Right here at Obubu, we regularly say: “Tea is freedom”. And whereas it normally denotes the pliability of brewing parameters, and the subjective nature of how we understand style, I feel this saying serves to remind us to discover the deeper potential of tea. Tea is greater than a drink; it’s an invite to pause, to be totally current, and to let our imaginations run free. For these of us who see tea as artwork, it opens a doorway to an expertise the place style and aroma turn out to be an associative journey and a device for artistic expression. In different phrases, this freedom permits us to make our personal connections between tea’s flavors and the recollections, feelings, goals or locations in our lives.
The Freedom in Tea Tasting
The observe of tasting tea isn’t solely about discerning flavors—it’s about creating that means. After we have interaction with tea totally, from its aroma to the heat of the cup in our fingers, it may possibly really feel like revisiting a well-known reminiscence or uncovering one thing new inside ourselves. It’s fascinating how the straightforward act of tasting can evoke feelings or photos, which, based on psychological research, isn’t coincidental. For instance, the Self-Reminiscence System mannequin by psychologist Conway highlights how sensory inputs are linked to long-term self-structures, basically shaping how we view ourselves by means of each current and distant recollections. This mannequin proposes that sensory recollections contribute to our self-narratives, serving to us keep a coherent sense of identification by frequently integrating new experiences into our life story (Conway, M. A., 2005) (Matthew D. Grilli, Lee Ryan, 2020).
Smells and tastes are significantly potent as a result of they bypass sure cognitive filters, permitting the mind to retailer these sensory inputs with sturdy emotional associations, which regularly stay even years later. Furthermore, sensory experiences are encoded alongside emotional responses, which is why a specific taste or aroma can evoke a definite second from the previous, transporting us again and serving to us reconnect with previous variations of ourselves (Matthew D. Grilli, Lee Ryan, 2020).
This associative freedom connects deeply with our sense of self and the world round us. And simply as a sure scent or music can transport us to a distinct second in our lives, so can also tea. Consuming a smoky Lapsang Souchong could remind us of sitting round a campfire; Ripe Puerh can evoke recollections of artwork class and the scent of pencil shavings, whereas extra conventionally, a floral Sencha can take us again to a spring morning in our childhood. These connections enable us to develop our understanding of ourselves, linking style with private historical past and typically even goals. How thrilling!
After all, making these associations can also be a observe – not simply within the behavior of being attentive to the encircling sensorial experiences, but additionally in a sure self-acceptance. On my first shift at my earlier teashop I used to be taken away for a blind tasting, the place my sense of style could be assessed. It’s nerve-wracking at first, because it appears like a check with a proper or fallacious reply, however with out you even realising it, abruptly it turns into an thrilling dialog. I used to be informed, “Simply let your self really feel no matter comes up—don’t get caught on typical flavours or traditional concepts. Suppose again to childhood recollections, goals, and even these moments that by no means actually occurred. No matter exhibits up is true for you. For me, this tea appears like a bit of woman working by means of a moonlit meadow”.
Tea as a Inventive Train
In my very own tea journey, I’ve embraced open associations and have just lately began to discover how illustrations can turn out to be a map of sensations – typically abstractions that come by means of a combination of patterns current in a cup of tea. Transfering them from a conceptional feeling to tangible picture has been an train of clarification and discerning of the interaction of a number of imaginings and proved extremely satisfying for my very own artistic observe.
Impressed by the current pattern of Puerh cake wrapper illustrations, I wished to seize the characters of Obubu teas and see how they’d switch into a visible format by means of my very own subjective lens – and simply have enjoyable with it – in each tasting and drawing.
My Obubu venture
I began by tasting a quantity teas made inside Obubu, starting from mild Senchas to bolder Wakouchas and jolting down scribbly notes of my first impressions.
Getting used to ingesting teas from completely different locations, it nearly instantly turned obvious to me how a lot similarities these teas share – and how one can so simply credit score it to the identical Wazuka soil and terroir. And but, the delicate variations quickly remodeled the teas into completely different associative swimming pools which quickly shaped fairly completely different visible imagery.
Some teas have been tougher to pin-point, whereas others immedately gave me a transparent image. And whereas the previous was barely irritating and resulted in lots of discarded sketches, the exploration of the tea’s character itself was a enjoyable journey to take.
Lastly, I assembled the sketches inside a digital format, particularly utilizing the Procreate app on my iPad. Nevertheless, although I already possesed the determined sketches, the digital method took me on a complete new journey of exploring the teas by means of color and texture. And naturally, it stored me ingesting the teas all through the entire course of to maintain tapping in into my perceptions as they took their very own course.
Along with the tasting notes and inventive descriptions of the teas, the illustrations are beneath:
Thanks to everybody who joined me on this artistic journey! I hope it’s sparked a way of marvel and inspired you to dive into the associative swimming pools that may unfold from a single cup of tea. Could every sip open up new worlds of coloration, recollections, and feelings, inspiring you to discover tea’s story with curiosity!
With love,
Beatrice (intern #182)
