Hojicha CHAKABUKI

Learn about tea analysis through a centuries old tea tasting gambling game, with a prize! This is a special session for us as we were first introduced to Jun almost 4 years ago when consulting on the Roasted Tea Project for Fukuroi, so for him to host a Hojicha tasting all these years later is like coming full circle to our beginnings together.

Chakabuki has its roots as a centuries old gambling game for entertainment of the Kyoto elite – monks, warriors and nobles – where participants would guess the type and origin of tea. Gambling aside, the Chakabuki format has proven to be a great method for developing a personal taste dictionary, and is a methodology by which to learn cultivars within Japanese tea education.

In this Chakabuki, the participants will taste 5 different Hojicha teas, all from Jun Morishita’s farm in Fukuroi Shizuoka, but with slight differences in processing. After the tasting and explanation, the teas will be served at random, and the participants will have to guess which tea they are drinking out of the original five. Through this game you will learn the defining characteristics of these teas, and if you win, you’ll also walk away with some Tea as a prize!