Houjicha

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Green Tea
Flavors
Chocolate, Hay, Hazelnut, Nuts, Roasted Nuts, Seaweed, Umami
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by John Ciubuc
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 4 oz / 110 ml

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  • “Got this from the mei leaf sample box. Despite it being green tea, lots of the leafs have been kinda crumbled and I thought that would be detrimental, but damn this tea is great. Prep: 5g to 110mL,...” Read full tasting note
    89

From Mei Leaf

Houjicha or Hojicha is a roasted Japanese Green tea usually made from Bancha (summer tea). Our Houjicha is much higher grade than this by blending different pickings of the Yabukita cultivar:

30% Ichibancha (First Flush)
50% Nibancha (Second Flush)
20% Bancha (Third Flush)

This is traditionally roasted in porcelain and takes a fair amount of skill to prevent the leaves from burning or smoking. The depth of flavour comes from the deep roast of the Nibancha (second flush) but the addition of the more expensive Ichibancha (firts flush) adds a luxuriant and brighter aroma.

The result is a very smooth Green tea full of caramel and sweet soya umami. It should be brewed with hotter water than other Japanese Green tea (about 95 degrees or 205 farenheit) to extract the richness of flavour and don’t be afraid to use a little more leaf by volume then you would for other Green teas as the Houjicha leaves are bigger and lighter.

About Mei Leaf View company

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1 Tasting Note

89
47 tasting notes

Got this from the mei leaf sample box. Despite it being green tea, lots of the leafs have been kinda crumbled and I thought that would be detrimental, but damn this tea is great.

Prep: 5g to 110mL, @200F

No wash.

The wetleaf aroma is an absolutely amazing roasted hazlenut. I made some very unmanly sounds smelling it, absolutely fantastic.

First steep tastes like hazlenuts with roasted seaweed. Lots and lots of umami. A bit of a dryness on the tip of the tongue, but none of the astringency in the back of your throat. Really delightful. In fact, my whole room also now smells like roasted hazlenuts!

Oh man that second infusion, it literally gave me shivers. The umami is so incredibly strong, it’s just incredibly savory. This tea excites the salivary glands massively!

I haven’t tasted any particular change in flavour on further infusions, just that this is a tea for umami lovers. Really, just a stimulating experience all around

This is my first tea from mei leaf and I have to say that their description on their page is perfect, all the way down to the amount of infusions you can get from gongfu. I find this to be pretty rare from most tea suppliers, but their description is practically perfect. You can expect 7 infusions from this tea.

Very good tea and an absolute must-have for a umami lover. Well done Mei Leaf, well done.

Flavors: Chocolate, Hay, Hazelnut, Nuts, Roasted Nuts, Seaweed, Umami

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

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