Hanaka Houjicha

This sample comes courtesy of Stephanie. Thanks again for our swap, m’dear! This is a really strange tea for me, because I’m accustomed to hojicha being roasty and leaning more toward a black flavor profile. This hojicha, however, claims on the front of the packet to be candied sweetness between a green and an oolong. Curious, I decided to brew some up to see if these claims held true. It is definitely sweet, especially as it hits the back of the throat. Not quite cane sugar, but something fairly close. Unrefined sugar? Letting it sit on my tongue evokes a more vegetal, outcome, and proves to be a bit drying. There’s a whisper of roasted grain if I gulp, although that might be my brain attempting to compensate for what it expects to be there. The closest I can come to a solid flavor comparison would be green beans. All in all, not bad! I’m definitely chalking it up as a learning experience, since my notions about what a hojicha should taste like were challenged here. I think it’d take some flavoring really well, although it’s a perfectly acceptable straight tea.

I really liked this one. It actually did have a cotton candy smell or as the package says “spun sugar”. I steeped at a pretty high temperature and it still was not very bitter, in fact, slightly sweet on the palate. I almost gave this one away without trying it, but now I am glad that I kept it. Great balance!

First Steep (190, 2 mins): Lightly sweetened green tea yet very similar to an oolong.

Second steep (190, 2 mins): Barely noticeable sweetness, more traditional oolong flavor in this steep than green tea.

Definitely interesting, a green tea that tastes like an oolong. Light sweet aftertaste but very complex initial taste.