What is Hojicha?

Hojicha is a Japanese roasted green tea. At some point of tea production,  heat has to be applied to stop oxidizing of tea leaves. In Japan, this is traditionally performed by steaming the leaves, in China – by pan-firing. Hojicha is a special Japanese green tea made by roasting bancha (mature, late summer tea leaves) over charcoal.

What kind of tea is it?

Smooth, toasty, nutty. Naturally low in caffeine, rich in flavor. Some would say it has coffee accents, others would refer to toasted nori. This tea offers a lovely transition between green and black teas thanks to its unique earthy taste.

Hojicha tea is “green” in more ways than one!

It may be popular for its nutty, smoky flavor today, but Hojicha tea actually came about for eco-sensitive reasons. At the start of the 20^th century, Japan’s new trade policies had caused green tea exports to shoot up. To meet the sudden increase in demand, Japanese tea farmers started using mechanical harvesting machines. While this helped them produce more tea at a fraction of the cost, there was a flipside – mechanized harvesting would create a lot of waste, something that’s a big no-no in the island nation. A tea merchant in Kyoto came up with a solution in the 1920s. He roasted the stems, stalks and leftover tea leaves over charcoal, and Hojicha was born. It wasn’t long before tea drinkers had discovered its irresistible smoky aroma and well-rounded flavor, and Hojicha green tea had become a crowd pleaser!

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