 people Rice 150g/180ml (roughly rinsed) Water 540-720cc Bagged Houjicha 12g   Bring the water to a boil. Once boiled put Hojicha in, simmer it for a few minutes until the tea colour comes out. Then take out […]

How To Brew A Delicious Japanese Green Tea

Like A Meal Needs A Good Cook, Tea Needs A Good Brewer Unique, proud, generous. Japan is a nation that possesses a distinctive culture. Many people say that Japanese goods are perfectly made. While it is quite difficult to define perfection, since everyone has his or her own preferences, it is undeniable that the Japanese produce […]

Why is Green Tea Your Indispensable Companion?

Green tea is good for us, we have heard this often. Indeed, this common drink that can be easily obtained could give us numerous health benefits as it contains a high amount of the antioxidant called catechin. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), to be precise, is the main type of catechin that takes care of our overall […]

How To Brew Green Tea With Kyusu

A Classical Way Of Brewing Green Tea As stated by the previous article, the use of Houhin and Kyusu is more reliable in bringing out the tea’s potential flavors. Furthermore, it is one of the easier methods to use compared to others. Made in Japan, these teapots are recommended for brewing green tea. Normally, Kyusu is made […]

How to Brew Green Tea With Houhin

A Classical Way Of Brewing Green Tea As stated by the previous article, the use of Houhin and Kyusu is more reliable in bringing out the tea’s potential flavors. Furthermore, it is one of the easier methods to use compared to others. Made in Japan, these teapots are recommended for brewing green tea. This teapot is used […]

How To Brew Green Tea With A Strainer

An Alternative Way Of Brewing Green Tea As the previous article explains that it is more reliable to use traditional Japanese teapots, such as Kyusu and Houhin, to bring out the tea’s full potential flavor, using alternative methods shouldn’t cause too much of a concern. Although the leaves may not open completely, they can still […]

Obubu on site: Little Matcha Girl

A Japanese inspired patisserie has freshly opened its doors to curious sweet-toothed residents ( or visitors) of Perth and on their plate – a mix of Japan’s truly authentic and distinguished flavours. Little Matcha Girl is more than your regular sweet shop; it serves up teas sourced directly from Obubu and in-house baked desserts that will surely […]

Piece of cake: an easy guide to making matcha dessert

Innovative matcha recipes are a common fad in the current food scene. Borrowed from Japan and topped with a Western twist – it seems that the trend sometimes spotlights green food pizzazz instead of the rich, umami flavour that matcha brings to the plate. Since matcha green delicatessens are common in Japan for many years now, we decided to strip our recipe down to basics… So, meet […]

Japanese Tea Workshops in Oxford – 27th September, 2015

Having been invited by James Thirlwall from Chayou Tea, that organised educational tea events, we could come to Oxford for the second time. Actually the story started during our first Euro Tour two years ago. James joined our first event in London and having found that we share a similar appreciation for tea, we decided […]

Japanese Tea Talk and Tasting in London – 25th September 2015

Matsu and Simona from Obubu have returned to Europe for the third time with another Euro Tour opening in London. While the London event was one of the last ones to organize, it turned out to be a great success. All thanks to the Japan Society in London, that has been incredibly helpful and welcoming. […]

Japanese Tea Workshops in Milan – 6th-7th October, 2015

Another new stop on our Euro Tour was Milan. We have heard about the Italian Tea Culture Association before from our Italian guests who come to our tea farm, but only decided to contact the association this year. Luckily, Barbara Sighieri, the secretary of the association, had her own tea house called La Teiera Eclettica […]

Japanese Tea Workshops in the Hague – 3rd-4th October, 2015

The Hague is one of our favorite places to visit on the Euro Tour, as here we can simply talk the language of tea and need no translation. Our events in The Hague are hosted by the International Tea and Coffee Academy, that teaches the new generation of tea and coffee professionals, who have an […]

Japanese Tea Workshops in Madrid – 29th-30th September, 2015

While we have had a few Euro Tours, an opportunity to visit Madrid came only this year, as we got invited by an enthusiastic tea sommelier Charo Izquierdo. To tell the truth, Charo had visited our tea farm about two years ago and got in touch with us last year with a suggestion to hold […]

Japanese Tea and Zen Event in Barcelona – 2nd October, 2015

Continuing the tradition from last year, and invited again by Youko from the Matcha House we had a chance to visit Barcelona for the second time. Our second event here was quite different from the others on this year’s tour – it was held in a Zen temple and four local monks in their black […]

Japanese Tea Tasting Event in Metz – 10th October, 2015

Metz was the final stop on the tour this year. Again we were able to come here because of Lucilia, who help in organizing the event.   The event was held at a Japanese restaurant, called L’izakaya, that owner of which is a Japanese Chef, who makes French inspired Japanese dishes. We decided to hold […]

Japanese Tea Events in Dusseldorf – 8th-9th October, 2015

With a third time to visit Dusseldorf, it felt like returning home. Thanks to Lucilia, who has been inviting us every year and has just opened Obubu EU branch.   This year we had two Japanese tea events at two different venues, that actually happened to be on the same street. One was the Nihon […]

Tea Tasting Workshops in Cotswolds – 26th, 28th September 2015

On our Euro Tours we don’t just go to the capital cities but want to see all kinds of places. Invited by David Lee from the Into Japan, Japan specialist tour organizer, we had a chance to hold two events in a beautiful English countryside – Cotswolds. First event was at Batsford Arboretum, that has […]

Japanese Tea Tasting Event in Amsterdam – 5th October, 2015

  After a year we had a chance to return to Amsterdam for another go. This year we were welcomed by a young copy writer Glynis Kromopawiro. To tell the truth, we met Glynis in our Amstelween event last year and it seems she got really interested in tea, that she suggested to help organize […]

Matcha Workshop in Barcelona – 1st October, 2015

We visited Barcelona last year and having been invited by young tea enthusiasts Matteo and Sandra form the Tea Lovers Project we had another chance to come to Barcelona this year. To tell the truth Matteo and Sandra have already been working with our tea and before the event they event took us to a […]

Barcelona Japanese Tea Party – 14th September, 2014

At the beginning two weeks of travelling around Europe with Japanese tea may seem long, but it really flies by and the last stop is Barcelona. Pioneer of green tea in Spain and the owner of the Matcha House – Yoko-san has invited us to hold a few tea tasting events. The first one was […]

Hague Japanese Tea Workshop – 13th September, 2014

Even if a small country in Europe – the Netherlands, did not want to let us leave too soon. After a fun evening in a liberal city Amsterdam, we packed our tea to go to the Hague, where the International Tea and Coffee Academy was waiting for us, thanks to our friend and host Tomoko-san […]

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 […]

Dusseldorf Japanese Tea Event – 10th September, 2014

During the Euro Tour we had a chance to hold all kinds of events: from university workshops and more cultural events to some leisurely tea parties. Second event in Dusseldorf was a little different than the rest. That is because it was organized in a temple called Eco Haus. In the temple you could easily […]

Dusseldorf Japanese Tea Event – 9th September, 2014

This year Obubu Euro Tour has expanded into more countries and cities, but Dusseldorf in Germany is one of a few locations where we came back for the second time. Last year we visited Schennong Tea Lounge to hold a tea event and this year they were very kind to invite us again. There were only […]