Over 15 years ago, our president and founder, Akihiro "Akky" Kita, visited Wazuka, Kyoto. The tea produced in this rural district is known as Ujicha, one of the highest quality, premium teas in Japan. Akky was a college student in search of his lifes calling. Inspired by a single cup of Ujicha drunk at its source, Akihiro's passion for green tea was born. After fifteen years of learning to master the art of growing premium tea leaves from master tea farmers in Wazuka, Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations was born. The name Obubu itself comes from the Kyoto slang for tea.
In the spring of 2013 David Edwards traveled to Obubu to participate in their internship program for one month. Below are some videos from that time:
This video shows how Kyou Bancha is made. Kyou Bancha is made from all the leaves from the tea plant that have been growing since last year. After the top 6 inches to 1 foot are chopped off, new growth buds begin to spring up. Those new buds will be turned into Sencha.
The hand making tea process is all day long with picking starting at 5am. Once the leaves are picked they are taken to a factory where the raw leaves are made into "tea". This takes about 6 hours, with each step taking roughly an hour.
The resulting tea costs between $50 and $60 dollars an ounce.