Honorable mention: Hojicha
I was curious to try it out for a while now, and finally I got to: Hojicha!
Hojicha is made from green tea leaves or stems roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal at 150 ยฐC (or 302 ยฐF; to prevent oxidation and create a reddish brown color). The roasting lowers the amount of caffeine in the tea, so it's ideal for the evening, for children or for people who react badly to caffeine.
The green tea leaves used are often from the last harvest of the season but can be sencha, kukicha or others. Kukicha is made primarily from the twigs and stems of the tea plant; the label of the hojicha I own says it is made from stems, so it seems like it uses kukicha. Generally, hojicha is made from lower quality harvests or the leftovers of producing more high quality teas.
When you search for hojicha online, you will usually find the stems and whole leaves curled up in loose tea boxes, but increasingly, it is also offered similarly to matcha: ground to a fine powder. It is then brewed just like matcha. That's why I thought it deserves the mention on this matcha blog!
When you smell the powder, it has a smoky, wooden, aromatic scent, a bit like tree bark and earthy, malty. It also reminds me a bit of incense. There is no grassiness, no algae smell, no bitterness like with other green teas or matcha specifically.
When it's brewed, it looks similar to coffee or hot chocolate, especially if you add milk of your choice. With it, it smells like unsweetened hot cocoa to me. While slowly entering your mouth, it tastes and feels the same to me as a cafe latte, just not the hint of acid some coffees have. Once it's on your tongue, you'll quickly taste the difference though: While it has some qualities of both cocoa and coffee, it sits somewhere in the middle and is also its own thing. It's really hard to describe; I think if you enjoy black tea, and especially black milk tea, I think you will like this.
It even works well as an iced hojicha latte: It reminds me strongly of iced black milk tea with caramel syrup or hazelnut syrup.
Just make sure to stir a lot! The one I have thankfully doesn't clump at all and is very easy to dissolve, but it settles rather quickly on the bottom and is a bit harder to consistently get back up again.
I got mine as an early Christmas gift from my mum, who ordered it from the same shop she got a new matcha from (Noritual Lab). I'm excited to try other ones in the future!
