Merchant Review: Obubu Tea

In the name of transparency, I need to declare that Obubu Tea sent me a few free samples, so my opinion may not be entirely unbiased. You too can get some free samples if you poke around on their website. They are tea farmers, processors, and merchants in Kyoto, Japan. Their mission statement claims that they seek to create connections between tea farmers and drinkers, and they are certainly making a good start.

Obubu offers most varieties of Japanese tea including seven different kinds of sencha, everyday Japanese green tea. If you’ve read my other posts, you’ll know I’m a sencha drinker, so this is fairly exciting for me. But wait, what’s the difference between Kabuse Sencha, and Sencha of the Wind, and Sencha of the Summer Sun? Don’t worry. The good folks at Obubu provide exhaustive information on each tea. In an easy to read and understand format they list the flavour characteristics, and suggested brewing instructions. For the serious tea practitioner, they provide details about growing conditions, harvest time, and processing methods that really tell you what to expect from the tea. This is the kind of information that all online merchants should supply as a standard practice.

Their website also includes plenty of other goodies too. They post videos and photos, information about the company and tea culture in Japan. It is certainly packed with treasures for the tea lover to uncover.

I had the pleasure of trying Sencha of the wind. It’s a little lighter than prefer I, and the tea was a bit more broken than I expected, but I suspect the latter was due to it being an easily crushable sample packet. The taste was subtle and sweet, something connoisseurs would appreciate or those drinking sencha for the first time. Looking at the website, I can see exactly where these characteristics come from. The tea plants are grown in shade for the final two weeks before harvesting, plus there are a fair amount of stem pieces included. It is certainly a well crafted example of the tea.

Comparing what’s in my cup, to the information on the website, I think anyone can choose the right tea for their taste. Personally, since I prefer a more robust sencha, next time I hope try Obubu’s Sencha of the Earth, or Sencha of the Summer Sun. As with most quality Japanese teas, the prices feel a little high for my wallet, but I still look forward to exploring the rest of their offerings.

I want to reiterate, that Obubu doesn’t just list clever names for their tea. They go the extra mile to provide real information that consumers need in order to make informed decisions. Their website is a shining example of what all merchants should do for all of their teas, both on their website, and on tea packaging. They list the tea plant variety, cultivation conditions, harvesting period, processing methods, and the producer/location. This taxonomy is needed if consumers are to compare related products or the products from different merchants. Thank you, Obubu Tea for considering our needs too.

Also check out their “A Tea of Smiles” photo contest. You still have a week to enter.