Kai’s Kitchen An entree Steeped in History What’s good y’all? Welcome back to the 5th installment of Kai’s Kitchen! Well ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between – we have arrived at the main course. We’ve had an appetizer, soup, fish, salad, and now we have our entree! For something as important as […]
Kai’s Kitchen Roasted Rice and Leafy Greens Welcome back all! Welcome back to another mouth watering installment of Kai’s Kitchen! This week we are going to go for something a little lighter and more refreshing. The next dish we have is a palate cleanser, but is still deep and complex in flavor. […]
1 Fish, 2 Teas Kai’s Kitchen Howdy all! We are back at it with more tea cooking, and this week I’ve found something very cool for you all. We are moving on to the later courses of our meal, so time for something a little more filling. We had amuse bouche (appetizer) […]
Kai’s Kitchen Soup and tea? A matcha made in heaven! Buenos Dias friends! This week we are continuing our 6 course meal with something sweet and refreshing. After our first dish (Kabuse Parm Bruschetta), we are shooting for something a bit lighter, but still satisfying, so this week we have a light […]
Kai’s Kitchen Bake, Brew, and Fry; Ways to cook with tea! Hello all! Here in Wazuka things are getting a little crazy. One of our founders, Matsu-san several years ago organized a town wide event called Chagenkyo Matsuri (or TeaTopia) where people from all over the area get together to talk tea, […]
Kai’s Kitchen Nothing more appetizing than a good appetizer Hello all! Welcome back to Kai’s Kitchen. This week we kick things off by leaning a bit into the savory side of things. Japanese Tea is very well known for its insane umami flavor. Umami is a word overused and not very well […]
Kai’s Kitchen Not Just for Brewing The world of tea is a deep and ancient one. Japanese tea stretches back to the 9th century when a Buddihist monk brought the tea plant (Camellia Sinensis) back from China and planted it in Kyoto, Uji. From that point, Japan has had tea ingrained into […]
Have you tried a Matcha ice cream, Matcha cookies or even a Matcha smoothie, yet? I bet you did! Matcha is going crazy all over the world in recent years. Not only because of the color of this famous tea powder, but also due to its many health benefits. What, if we told you that […]
Obubu organizes Tea Picking and Rolling Events 3 times a year to celebrate Japanese tea harvesting seasons. This event is one of popular activities for tea lovers from all over the world. We believe that is because we have welcomed over 90 interns who love Japan and Japanese tea; and who always warmly […]
Kyobancha is a green tea that is unique to the Kyoto region. I was fortunate enough able to experience this tea from farm to cup, and I wanted to share it! Kyobancha is a large leaf green tea that is roasted. The leaves are large because it is made from the leaves that survived during […]
For the last two weeks, I have talked about matcha tea ceremonies, matcha tea utensils, and now it is finally time to talk about matcha itself! In this post I want to break down how the tea is made. First and foremost, to create a baseline, it is important to first explain aracha and […]
Last week, I had a chance to see a tea ceremony and try portions of it out! This week, I thought that it would be interesting follow that post up with the teaware used during the ceremony, as well as give some tips on whisking matcha! As part of the tea ceremony event, we tried […]
As part of my trip to Japan, one thing I wanted to experience was a tea ceremony! Luck would have it that last Sunday in Wazuka, the town Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms is located in, had one! This will actually be part one of my three part mini-series on matcha. Matcha has become […]
Last week, I wrote about shaded (Kabuse) green teas and I said that I would talk about unshaded (Roji) teas this week. However, I realized that it actually might be more useful to talk about harvesting seasons and why they are important, purely because most plants around the world are left unshaded in order to […]
Last week, I started TEA 101, and the goal of the series is to share what I am learning about tea with you! In the first post, I broke down different common green teas in Japan. Now, I want to go into more detail about each one. This week will be about shaded teas! Shaded […]
Since I am living at Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms in Japan, it seemed most fitting to start a series focused on tea: TEA 101! The first post I wanted to write was a guide to common Japanese green teas. The concept behind TEA 101 is pretty loose but the main goal is to share what […]
Over the weekend, I was able to take part in a Chakabuki here in Wazuka! A chakabuki, in short, is a blind tea tasting game that is played in Japan. I’ve never been to one before, so I thought it would be fun to bring everyone along! Chakabuki was originally played by the aristocrats, but […]
Hi everyone! My name is Jessica, and I’m the author/illustrator for Adventures in Tea! Thank you to everyone for reading my mini-series! I spent a great time at Obubu learning about Japanese tea, and this mini-series was my way of showing people what I’ve been learning and giving everyone a little bit of cuteness and […]
Illustrated and written by Jessica Ye Japanese Version Here! 日本語版はこちらです！→ https://www.obubu.net/oblog/28650.html
Japanese Version Here 日本語版はこちら: https://www.obubu.net/oblog/28393.html
More and more individuals are becoming enchanted by the Japanese tea room and ceremony service. Chado (the Japanese tea ceremony) searches for finesse in simple movement, and showcases elegance and purity in form. When coming to Japan, it seems as if these qualities are inherently ingrained within the lifestyles of the people. Coming to Japan […]
There are many ways to make tea, and just as many kinds of teapots. Today we’re going to talk about the three types of Japanese tea ware we use most often at Obubu: the chawan, houhin, and kyusu. Chawan 茶碗 Chawan, or tea bowls, are used together with bamboo whisks for making matcha in the […]
Hachijuu-Hachiya, the 88th Day 八十八夜 The 88th day of traditional Japanese calendar, which falls right around May 1st or 2nd, is famous as an important date for farmers, and especially tea farmers. For several hundred years, the 88th day has been considered the best day to start the spring tea harvest. Those tender new shoots […]
During tea tours, we are often asked whether there are different types of plants for different teas. Read on for the answer! Tea Cultivars A cultivar is a group of plants that have been bred by farmers for desirable characteristics. Cultivars can be more or less suited to weather conditions (frost hardy or early […]
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