Hojicha Tea

amazon Hojicha Tea reviews

Hojicha is the name of a famous green tea, originating from the land of cherry blossoms. This type of tea appeared only in the 1920s, made from Sencha, Bancha, or Kukicha. After harvesting, people will bring this tea to steam, wither and dry. The tea is deep roasted at a high temperature of up to 200 degrees Celsius. Through this process, all bitterness will be removed. This gives Hojicha tea its distinctive aroma, reddish brown color, and smoky flavor.

Hojicha tea, after drying, has a distinct reddish-brown color instead of the characteristic green color of other green teas. While many other green teas will have a grassy aroma, Hojicha which goes through the roasting process has a smoky, earthy smell. After brewing, the tea color will be clear, slightly bitter taste mixed with a little sweetness, giving off a characteristic passionate aroma.

In Japan, Hojicha has a fairly low caffeine content, making it a popular tea to enjoy at kaiseki parties, dinners, or before bed. Because of the preliminary processing, especially the roasting of the tea leaves, the amount of caffeine is reduced, and the old leaves make Hojicha have a lower caffeine content than the young leaves.

Kukicha, Sencha and Bancha Tea

Currently, there are two types of Hojicha tea on the market. One is derived from the young leaves of Sencha or old leaves of Bancha that are harvested every autumn and the other is made from the stem of the Kukicha tree.

For the two types of tea derived from leaves, after the drying process of nearly 200 degrees Celsius, the catechins in the tea leaves have been lost, so this type of tea after brewing will have a slightly bitter taste, mixed with a little herbal sweetness. Natural medicine has the scent of leaves.

As for the form made from the Kukicha stem, the heat process will not affect the L-Theanine too much, so this type is often preferred and has a higher price tag than the leaf tea.

Hojicha tea powder

When making tea to drink, people often use Hojicha in the form of leaves, and Hojicha tea powder is a common ingredient for preparing or processing dishes that need a special flavor of the tea.

Hojicha tea powder is like tea leaves, also has a natural, gentle scent and characteristic sweet taste, contributing to creating a unique flavor for delicious desserts in every Japanese family meal in particular.

What’s the difference between Hojicha, Sencha, and Matcha?

The easiest thing to distinguish between these three teas is by color: Hojicha is reddish brown, Sencha is dark green, and Matcha is bright emerald green.

As for the taste, we can easily feel it: Hojicha has an umami taste, rich and naturally sweet, giving off a scent of earth smoke. Sencha tea has a slightly bitter taste at first, then gradually turns slightly sweet, the scent emitted is the smell of plants. And Matcha has a more bitter taste than Sencha, but the sweetness after is kept longer, also giving off a vegetal scent.

How to make Hojicha tea

Step 1 put about 5-6 grams of Hojicha tea into a dedicated teapot.

Step 2 Pour about 250ml of boiling water at a temperature of 90 – 95 degrees Celsius (which is boiled water that has been cooled for about 2-3 minutes) into the kettle and steep the tea for 45 seconds to more than 1 minute.

Step 3 Pour the tea into each cup and enjoy while still hot. The rest of the tea in the pot can be used to brew 2-3 more times.

where can you get a Hojicha Tea online

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Japanese Tea Starter Kit – 100g Hojicha Tea Powder + 100g/3.5 oz Matcha Green Tea Powder + Bamboo Whisk + Matcha Bowl: Buy it now

Sugimoto Tea – Organic Hojicha – Roasted Twig Tea – 12 Count Compostable Pyramid Teabags: Buy it now

MIGHTY LEAF Organic Hojicha Green Tea 15 Count, 15 CT: Buy it now