Kyobancha - Obubu

This is my first known experience with a Kyobancha … it is sweet and toasty, reminding me a bit of a cross between a white tea and a Houjicha. It is roasty-toasty like a houjicha, and light and sweet like a white tea.

The sweetness here reminds me a bit of raw sugar cane, it is so sweet and yummy. The roasted flavor is slightly nutty, and there is very little vegetative tone to this tea … it’s slightly vegetal … a hay-like vegetal tone … but it is barely there. This tea is light in body and texture as well as taste … and it is so lovely … relaxing to sip!

I like this a lot!

Loose
Appearance: full bancha leaf, natural breaks, olive brown
Aroma when Dry: earthy, slight spice, sweet
After water is first poured: buttery, earthy
At end of first steep: buttery, earthy, leafy
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: faint hints of green
Staple? Type yes, company yes
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first?: slight spice, mineral notes,buttery, leafy
As it cools?: gets foresty, creamier, full bodied, salty, brothy
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Sweet, buttery, toasty, slight spice
want to try chilled

Second steep (5min)
Aroma: buttery
Taste:
At first: buttery, earthy, hints of spice
As it cools: spice notes fade, stays buttery, earthy, brothy

Third Steep (5 min):
creamy, brothy, salty

Fourth Steep (6 min)
light creamy salty brothy

Major backlogging here

The first thing I noticed about this roasted bancha was…well…how roastly and – uh – bancha-like it smelled. All leaves and burnt nuts – a very autumn smell. The leaves basically looked like cut leaves – brown and oxidized-looking. All pleasantries and no pomp, regardless of circumstance. It reminded me of a San Nen (three-year-aged) bancha I had some three years back. Whoah, how fitting!

The Tealet profile on this bancha recommended bringing water to a boil, letting it cool for up to three minutes, then steeping for about the same time. I cut the “wait” part out and just waited until the water came to almost-a-boil before stopping the kettle. However, I did adhere to the three-minute steep.

The liquor brewed dark amber instead of radioactive green (like other senchas). The aroma was just as autumnal as the dry presentation, all nuts, leaf, and…tartness? Okay, now I had to sip this to make sure that was what I smelled. Oh my, yes it was. This was both roasty and tart, not unlike another bancha I tried – an awabancha (pickled green tea). However, this didn’t taste like pickles – just like a green with a dash of hibiscus on the palate. I first noticed the tartness in the middle, but it continued with the trail-off to the finish. The aftertaste lingered on the roasty notes but still had a bit of zest to it. Very unusual…-ly wonderful.

TeaCuplets: http://lazyliteratus.tumblr.com/post/81024471310/teacuplets-tealet-kyoto-obubu-kyobancha