Hello everyone, Alix here (AM #6) !
In this blog I am writing about my experience of my last quarter at Obubu, which seems a bit surreal after such an amazing and intense year.
Winter is the most quiet period in terms of activities at Obubu since there is little to no farming and tourism reaches a low point. This calm period gives us more “insider time” as we like to call it, which is essentially time in the office, to work on various projects including our personal projects, construction projects, labelling, etc. This is also a great time for Assistant Managers et Obubu Ambassadors to take part in AME sessions. AME means “Assistant Manager Education” and is an integral part of the program as it allows for a deep dive in Japanese Tea Education through 13 classes which cover both the cultural and practical aspects of tea from history and tea ceremony to plant biology and brewing chemistry.
One of the very relaxing activities we were able to do is Thé Sakura sucré making. When I first arrived in Spring 2024, we got to do the last steps of the process so it was interesting to be able to learn the first steps of the process a year later. This meant removing the salt from the flowers, washing them gently, draining them and drying them for 2 to 3 weeks before mixing with sugar to obtain the final Sweet Sakura Tea! We chatted and listened to upbeat music as we carefully separated each individual flower for drying.
There were no stagiaires for most of winter, as it is a season with little to no tourism, and a break in tea farming with only a bit of trimming. Finally, Eva (intern #188) and Joshua (#187) joined us late January which has been such a pleasure! With them, we hosted nabe parties and even attended a nabe festival. Middle of February, we met the new Assistant Managers who will be joining the team for the next year. I’m looking forward to hearing about their respective adventures at Obubu throughout their year here, and seeing all the ways that the company will evolve and grow!
To conclude one of my personal projects, writing about Cheese and Tea Pairings, I hosted a Tea Lounge event with Obubu staff members and interns (complete with a ceremonious cheese headband). I briefly summarized the contents of my four cheese and tea blogs in a presentation about cheese, tea and how to pair them. Of course, after learning the theory, we had to put this knowledge in practice with a cheese and tea tasting session! We tried 6 teas (Hoji-Genmaicha, Matcha naturel Okumidori, Tencha, Fern Shoot Wakoucha, Gold Hojicha, Sakura Sencha) and 6 cheeses (Comté, Ossau Iraty, Fourme d’Ambert, Brie, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Saint-Nectaire). The main recommendations from this session were Comté with Natural Okumidori Matcha, Saint-Nectaire with Tencha, and Fourme d’Ambert with Fern Shoot Wakoucha. Feel free to try your own cheese and tea pairings!
As part of the New Year’s cleaning tradition in Japan, we replaced the shoji paper in the office’s tearoom. The process involves soaking the glue lines to peel the paper away, removing the paper, scraping the glue off, adding new glue to the frame, setting your new shoji paper on the frame, cutting to size, and putting the sliding panels back in place. The most fun part of the process though, is getting to punch big holes in the damaged paper before replacing it. Everyone got to test out their ninja skills that day!
During the winter holidays, I escaped the Kansai cold spell by flying to tropical Okinawa. This was an beautiful trip, seeing the temples and old castles in an environment of tropical vegetation and bright flowers. Going there in January is also the perfect chance to go whale-watching, as it is the season that humpback whales are within this archipelago. Of course, a tea-lover cannot go to Okinawa without trying Okinawan tea! The north of the island is home to many tea fields, and Okinawa has its own distinct tea traditions. Buku-buku is a whisked tea made from jasmine tea and hard rice water. Its high foam topping is meant to be eaten directly, which, while not the most graceful, is very fun. Other teas that you will commonly find in the region include Sanpin-cha (さんぴん茶) which is jasmine tea, turmeric tea or ucchin (うっちん), shell ginger tea or sannin (さんにん), hibiscus tea, goya tea, guava tea, and mugwort tea to cite a few.
Back at home though, as soon as a snow storm hit Kansai, Katrina, Eva, Joshua and I decided it was a brilliant idea to hike on a mountain. We drove all the way to lake Biwa (have you heard of lake Biwa?) and hiked up Mount Minako. Unsurprisingly, we were the only ones that braved the cold that day. The ambiance was mystical with constant snowfall and a quiet forest. The ascent was steep and slippery but that just made the descent all the more fun as we sled down the mountain while singing songs from the movie “Frozen”. We, of course, could not resist drinking tea in such a beautiful environment and we had luckily come prepared. Katrina masterfully brewed us a tasty Kabuse Sencha. Since starting my practice of Sado, matcha tea ceremony, I have dreamt of hosting a tea ceremony in the snow and this dream was finally accomplished! I was so happy to share this passion of mine with such lovely humans and make four bowls of matcha in such a picturesque location.
Akky-san, Katrina, and I also participated in the annual Chakabuki (tea tasting) event organised by the Nihoncha Instructor Association. There were two categories competing: Tea industry professionals and General public (which I was a part of). Over the course of five rounds, we had to guess which teas we were drinking from a selection of 2 Gyokuros (from Nikunoku and Kyotanabe) and 3 senchas (from Shizuoka, Kagoshima and Wazuka). After 21 cups of tea, a lot of smelling, drinking and doubting, the competition was over and results were in! I won 4th place out of 30 in my category which I am so happy about!! I was able to take home with me my favourite tea of the day : a Shizuoka sencha with lovely roasted and fruity notes. Overall, we had so much fun and met many passionate tea people, from tea farmers, to tea influencers!
On my last working day at Obubu, Katrina and I supported Akky-san, Miwako, and Pau in their participation at the Uji Tea Hand-Rolling Competition. Teams from Wazuka, Uji and Kyotanabe hand-rolled large Gokou cultivar leaves for several hours, after which they all obtained beautiful needle-shaped sencha. Highlights from the day include meeting many local tea farmers and learning about Itazuri, a typical rolling technique from Uji which requires the use of an additional board. After the teams were done rolling, the judges deliberated based on criteria points like appearance, taste, and colour. The four teams from Wazuka were awarded 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th place out of 10 participants!
That’s it for my tea adventures in Japan (for now at least!). If you haven’t read them yet, feel free to check out my Spring, Summer et Autumn blogs. Thank you for following along and I hope you enjoyed reading an insight into what Obubu assistant managers do!
Enjoy Japan!
– Alix (AM #6)
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