Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Tea Description:
Houjicha is made by roasting ryokucha (green tea) over a strong fire. The greatest characteristics is in the roasted flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club here.
Taster’s Review:
I absolutely LOVE the aroma of the dry leaf of this Autumn Houjicha from the Takea Family … part of August’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club package from Yunomi! It SMELLS like autumn! I can smell the roasted leaves, and it smells a bit like the smoke wafting out of a fireplace … but there’s something else about the fragrance of this tea too that is evoking the spirit of autumn for me. It … makes me think of the leaves as they change from green to orange, yellow and red before they fall to the ground. It reminds me of the smell of the crisp air that surrounds me as I go for a walk on an autumn afternoon. Yes … all of this from just a quick whiff of the dry leaf of the tea!
The flavor is also very autumnal with it’s roasty-toasty taste. This is one of those teas that you want to pour into a cup and then just cuddle under a blanket and enjoy the splendor of autumn from your favorite space in front of the fireplace.
This is toasty and nutty in taste. It has a nice sweetness, reminiscent of honey but not quite as thick. It also has notes of caramel … but this would be a very light, thin caramel … like the taste the sugar begins to take on just as it’s starting to break down from the heat when you’re making homemade caramel. It isn’t an overpowering sweetness … just enough to keep me coming back for more!
It has a warm, roasted taste to it … and as I sip it, I’m contemplating how this will taste when I add some genmai to it for my review of the Genmai later this month. The Genmai was also in this month’s Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club package, so I’ll get to make my own “custom” genmaicha using some of this delicious Houjicha (as well as the Bancha that I reviewed previously.)
I’m thinking that this was a perfect tea to include in this package to enjoy during these first few days of autumn … because it’s such a lovely celebration of the season! I love this!
Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club: Light Roast Houjicha from Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantation
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Tea Description:
Roasted green tea, or Houjicha, is unlike any green tea you’ve tasted before. With a smooth, smoky flavor that is simultaneously light and sweet, houjicha has none of the bitterness of traditional green teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club here.
Taster’s Review:
This Light Roast Houjicha from the Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantation is the third and final tea that I received in this month’s Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club package.
As I’ve professed before, I am quite fond of Houjicha (or Hojicha) because I love that roasty-toasty flavor! This particular tea is “Light Roast” and the difference is noticeable in the flavor.
It is a much lighter taste – a mild smokiness and a gentle toasted flavor is what I’m enjoying with this cup. It is sweet and mellow and lacks any bitterness whatsoever. The astringency is also quite light here – it’s barely noticeable.
The roasting process of Houjicha seems to mute out the strong vegetative or “grassy” notes that is often found in green teas, and replaces them with a sweet, toasty taste, and I think that’s what I like best about Houjicha. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that grassy taste from a Japanese Sencha just fine, but, sometimes, it’s nice to change things up a bit.
I like how the lighter roasting of this allows some of the smoky tones to be explored. It isn’t a strong smoky overture, but I can note the complexity in the smoky tones. This seems much more complex to me than a typical, “medium” roast or stronger roast Houjicha. Smooth with layers of flavor that are smoky, nutty, sweet, earthy, somewhat woody, and deliciously toasted.
A very tasty Houjicha … very relaxing to sip, and a very smooth, comforting cup!
Amber Houjicha Tea from Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations
Tea Description:
Houjicha Amber as the name says is exquisite in color, aromatic in fragrance and powerful in flavor. Its color is that of the stone, amber, that is often used for both jewelry and to perfumery.
To produce Houjcha Amber, Obubu uses tea leaves of Sencha of the Summer Sun and roast them to create a luxury type of Houjicha. Sencha of the Summer Sun is characterised for its strong bitter taste because it uses tea leaves that are small and fine. Its rich and robust flavor makes it an ideal choice for after heavy or oily meals.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a while since I’ve had a cup of Houjicha, so I thought it was definitely time for a cup. This Amber Houjicha Tea from Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations is really lovely.
According to the above description, the leaves used for this Houjicha is the Sencha of the Summer Sun, and this was a Sencha that I really enjoyed … so I found myself eager to try this tea after reading the description. I wondered how different the flavor would be after the roasting process.
