Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms

This tea surprised me. After I decanted the pot, I sniffed the brewed leaves, and it instantly brought back a flood of memories.
You know how certain smells are strongly connected to memories or emotions? Well, this reminded me of when I lived in Hong Kong…. I don’t know if it was the smell of a HK bakery, or mochi, or dim sum, but the aroma was very good and I couldn’t help but continue to sniff and figure out why it felt so familiar.

Surprisingly, the leaves of this tea are very light green/yellowish and tiny. I could have sworn this was a fukamushi, as the leaves are only a little larger than dust. I thought this could be a fukamushi bancha, though, I’ve never heard of such a thing. (I don’t know the difference between bancha and a 2nd or 3rd harvest sencha… does anyone else?)

EDIT I wasn’t quite able to finish my thoughts on this.

I’m really surprised about the size of the leaves, because it’s just lightly steamed.
I would say I enjoyed this tea, but there wasn’t much depth to the flavor. Not sweet, nor bitter; slightly astringent, with the main flavor being a perhaps a little grassy or like sweet rice (which, as you know, isn’t really sweet). I think I enjoyed it because there wasn’t anything wrong with it, and the aroma was so connected to those memories. Nevertheless, it wasn’t very exciting or a flavor I would go seek out (especially to buy it from Japan). If I saw it in my local grocery store, then perhaps I’d pick some up.

Nothing surprising here, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. But there was something present, maybe a more fresh flavor, which brought out a different kind of sweetness than I’ve tasted in a houjicha. It could simply be because it has a lot more twigs present, and I’ve not had much kuki-houjicha before.

The wet leaves in the pot had a very nice aroma like coffee.

I think I liked this as much as Den’s Tea Houjicha Gold. The main difference I noticed, besides the (perhaps) fresh flavor or unique sweetness, was the presence of aformentioned twigs (HUGE ones… many 1" long!), and the size of the leaves (large). This is roasted aracha, unsorted tea, whereas Houjicha Gold is roasted bancha. That could likely explain the taste difference, but I’m actually rating this one just slightly better because of how nice the large leaves and twigs look.

I wonder if it has the same, consistent taste every year. Tea merchants (like Den’s Tea) expertly blend several tea lots together to achieve the same taste for their product all the time. However, Obubu Tea is a farm selling directly to consumers, so it makes sense that they would sell aracha. Anyway, I’m rambling, but curious to know if the flavor of this changes noticeably each year.

Delicious! This tea has a grassy, earthen smell in the bag, and a grassy, floral sent once brewed. The color is a nice bright green and the flavor is a near perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness (the good kind). Obubu doesn’t disappoint!

Approximately 3 grams of tea for 3oz of water at 70C for 1.5 minutes for the first infusion, then 3oz 80-90C water after that for 30 seconds for further infusions.

This is a nice, cheap, everyday tea. The flavor is really good for bancha, and the leaves are big and whole.

I deviate from Obubu’s “standard” steeping method a little, I use 3 oz of boiling water to about 4g of tea for 30 seconds for the first infusion, then 3oz boiling water for 15 seconds for the other infusions. The brew is tasty. A bit tart, with a good mix of bitter and sweet. For the price, a really nice tea!

Wow, talk about different but so cool. You have to go into this with an open mind and I think I did or at least I hope I did. It was lovely and so very unique. I tried it plain for my first time but based on the flavor I can imagine this a great addition to Genmiacha and Sencha and I truly can’t wait to try it that way.

Flavor: Sweet and lightly floral as you would imagine a cherry blossom to smell. Tiny bit salty but most of the flavor was removed during the 5mins I let the flower soak in warm water, as directed. I then put in a spoonful of water, one at a time using the water the flower was soaking which adds a bit of a salty flavor. I noticed after the second spoonful that the sweetness vanished and the flavor became completely different. I wish I could describe it but let’s just say it was very unique and no it doesn’t taste like water with salt. I am glad I tried it and recommend you give it a try knowing it is a big risk. I imagine this to be a love it or hate it experience for most.

