Kyoto Obubu Tea Farm2024-04-03T14:15:00Zryan rix <garden@whatthefuck.computer>http://rix.si/kyoto-obubuThis season's Obubu tea club packet is an incredible gift.urn:uid:20240402T154048.5203212024-04-03T14:15:00Z2024-04-03T14:15:00Z<article><h2 id="20240402T154048.520321">This season's Obubu tea club packet is an incredible gift. </h2><p>Every time the season changes, I start to look forward to a package in the mail. The last few weeks I've spent part of each day <a href="//rix.si/tea-practice">brewing</a> <a href="//rix.si/tea/sencha">sencha tea</a>, spring compels me toward that lively freshness. I <a href="//rix.si/tea-practice#20240402T154049.784535">wrote earlier today</a> describing the flavor of umami as the flavor of life itself, and I do believe this more and more as I zero in on its unique characteristics. <a href="//rix.si/baisao">Baisao</a> wrote:
</p><p>: Uji tea has a taste infused
: with Nature's own essence
: a pity folks on prattle
: about its color and scent.
</p><p>And so with a belly full of sencha and aged puerh after drinking tea with a friend, I picked up my mail and among it was a package from Japan. 'lo!
</p><p><a href="/arcology/attachment/9beb580d0b27bdb90b035a1028a574ff8088387f8734625b8973b29e63bf279c-2160.jpg/html" target="_blank"><img src="/attachment/9beb580d0b27bdb90b035a1028a574ff8088387f8734625b8973b29e63bf279c-1080.jpg" alt="2024-04-02_16-38-43_9beb580d0b27bdb90b035a1028a574ff8088387f8734625b8973b29e63bf279c.jpg" loading="lazy"/></a>
</p><p><a href="//notes.whatthefuck.computer/media/9beb580d0b27bdb90b035a1028a574ff8088387f8734625b8973b29e63bf279c.jpg">//notes.whatthefuck.computer/media/9beb580d0b27bdb90b035a1028a574ff8088387f8734625b8973b29e63bf279c.jpg</a>
</p><p>The journals are bi-lingual now and quite high quality, with information about the tea and the state of the farm and of <a href="//rix.si/wazuka">Wazuka</a>. The postcards are always cute and nice. There was a hand-towel with the town farm map printed on it, too. It's always been a really cool treat over the years since I started drinking Obubu tea to see how the terroire of the fields change and how the teas develop year over year and season over season.
</p><p>Oh and there was some incredibly nice <a href="Gyokuro Tea">Gyokuro Tea</a> behind the kyobancha. Seeing them brought tears to my eyes.
</p><p><a href="/arcology/attachment/f44630bb42e3c5c6217453ca5262c6cbce6e24d433ca3139075d8d633c0b1878-2160.jpg/html" target="_blank"><img src="/attachment/f44630bb42e3c5c6217453ca5262c6cbce6e24d433ca3139075d8d633c0b1878-1080.jpg" alt="2024-04-02_16-41-17_a6e7f39779551d7fff6dcb60b477eff87b53cf5a5386b401d5a72a8877302841.jpg" loading="lazy"/></a>
</p><p><a href="//notes.whatthefuck.computer/media/a6e7f39779551d7fff6dcb60b477eff87b53cf5a5386b401d5a72a8877302841.jpg">//notes.whatthefuck.computer/media/a6e7f39779551d7fff6dcb60b477eff87b53cf5a5386b401d5a72a8877302841.jpg</a>
</p><p>150 grams of incredibly special teas, the sort of teas that could only be enjoyed by local aristocrats and ranking officials, delivered halfway around the world just in time for the weather to be perfect for brewing in the shade.
</p><ul><li><p><a href="Kyoto Obubu Asanoka Gyokuro">Kyoto Obubu Asanoka Gyokuro</a>, "Single origin Gyokuro made from Asanoka. Well-balanced tea with a clean aroma, gentle sweetness and a delicious flavor".
</p></li><li><p><a href="Kyoto Obubu Okumidori Gyokuro">Kyoto Obubu Okumidori Gyokuro</a>, "With finely rolled leaves, this tea has a powerful and balanced umami profile."
</p></li><li><p><a href="Kyoto Obubu Natural Gyokuro">Kyoto Obubu Natural Gyokuro</a>, "Glossy dark green needles with a silky and light umami flavour accompanied by a sweet grassy profile."
</p><p>
</p></li></ul><p>The last page of the journal explains the Natural Gyokuro further: they were originally going to bring their new Blue Forest Tea Garden in to the fold as an organic garden but it would take too long to be properly certified, so they decided to only add material to the soil which was taken from the soil, and not bring in external additives at all until it could be certified.
</p><p>The more I look at these three packets of tea, the more I feel like I simply cannot enjoy these in the quiet solitude of my home, it has to be brewed with others, and I have to brew them well. I feel compelled to share it.
</p><p><a href="//rix.si/tea-practice#20240402T154049.784535">I've been thinking a lot about Sencha lately</a>, right? One of those things I've been chewing on the hardest is how to express the nuances of sencha when I put them in front of people. Setting up a table in a shady part of the park and inviting my friends and the public to brew these wonderful teas with me would be a great experiment and experience. If it goes well enough I might just buy a couple of kilos wholesale and keep the tea flowing.
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