Hojicha Latte and Syrup

You may or may not have had the pleasure of drinking a Hojicha Latte (if you haven’t, I highly recommend it!) And if you’re like me, and some of our other interns, you like to sweeten your latte slightly… Instead of using sugar, why not try making a simple syrup with Hojicha tea, instead next […]

Spring Wagashi(春の和菓子)by #165 Kia

In spring, Japan is steadily covered in a blanket of pink. From late March to early May, cherry blossoms decorate the landscapes of Japan as sakura trees burst into bloom across the country. As the sakura are only briefly in full bloom, they are celebrated for their beautiful reminder of impermanence and seasonal changes. In […]

Sipping Success: The Art of Signage for Small Tea Businesses

Ah, the tale of the old signs  The Wazuka rain may have been our ally in nurturing our tea crops, but when it came to our road signs, it left travellers squinting and scratching their heads. It was a bittersweet realisation for us at Obubu – while these road signs had served us faithfully for […]

Hojicha White Chocolate Cheesecake

As an avid tea drinker, and amateur baker, I knew I wanted to experiment with adding tea to my baking. Matcha baking is already very popular, but what about the other tea powders, beyond matcha?  I began my tea baking journey with a Hojicha White Chocolate Cheesecake. I experimented with adding different amounts of Hojicha […]

Winter Wagashi(冬の和菓子)by #165 Kia

Winter is a time when we need countless cups of hot tea. It goes without saying at this point that every cup of tea is an excellent time to eat a bit of wagashi as well. During winter, multiple occasions call for sweets, notably New Year celebrations, which are of great importance. Wagashi is also […]

Volunteering at Obubu as a Senior High School Student

At Obubu we are looking for someone who … Is it me they are talking about?! Let me introduce myself! My name is Suzuka, and I am a senior high school student volunteering at Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms! One day, I was looking for a volunteer project where I would be able to use English, […]

The Kyobancha Harvest

What a first day in the field for the new Interns Obubu! At 9 o’clock this morning, Kali, Kamiko, Lana, Nathan and Patrick, joined their senpais Kirstine and Jenifer for the first harvest in Aoimori, the Blue Forest tea field. Ready with gloves, boots and rain pants, at 9 o’clock the team went up the […]

Life of an Obubu Intern, 163 Jason

Introduction Hi everyone! My name is Jason, and I am intern number 163 here at Obubu Tea. I’m from the United States and I graduated in May of 2023 from Truman State University. I came to Obubu to learn more about tea and to experience Japanese culture as I want to potentially teach English and […]

Autumn Season Internship Recap by Gabrielle

Konnichiwa!! This is Gabrielle (intern #161). Sadly, it is my last week here at Obubu.. Where has the time gone?! It has been an unforgettable 3 months full of many memories. My internship period was for the Autumn season and I lived in Wazuka from September-December. Here is a recap of my time at Obubu! […]

Making Black Tea by Hand

Hello! I’m Cameron, intern #160, here to tell you about how I got the chance to make my own black tea by hand. We got up early to hand pick our tea, getting to the field about about 7 in the morning. We used Aoimori 青い森茶畑 (Blue Forest) tea field, an all natural tea field […]

Japanese Traditional Tea Garments

My name is Emma, intern #162, from Denmark.During my time at Obubu and Japan my interest for the Japanese culture grew bigger and especially the history behind the traditional tea garments caught my attention. During my time at Obubu, I wanted to explore the traditional garments worn in relation to tea. Which uniform is worn […]

Elvira and Gabrielle’s Adventures in Japan

Hello everyone! Gabrielle & Elvira here! We traveled a lot during our three months living in Japan and wanted to share some of our favorite trips we took to give you ideas for some weekend trips.  KYOTO We took many trips to Kyoto during our internship. There are so many beautiful temples to see in […]

Tea Blending Guide

Tea blending is one of the most involved activities anybody can engage in when it comes to tea. It can be one of the strongest acts of appreciation any tea lover can do and holds the potential to push products to new heights and beyond any flavour profile you have experienced. The only downside to […]

Assistant Manager blog Sarah [2023.11月]

みなさん こんにちわ! This is Sarah, and for the month of November I would like to write about a very special flower: the tea flower! Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant that, besides its delicious leaves, also produces flowers and seeds. The flowers are around 3 cm, they have white petals and yellow anther and filaments. […]

Cycling guide around Wazuka and Kansai

Hello everyone welcomes to our cycling guide of Wazuka, we’ll provide you with essential information about the best cycling routes, whether you’re an avid cyclist seeking a challenging ride or traveler looking for a tranquil escape. Wazuka Tea Field Exploration: Exploring Wazuka covers approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) with an elevation gain of 430 meters. […]

Assistant Manager blog Sarah [2023.10月]

On a cold Thursday evening of October, as we entered Nakai Sensei’s tearoom, Sara, Jean and I noticed an unfamiliar object. Moe, another student of our teacher, was practicing sado (tea ceremony) using a mizusashi (water container) that was particularly tall. Nakai Sensei explained to us that this shape of pot was only used in […]

Life of an Obubu Intern 151 Itsaya #3

My third month at Obubu! Oh nooo it is my last blog post!! Time goes by too quickly! We have so much fun here that we can’t see the days go by!  This month has been as busy as the first two though we didn’t harvest. I miss it a lot by the way! Harvesting […]

Sophie’s insights on Tea in Britain

We were pleased to welcome intern #147 Sophie this summer 2023. Sophie is from the United-Kingdom and is giving us her insights about tea in Britain! Tea In Britain Whilst tea drinking has become almost synonymous with British culture, tea wasn’t introduced to the country until 1660, almost 900 years after the introduction of tea […]

Life of an Obubu Intern 151 Itsaya #2

[2023年 06 月] My first month at Obubu is finished! It went by so fast! During this month, I have learned a lot about processing and each step of the transformation of the leaf, but it doesn’t end here. For example, we cleaned the soft and rough rolling machines. It was very funny because we […]