Tea & drinks ── Nihoncha (Japanese tea)
Hojicha
Hojicha — roasted green tea
Tea made by roasting sencha, bancha, or stem tea over high heat. Roasting is said to reduce bitter compounds like catechins, giving a toasty aroma and a clean finish, along with relatively low caffeine.
- Green tea
Lineage
What it's made of
The raw material isn't freshly picked leaf but already-finished sencha, bancha, or stem tea. Roasting it over high heat around 200°C until it turns a fox-brown color is said to transform the compounds behind bitterness and astringency, releasing a toasty aroma. Roasting is also said to drive off some caffeine, leaving a lighter mouthfeel than other green teas. Its liquor turns a reddish brown, losing green tea's grassy edge, and a faint sweetness is said to linger beneath the toasty aroma.
How it's made
Finished leaf is roasted over high heat in a dedicated roaster or hooroku pan until its color shifts from green to brown. Over-roasting brings out bitterness, so judging the moment the aroma peaks and cooling it immediately is said to matter. Flavor varies with what leaf is used, and hojicha roasted from stem tea is said to be especially soft in aroma. Roasting temperature runs around 200°C as a guide, finished in just a few minutes, with the moment to pull it off the heat said to rely on the roaster's own feel.
Why it took this shape
Roasting is said to have spread as a way to make use of leftover stock or leaf that had lost its freshness. With its astringency toned down and easier to drink even for those who find green tea harsh, it's said to have settled in as a tea served in a wide range of settings, from after meals to when guests visit. The toastiness that roasting brings is said to have served not just to mask leaf past its freshest, but also to clear the palate after a meal.
Before you go
Dishes in the same style
- Fukamushi SenchaA method of steaming the leaf far longer than ordinary sencha, said to break the leaf down finely and mellow its astringency into a deep green, richer-bodied tea. With smaller leaf fragments, more dissolves into the water, giving a notably smooth mouthfeel.
- GenmaichaTea made by mixing roasted, steamed rice at roughly equal parts with bancha or sencha. The toasty aroma of the roasted rice meets the tea's freshness, said to give a light, relatively low-caffeine cup.