Interestingly enough, I still taste some of the Sencha in this tea, although it is … certainly different from a typical Sencha (duh, right?) But I taste some of the vegetative notes of the Sencha tea, as well as some of the floral notes. The Sencha of the Summer Sun was a rather assertive green tea so, I guess it should come as no surprise that some of those flavors still shine through after the roasting.
But, I like how the vegetative notes taste … more like roasted vegetables as opposed to “creamed spinach.” Some of the creamy notes of the green tea are also present in this cup, and when united with the toasty flavors, it gives a creamy, nutty sort of flavor that is really quite appealing.
Sweet and delicious, with a moderate amount of astringency … this is different from the usual Houjicha which I might describe as a mellow, easy-going kind of tea … this one has a certain lively vibe to it that makes it different but still quite delightful.
If you like Houjicha … add this to your MUST try list!
Kyobancha from Tealet
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tealet
Tea Description:
After the long cold winter tea growers in Kyoto Prefecture harvest tea leaves and twigs to produce Kyobancha. It has a deep woodsy flavor that is sure to warm you up on a cold holiday night. Many tea-growing regions refer to Kyobancha as ‘bancha for babies’ because it is so low in caffeine because of its late harvest date. It is very difficult to find this tea in stores because tea-growing families usually just drink it themselves.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t think I’ve ever had a Kyobancha before, so I was excited to try this tea from Tealet. The leaves are large and remind me a bit of a white tea, actually, like a darker white tea such as a Shou Mei … a really high quality one, where great care was taken to preserve the whole leaf.
The aroma reminds me of a Houjicha tea – its got a toasty kind of scent to it. The flavor is also kind of roasty-toasty like a Houjicha. In fact, if I were served this “blindly” … I would guess it was a Houjicha, although there are noticeable differences in the overall flavor. This Kyobancha tastes lighter, and seems to have a little less body and texture to it than a typical Houjicha. It’s a lighter roasted taste, and just overall a lighter tasting tea.
In this video from Tealet, Elyse from Tealet discusses the differences between Kyobancha and Houjicha. It’s a short but informative video, check it out!
I love the sweetness of this tea! It tastes a bit sweeter to me than a Houjicha, with very little vegetative taste. It kind of tastes like raw sugar cane, with some nutty notes and hints of a hay-like vegetal note.
The best way I can describe this is this: Imagine Houjicha and White Tea had a love child. That child would be named Kyobancha!
I really enjoyed this new experience. Thank you, Tealet, for making it happen!
Houjicha from Tealet
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tealet
Tea Description:
Grown on the Obubu Tea Plantation in Kyoto, Japan.
Houjicha is a Japanese roasted green tea that has rich, sweet flavors that cannot be found in any other Japanese green tea. The roasting of the tea brings out a smoky flavor that removes any of the bitterness often found in Japanese green tea. The heat processing of the tea leaves removes caffeine which makes this the perfect tea to pour at night or with the family. Children and novice tea drinkers find the sweet taste easy to drink.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I do enjoy a good Houjicha, and the Houjicha from the Obubu Tea Plantation are among some of the very best that I’ve tried, so I was very pleased to learn that Tealet was offering Houjicha from Obubu as well as some other amazing teas from this plantation.
This Houjicha is lightly roasted, giving it a pleasing toasty taste. The toasty flavor gives it a very autumnal taste, and it’s so comforting to sip. It has a cozy feel to it, sort of like getting wrapped up in a big, warm, fluffy blanket. It has a very soothing effect … relaxing.
This is beautifully sweet and not at all bitter. Instead of the “green” vegetative taste that comes from most green teas, this has more of a sweet, roasted nutty taste. There is some smokiness to the taste as well, arriving toward the tail of the sip, and then lingering into the aftertaste.
I enjoy Houjicha served hot or iced – but, it is most soothing when served hot, and it doesn’t need any additions, it has a natural sweetness to it that I wouldn’t want to overwhelm with additional sweetener and I think that milk would overpower the whole cup. It’s really quite delightful, just as it is.