This is exactly as described. It is milky and creamy. I would suggest this matcha for a newbie who is not used to how bold a matcha can be. It is very subtle. I think next time I may make this as a latte.

This is deliciously roasty. I love the buttery-caramel taste to it. Silky yet rustic.

One of the best Houjicha teas I’ve come across yet.

This is my first tea from Obubu, and it is quite delicious.

The leaves are large! I’m used to rather broken leaves with Japanese tea, but these are mostly whole. Being aracha, there are stems in it, but I love the flavor of the stems, so I like it even more.

The smell of the leaves, both before and after brewing, is AMAZING. I can see why it is called “Sencha of the Wind”. It smells like a sweet spring breeze. The color of the tea is a nice yellow-green, and the taste is nice and sweet, with a slight fruity flavor.

I don’t follow their “sencha expresso” brewing instructions, instead using my own. 2-3g of tea to 3-4oz water for 1.5 minutes. 30 seconds for the 2nd and 3rd infusions. Unlike some teas, the flavor really lasts on the 3rd and even 4th infusions.

I hope to try more teas from Obubu. They have a nice lineup, and are very “open” about their work on the site, and have good communication on Facebook/Twitter.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, Obubu recommends you eat the leaves after steeping. I tried it, and they tasted surprisingly good. I splashed a little soy sauce and rice vinegar on the leaves, and they tasted quite a bit like spinach. I think I felt the caffeine more, though.

EDIT 2: The more I brew it the more I like it! This tea is really growing on me. Easy to brew, always a consistent flavor, it’s great!

Finishing of the evening with what I have to say is my most favorite Genmaicha I have tasted thus far. I am trying to include more greens and oolong throughout the day as things are getting warmer here. It is nice to have something a little lighter and refreshing. However, black teas will still offer up a strong presence within my diet. :-)

First, Thank you Obubu Teas for sending me a sample of this tea. I can use a bunch of fancy words to describe this tea and I will for those who prefer it but really none of that is necessary. This tea is GOOD, amazing even. I loved it and what’s more my dear husband did to. He has never liked a green tea and he not only liked it but told me he would drink it. I was shocked. If you knew him you would be too.

Fancy Words: Deep full cup. Fresh with a slighly roasted finish. Even had a bit a sweetness. Sophisticated and kept me wanting more so I ordered a bag right away. Delicious!

I noticed, that when getting ready to taste the tea, you are hit with a smoky/woodsy aroma, which is one of the tea’s strengths. The liquor is a dark orange/brown, almost a deep amber. The tea has a robust, roasted flavor with notes of nutty, sweetness and a hint of chocolate. (for a detailed review please visit :http://tyrosoftea.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/obubu-farms-houjicha-%E2%80%93-dark%C2%A0roast/)

I noticed, that when getting ready to taste the tea, you are hit with a smoky/woodsy aroma, which is one of the tea’s strengths. The liquor is a dark orange/brown, almost a deep amber. The tea has a robust, roasted flavor with notes of nutty, sweetness and a hint of chocolate. (for a detailed review please visit :http://tyrosoftea.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/obubu-farms-houjicha-%E2%80%93-dark%C2%A0roast/)

I love Genmaicha so when I received this sample I was very happy to try it.

This is a slightly different tasting Genmaicha than some others that I’ve tried. The tea tastes different – but not in a bad way, in a very, very good way! I can definitely tell that I’m tasting a sencha rather than a bancha – I can taste the fresh, bittersweet flavor of the sencha. This tastes a little less “roasty-toasty” (bancha has a natural sort of toasted flavor to it, in my opinion) than a typical Genmaicha, and a little more … complex.

The delicate bitter notes add a unique interest to this tea – it isn’t a strong or distasteful bitterness. I would describe it more as a semi-sweet taste rather than a BITTER taste… if that makes sense.

I really like this Genmaicha… a LOT!

Whereas the loose leaf is DARK the infused tea is not. It sort of smells like roasted nuts with a musky smell of mushrooms hiding underneath. The taste is quite good tho! Probably one of my favorite Houjicha’s to date!