is a

Japanese green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the ''Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millennium ...

. It is distinctive from other Japanese green teas because it is roasted in a

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

pot over

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

. It is roasted at to prevent oxidation and produce a light golden colour, as opposed to other Japanese teas which are steamed. In general, the base of a hōjicha consists of leaves from the second harvest or after.

Description

Visual appearance

Dry hōjicha tea leaves are brown wedge-shaped needles. The tea is fired at a high

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

, altering the leaf colour tints from green to reddish-brown. Infusions have a distinctive clear red appearance and nutty fragrance. Hojicha is sometimes sold in a powdered form and used to make steamed milk drinks.

Taste

Once infused, hōjicha has a nutty, toasty, sweet flavor. The tea has little to no bitterness.

History

The process of making hōjicha was discovered in 1920 by accident when a

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

merchant had unsaleable bancha. By roasting the bancha, the merchant created a new flavor; hōjicha. Hōjicha is often made from bancha ( 'common tea'), tea from the last harvest of the season. However, other varieties of hōjicha also exist, including a variety made from

sencha is a type of Japanese green tea (, ) which is prepared by infusing the processed whole tea leaves in hot water. This is as opposed to matcha (), powdered Japanese green tea, where the green tea powder is mixed with hot water and therefore the ...

and

kukicha ''Kukicha'' ( 茎茶), or twig tea, also known as ''bōcha'' (棒茶), is a Japanese tea blend made of stems, stalks, and twigs of the tea plant. It is available as a green tea or in more oxidised processing. Kukicha has a unique flavour and ar ...

. Kukicha (also known as or 'twig tea') is made primarily from the twigs and stems of the tea plant rather than the leaves alone. Hōjicha infusions have a light- to reddish-brown appearance and are less

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin '' adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Astringency, the dry, puckering or numbing mouthfeel caused by t ...

. The lower levels of astringency in hōjicha are due to the tea losing

catechins Flavan-3-ols (sometimes referred to as flavanols) are a subgroup of flavonoids. They are derivatives of flavans that possess a 2-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2''H''-chromen-3-ol skeleton. Flavan-3-ols are structurally diverse and include a range of comp ...

during the high-temperature roasting process. The roasted flavours are extracted and dominate this tea: the roasting replaces the vegetative tones of other varieties of Japanese

green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

with a toasty, slightly caramel-like flavour. The roasting process used to make hōjicha also lowers the amount of

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class and is the most commonly consumed Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness pr ...

in the tea. Because of its mildness, hōjicha is a popular tea to serve during the evening meal, before sleep, and preferred for children and the elderly.

References

{{Teas Japanese green tea

Description

Visual appearance

Taste

History

See also

References