Hoji Matcha Chai No. 118

Tea type
Chai Green Blend
Ingredients
Cardamom Pods, Ginger, Hojicha, Licorice Root, Matcha Powder, Star Anise Bits
Flavors
Clove, Ginger, Licorice, Wood, Anise, Cardamom, Grass, Roasted, Spicy
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Organic
Edit tea info Last updated by Mastress Alita
Average preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 4 min, 0 sec 4 g 12 oz / 354 ml

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2 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Day 24 of Sara’s Old Tea came with a big sachet of Hoji Matcha Chai! No longer available from Tea Chai Te, this can still probably be purchased if you make a phone order, as they still have...” Read full tasting note
    88
  • “Chai to Stay Dry! So this was a chai that had me very curious, so I had to include it on my last Tea Chai Te order. I told my best friend about it, as he is a huge houjicha fan, and he even decided...” Read full tasting note
    80

From Portal Tea (formerly Tea Chai Té)

Sweet and savory blend of matcha and roasted hojicha with chai spices. Organic.

This blend has been discontinued.

Ingredients: Hojicha, Matcha, Star Anise, Licorice Root, Cardamom Pods, Ginger

About Portal Tea (formerly Tea Chai Té) View company

Company description not available.

2 Tasting Notes

88
168 tasting notes

Day 24 of Sara’s Old Tea came with a big sachet of Hoji Matcha Chai!

No longer available from Tea Chai Te, this can still probably be purchased if you make a phone order, as they still have everything needed to make it.

I brewed it and added a bit of almond milk, just enough to cool it down to my preferred temperature.

The chai flavors blend together so well, that I had to take several sips to try to tease out what’s in there. I taste clove, ginger, and licorice, with a bit of woody flavor from the houjicha near the end of the sip. It tastes like… sitting and talking with Sara with a pot of tea at Tea Chai Te in Portland, the one on NW 23rd Avenue, a block from Salt & Straw ice cream.

I finished my glass before finishing the review.

Flavors: Clove, Ginger, Licorice, Wood

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 6 min, 0 sec 4 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
gmathis

I read your last sentence first. That’s a very good quality indicator right there!

Mastress Alita

What turned into, “Oh ya, I need to send Todd my old package of Hoji Matcha Chai” then became, “I need to throw away this gutted DAVIDsTEA advent packaging in the big dumpster, it’s bulky… oh heeeeeeeeeey…”

Todd

gmathis haha yeah, it was that good :)

Sara: Oh LOL, so that’s how it happened…

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80
1216 tasting notes

Chai to Stay Dry! So this was a chai that had me very curious, so I had to include it on my last Tea Chai Te order. I told my best friend about it, as he is a huge houjicha fan, and he even decided to order some to try as well! He sampled his before I got to mine and said it was very good, so on this drizzly evening, I figured it was time to finally give it a try!

This is a houjicha blended with chai spices and dusted in matcha powder (the chai spices aren’t specified on the website, so I’ve done my best to identify what I could from my infuser after the matcha powder was washed away, but I may have missed some, either from my ignorance or not having all the ingredients in that particular serving).

This is definitely a unique chai! The houjicha base is a deep, woody, roasted flavor, but the matcha powder adds a grassiness that normally isn’t present in that sort of tea. The initial taste of spices I pick out are anise and licorice; it isn’t a strong, biting, sticky sweetness, but it adds enough sweetness that the matcha feels naturally sweet rather than having its typical vegetal bitterness. Toward the end of the sip, as the sweet licorice and matcha flavors fade, the robustness of the hojicha fills out and a burst of strong ginger and cardamom linger on the tongue, leaving behind just a slight bit of heat.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition between sweet and savory, and honestly, I’ve never had a chai like this before. I think anyone that likes houjicha and matcha should try it, for the unique experience if nothing else. This tea is fine plain, but I like it with just a dash of vanilla almond milk, just because I find a fuller, creamy mouthfeel suits it nicely. Even though the matcha powder on the tea leaves is only good for the first steep, it’s totally worth it to resteep the houjicha and spices and enjoy the tea sans matcha on a second steep to enjoy that flavor as well… it’s almost like getting two teas in one!

Flavors: Anise, Cardamom, Ginger, Grass, Licorice, Roasted, Spicy, Wood

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Todd

Love this tea! I’ll have to review it next time I brew some.

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