At university I started drinking tea more frequently, and turning on the kettle became the excuse to keep on the late night evening chatting or playing board games with friends. Putting the kettle on became an excuse to linger and indulge in more chatting and other games. Even then, however, it was not the tea itself that interested me but the sociality that was created around it.

My interest in tea as such began a little later, while choosing a dissertation topic for my MA in Anthropology of Food, at SOAS University of London. Inspired by the evenings spent sipping hojicha in the student residence in Beppu, Japan, and by my dear friend Andrea’s passion for tea, I decided that this drink would be the focus of my thesis. While interviewing numerous tea lovers, bloggers and tea workers, I also began to know and appreciate the experience of stopping to watch the leaves open, observing their colors change, smelling the aromas and flavors in the cup and on the lid of the gaiwan. My dissertation project aims to identify how loose leaf tea, as a cross-cultural commodity, is perceived and consumed by tea enthusiasts in Italy.

Between March and June 2023, I interned at Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms in Wazuka, Japan, before joining the staff as Assistant Manager for a year until September 2024. At Obubu, I had the opportunity to learn about how a small tea farm works, its needs and dynamics; I learned first-hand about growing and processing tea from Akky-san; and I had the opportunity to produce my own batches of tea. At Obubu, I also conducted tea tours, workshops and tastings; and, together with my colleagues Pau and Jean, I helped set up an educational program for Assistant Managers and Obubu Ambassadors. Here is a summary and some reflections on my experience at Obubu.

Living in Wazuka and working in agriculture has made me realize how little I know about the agricultural production of my hometown in Puglia, which, like Wazuka, is an agricultural town. In a way, being away has made me rediscover a new attachment to the place I left. So, after many years away, I decided to settle back in my hometown, bringing with me the teas I have known, and find my “communi-tea” there.