Back in my early tea obsessed beginnings before Oolong Owl, I would frequently purchase hojicha and genmaicha lace with matcha. Lately, the colder weather has me craving roasted teas, but also I need my caffeine kick. That said, today I have Hojicha and Genmai Matcha from Japanese Tea Co to drink!
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Hojicha from Japanese Green Tea Co
This hojicha is grown in sugar cane soil, then charcoal roasted. The leaf smells like toasted to crisp peanuts.
I used 3 grams in 250ml/1cup, 175F/80c water, steeped for 2 minutes, similar to the package instructions. However, you can do what you want to this Hojicha – I’ve gone double the leaf, hotter water, grandpa style, leaf in thermos style, and longer steep for a more in your face roast.
Japanese Tea Co’s Hojicha is sweet and soft in flavor. The notes are roasted caramel, nutty, and smooth. Some sips have a bit of roasted corn, others are gently woody. Cold, the sweeter notes pop. Steeped longer, the roast is darker and stronger, but not bitter.
Hojicha is easy to drink and a good starter tea as it isn’t bitter or dry, as well as easy to steep. In addition, Hojicha is apparently low in caffeine (somewhere between 20-50% less than sencha, or under 10mg) so you can drink this later in the day. I enjoyed this hojicha around 5-6pm, just after my caffeine cut off for the day.
Genmai Matcha from Japanese Green Tea Co
The “leaf” (it’s genmaicha, so there is popped brown rice) smells like buttered grassy popcorn.
I used 4.5 grams in 250ml 175F/80c water, steeped for 1 minute. Steeped up, Genmai Matcha looks swampy bright green.
I found Genmai Matcha tricky to nail just right – I’ve made it stupid strong at 7 grams for very tired mornings but it can come out bitter and stewy if steeped too long or higher water temperatures due to the matcha.
For this review, I managed to get Genmai Matcha steeped just right. It is a delicious mix of buttery umami from the matcha with extra oomph from the nutty toasted rice flavor, with a finish of fresh spinach with a hint of bitterness. The aftertaste is fresh vegetal from the sencha.
I think back to previous matcha genmaichas and this one blows them all out of the water due to the better matcha.
I’ve actually been drinking this tea a couple of times a week as a replacement to matcha when I don’t feel like something harsh but I need the caffeine. I often fast in the mornings, and my matcha-preworkout junkie nature sometimes bites me in the stomach, so this is a perfect alternative. Genmaicha is fairly mild in caffeine, but lacing it in potent matcha undoes it all.
(tea provided for review | affiliate links)
