Description
What is Kyobancha?
The name Kyobancha (京番茶) can be a bit 
misleading as the word ‘bancha’ reminds us of regular Bancha. A kind of tea that is steamed, rolled and dried after harvesting. Kyobancha is a speciality of Kyoto Prefecture, where ‘Kyo’ in its name refers to the tea’s origin while ‘bancha’ simply means ‘common tea’.
The leaves for producing Kyobancha are harvested in late March. Despite this early harvest it is not part of the first flush, which begins at the start of May. After being picked, the leaves are steamed in order to stop the oxidation process and then dried and roasted. There is no rolling process involved in the production. The brewed tea is light and nutty with a slightly smokey flavour. Its low caffeine content makes it a perfect every-day beverage that can be enjoyed throughout the entire day.
Farmer Profile
The Obubu Team as a whole are responsible for this Tea with each member caring for the Tea Garden, Harvesting and Processing. This tea comes from the Blue Forest Tea Garden, we initially thought to create an organic garden but to do so we would need to wait three years before being able to apply for Organic Certification.We decided that we would only add the leaf which had grown and been trimmed back into the garden. We would aim to provide an alternative to Organic Tea production for the small scale farmers who aim to create delicious Japanese teas in a sustainable business model and delicious teas. This is an alternative solution to a national and increasingly international problem from the Tea Garden up, forget grass roots, more like tea roots!
Tea Cultivation, Processing and Brewing Guide
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