Pekanbaru, Indonesia / Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Intern #142
Website: https://hojichaya.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andriciang2310/
Hello everyone! Andri here! Intern #142 reporting from the comfort of my chair.
BEFORE OBUBU
I’ve known about Obubu for about 3 years now, following them on social media, starting my business “HojichaYa Teas” in Malaysia with their teas, and joined Global Japanese Tea Association which has roots in Obubu as well.
Ever since I was a child, all I have been consuming is tea, although at the time it was all super sugary tea, as I’ve grown older, my palate tends to move further towards a lighter, less sugary flavor and in the end, just trying to appreciate the actual flavor of tea. Although I do still enjoy the occasional iced teas or milk teas.
Furthermore, at the end of 2019, I started learning more about Japanese teas and how they compare to Chinese teas, and there are a lot of differences in their processing method, flavors and even how they are grown and processed. Subsequently, a few months later, me and my partner decided to start a Japanese tea business called “HojichaYa Teas” in Malaysia, and this is also the time when I found Obubu!
WHY OBUBU
When I was looking for tea farms from Japan doing wholesale, Obubu naturally came up as one of the top options, not only do they have english speaking staff, they also provide a lot of resources regarding Japanese tea that we can learn from, and they are also very transparent with the way their teas are grown, processed, and sold.
In 2021, I attended the Japanese Tea Marathon ran by Global Japanese Tea Association and discovered a lot more about Japanese tea and the community behind it, which made me feel comforted and glad to be able to share knowledge and passion about them, and Obubu internship felt like the best way possible to gain knowledge about Japanese tea and how a tea farm + direct tea seller works, get to know the community around tea, as well as learn how to best teach people by learning directly from them.
Since then, it’s been 2 year since I’ve worked with Obubu and I’ve come to learn a lot more about them, the team and their programs, including the internship program, which offers everyone a chance to live in and work at their farm for 3 months, and learn everything there is about Japanese tea and its cultivation.
DURING OBUBU
My time in Obubu was during the Winter – Spring season, which was one of the most interesting seasons I had the pleasure of experiencing with my fellow interns, Tran and Yanis. On our first week, we had the best matcha we’ve ever had (Thanks George! Still can’t top that!), Went to tea field for a photoshoot of tea in the snow, and on the first weekend, Snowboarding/Skiing in Biwako Valley with George and Justin. It was a roller coaster right from the first week!
Since there are more tourists coming in starting this year, we also experienced Tea tours picking back up, so we had to slowly get used to presenting and learn about Obubu’s teas by heart, so that we can give our guests accurate information, although of course, we have our knowledgeable staff to help correct us and answer questions if needed.
During Winter/Spring season, there are very little tea processing and a lot more preparation for the Spring harvest season, which is Kyobancha harvesting in March, light and deep trimming tea bushes, making and putting on Kabuse (Shading), and some maintenance works for most of them. We also recently acquired a Hojicha Factory right next door to our office, so we had to do clean up for the place and some renovations. Click here to read about it!
Definitely one of my proudest moment is when I was tasked with turning about 70-80 Chabako (Tea Box) into shelves in the walk-in refrigerator for us to store all our teas in. It might have taken about 7 hours, but it really felt like an achievement unlocked when it’s done. To all future Kouhais, look closely in there and you might find an easter egg from us! (Also all around the house too)
Overall, this internship provided me with experiences that I would never have had elsewhere, not only do you get to stay with the most passionate community of tea, you’ll also get to learn from those that has been living with tea their whole life. This time, we have a saying, “Not a single day has been the same”, and that is 100% true, even if you’re doing the same task day by day (which usually isn’t the case), there are always new things to learn about, experience and new problems to solve. So enjoy the process, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask any of the staff members.
Parting words
Throughout my internship, I have made many precious memories, and here are just a few of them; George’s life changing matcha on our orientation day; Tampopo dinners with Hiro-san, Justin, Tran and Yanis; Biwako Valley on our first weekend; Visiting snowy tenku on our first day; sleeping in the freezing car by the beachside in Ise and doing insta-live with the interns the next day; Tea ceremony lessons with Nakai-sensei and Matsu-san; Riding the back of the truck for Akky Support Works; Going to Sakura Karaoke with Akky-san and Miwako-san on our last week here, and many more with a lot more people.
Most of my memories in this internship actually has always been with my fellow interns Tran and Yanis, so here I’d like to thank them for enjoying Japan with me, every step of the way, whether it was a weeknight trip after work to a sento in Kyoto, sleeping in the car by the freezing beachside in Ise, or even just a simple weekly walk to Lawson, every step of the way, if ever we are in doubt, Obubu has a saying “Enjoy Japan”, and this time, me, Tran and Yanis, definitely did take that saying to heart.
After Obubu
After 90 days of being here, I can confidently say that my knowledge regarding Japanese tea has grown by a lot, and hopefully when I go back to Indonesia and Malaysia, I can pass on this knowledge to others and spread the word of Japanese tea to the world.
Thank you Obubu family for giving us this opportunity
Intern #142 Andri,
Signing out
Favourites
Tea – Cold Brew Hojicha Dark Roast, George’s Okumidori Matcha, Sencha of the Spring Sun
Tea Field – Snowy Tenku, Aoimori
Favourite Cultivar – Okumidori, Meiryoku