Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Green Tea
Flavors
Autumn Leaf Pile, Dried Fruit, Fig, Grain, Honey, Nuts, Roasted Barley, Roasted Nuts, Smooth, Sweet, Wood, Nectar, Raisins, Roasted, Apricot, Dry Leaves, Maple Syrup, Caramel, Mushrooms, Vegetables
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Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Low
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Cameron B.
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 4 g 14 oz / 414 ml

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10 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Smells a lot like Hojicha – roasted! Yum! It has the brown roasted leaves instead of the twigs, tho, that is the major different to the eye. It is more gentle that I thought it would be but I...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “Yesterday’s sipdown, sample courtesy of Cameron B. I made this according to brewing guidelines (205f, 6oz, 2 min), but somehow both steeps had an unpleasant bitterness to them. I don’t think it’s...” Read full tasting note
  • “I absolutely love how huge these leaves are. It’s just a lot of fun to watch brew. A very smooth and comforting flavor. I may actually pick up a bunch of this; it’s very budget friendly and might...” Read full tasting note
  • “2021 sipdown no. 35 This is a really great cuppa. I’m enjoying it while catching up on a few ecotoxicology lectures. The flavour is very toasty toasty, but also really clean. Thanks for sharing...” Read full tasting note

From Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms

Kyobancha is unique to the Kyoto region from which it gets the “Kyo” in its name. Harvested from leaves that have matured over the winter months it is considered the very last tea of the year. The leaves are roasted, producing a comforting and woody flavour. Kyobancha is a virtually caffeine-free tea that is light, refreshing and very easy to drink.

Taste: Sweet
Body: Light
Texture: Rounded
Length: Short
Harvest: March
Tea Cultivar: Mixed
Origin: Wazuka
Cultivation: Unshaded
Processing: Steamed, Rolled, Dried, Roasted

About Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms View company

It started with a single cup of tea. As the legend goes, our president Akihiro Kita, or Akky-san, visited Wazuka, Kyoto one fateful day. At the time, Akky-san was still a college student in search for life's calling. After trying the region's famous Ujicha (literally meaning tea from the Uji district), he immediately fell in love and his passion for green tea was born. He had finally found what he was looking for in that one simple cup of tea. After fifteen years of learning to master the art of growing tea from tea farmers in Wazuka, Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms was born and as they say, the rest is history. So what's an Obubu? Obubu is the Kyoto slang for tea. Here in the international department we call ourselves Obubu Tea. That's "Tea Tea" for the bilinguals. We love tea so much, we just had to have it twice in our name. Now Obubu means more than just tea to us. It means, family, friends, passion and the place we call home. More than just tea. Though the roots of Obubu stem from tea, it has become more than that over the years. Obubu is an agricultural social venture, operating with three (1) bring quality Japanese tea to the world (2) contribute to the local and global community through tea (3) revitalize interest in tea and agriculture through education.

10 Tasting Notes

85
6768 tasting notes

Smells a lot like Hojicha – roasted! Yum!
It has the brown roasted leaves instead of the twigs, tho, that is the major different to the eye. It is more gentle that I thought it would be but I like this mellow flavor on the tongue. Springy! Gently Roasted! A near Steamed rice/veggie type flavor, even. With a sweeter finish! Lovely!
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1057 tasting notes

Yesterday’s sipdown, sample courtesy of Cameron B. I made this according to brewing guidelines (205f, 6oz, 2 min), but somehow both steeps had an unpleasant bitterness to them. I don’t think it’s supposed to be bitter so I assume that I screwed this up somehow. Alas.
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Cameron B.
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Hmm I don’t think I’ve ever had this one taste bitter, but I steep it more Western style with a lower leaf:water ratio.

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76 tasting notes

I absolutely love how huge these leaves are. It’s just a lot of fun to watch brew. A very smooth and comforting flavor. I may actually pick up a bunch of this; it’s very budget friendly and might be the perfect after-dinner tea.
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Cameron B.
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One of my favorites, especially in the fall and winter. And yes, super cheap! :D

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1383 tasting notes

2021 sipdown no. 35

This is a really great cuppa. I’m enjoying it while catching up on a few ecotoxicology lectures.

The flavour is very toasty toasty, but also really clean. Thanks for sharing Cameron!
Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 14 OZ / 414 ML
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92
3835 tasting notes

Sipdown! (25 | 70)

Finishing off my oldest batch of this lovely tea. Happily I still have a truly massive 300g bag that I haven’t opened yet.

This is such a comforting tea for me. It has the cozy roastiness of standard hojicha, but in a softer, lighter form. The gentler flavor makes it perfect for a bedtime brew, though I also enjoy it any time of day. There’s a subtly sweet dried fruitiness as well, that reminds me of golden raisins, dried apricots, and perhaps figs.

Yummy. And insanely inexpensive! Win-win.

Flavors: Apricot, Autumn Leaf Pile, Dried Fruit, Dry Leaves, Fig, Maple Syrup, Raisins, Roasted, Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
7 comments
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ashmanra
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300 grams??!?!? You must LOVE this tea! Ha ha!

ashmanra
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(If it inspired a purchase that large, I really must look at their site!)

Cameron B.
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Sorry, I misremembered, it’s actually 200g. But I stand by the “truly massive” comment, because it’s a very light tea so the bag is huge ha ha.

Believe it or not, that’s the only size they offer! And it’s only ¥1100, or about $8!

ashmanra
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That is still truly massive in my book!

Cameron B.
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Same here! I never even buy 100g of a tea unless there’s no other option ha ha.

ashmanra
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The price is unbelievable!

Cameron B.
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I think it’s because this is essentially the leftover leaves that weren’t used for any other harvest? But yes, it’s very cheap ha ha.

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70
27 tasting notes

Starting to think I’ve ruined my palate, even though it has been hours and I’ve had plenty of other beverages between trying the Hojicha Dark Roast and this Kyobancha. I still taste something mushroomy.

There is a light sweetness to it; not nearly as toasty as I would expect from a roasted green. Definitely vegetable notes.

The liquor is a nice burnt orange colour; the broad dry leaves were beautiful to look upon. It’s smooth to drink.

Flavors: Caramel, Mushrooms, Vegetables

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 8 OZ / 236 ML
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60
2816 tasting notes

Reading the tasting notes lately from Lion has made me remember the remaining teas I need to try from my Obubu sampler. The package this tea came in says: Kyou Bancha but I’m assuming this is the same tea as Kyobancha, even though the spelling is different.

Leaves in the package are very brown and roasty-smelling. Bancha are older, late harvest tea leaves and this is the roasted form of them, I guess? Good to know this tea has almost no caffeine because I probably don’t need any more today.

I’m not sure how long this was steaming for exactly (it was at least 4 minutes), but I don’t think you can really oversteep this kind of tea too easily. My cup is a dark orange and the flavor is very mild, with slight roasted, woodsy notes. I’m not getting a lot of flavor out of this one. It’s similar to a hojicha but a lot more boring, lol. I will finish the pot of tea i made but I can’t see any reason to buy this. I think I’d just rather have hojicha.
Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 14 OZ / 414 ML
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