Hachijyu Hachiya symbolizes the 88 nights of spring and marks the beginning of the spring tea harvest, also known as Shincha. While the date fell officially on May 2nd, this year’s harvest came early — on April 26, to be exact. In fact, it was the earliest that Akky-san had ever harvested in his entire […]
Akihiro Kita, the President of Obubu Chaen, has been a tea farmer and processor for about 25 years including his training period. From the emotional encounter with a cup of Kabuse Sencha Tea by experiencing a part-time job at a tea farm in Wazuka, Introduction to Japanese Tea Akky 16 years ago?! He dropped […]
In May the Spring Harvest is well under way! The terrain is very steep at the top of the mountains, so we will carefully harvest the plants while paying close attention to foot placement! The harvesting machine weighs about 10 kg. As the harvested leaves are blown into bags, the weight of each bag is about […]
Sweet Sakura Tea Marie Sweet cherry tea is also available this year! What is Obubu Tea? Obubu Intern Raw Tea Sample Sakuracha This year, Obubu is preparing sweet cherry tea for spring! In Japan, cherry tea pickled with salt and plum vinegar is common and the most drunk, but for a few […]
Today is a sunny day and the staff and the intern all planted baby tea trees. The variety is called Saeakari and it is the first time we are planting this cultivar! This is going to be a gyokuro tea field, so we will set up more shading shelves for this. We are making it […]
This blog post is the creation of one of our amazing previous interns Carly De La Cruz. She came to Wazuka to learn about tea and she delved into the rich history and culture with fervour. It’s always a pleasure to see people so passionate about tea and so keen to learn more about how […]
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 […]
Welcome back to our blog series on tea names! Today, we’ll cover gyokuro and kukicha. Gyokuro 玉露 Gyokuro, meaning “jewel dew,” conjures up an image of morning dewdrops collected from rare jade, and the tea liquor is a vibrant green color to match. Gyokuro is famous as a luxury tea; it’s harvested just once […]
The blossom of cherry trees is the national flower of Japan and a symbol of the country’s uniqueness. The custom of admiring cherry trees in bloom is said to have started during the Nara Period (710–794) when the elite of the Imperial Court followed the Chinese custom of ume (plum) blossoms instead. But by the […]