Hojicha

Thank you Shelly Lorraine for letting me try this one! I’ve had only two other houjichas before and I really like them. This one almost looked like little twigs more than green tea (well, brown tea, since it’s roasted). It was a little mild tasting, and I definitely don’t recommend such a low temperature (180). The roastier the better for me! I don’t mind this one at all but I feel like I might have already had the best houjicha (Obubu’s). But I’m a fan of houjichas anyway, so this one gets a pretty good rating from me.

Lately, I’ve been having some tea blahs where I don’t really feel like drinking much tea. So as usual, I decided to reset with a hojicha. This one was the first one within reach. Not necessarily my favorite hojicha, but still a very nice cuppa. I hope to get over this phase soon because I still have a bunch of swap samples to try out!

Not all Hojichas are created equal. Hojicha isn’t a commodity — there are real differences between brands. I gave Mighty Leaf’s Organic Hojicha a 93. I might have been more positively disposed toward Adagio’s Hojicha if I had never tried Mighty Leaf. As it is, I found Adagio’s comparatively dull, listless, almost stale tasting. I don’t mean to rip on Adagio — I love them, most of the time. Just not at Hojicha time.

This smells like nori for some reason. The flavour is certainly roasted, and kinda nutty. Glad I finally got to try this type.

Roasty flavour reminds me of the roasted rice in genmaicha. Traditionally this should only be twigs; this pouch has broken Bancha leaves as well as twigs. I wouldn’t agree with Adagio’s review about this being coffee-like. Plus since it has fewer leaves, it should have less caffeine. The taste is definitely vegetal, probably because this version has leaves and it has a grain-like, malty taste. This is a dark version of green Genmaicha.

First of all, I really decided to baby this tea, brewing at a pretty low temperature and for a rather short period of time to prevent any astringency. This is my first time trying this tea, so I’m be extra careful until I have time to experiment a bit with it.

This was a very different tea than I’m used to, with a very unique aroma and taste. The first infusion I had was very good, with a nice nutty flavor and a very pleasing warming sensation when drinking it. The taste of sweet nuts lingers on the hard palate of the mouth for a few seconds after swallowing, making this a very interesting tea to drink.

The second (and unfortunately last) infusion was also delightful. It was sweeter than the previous infusion, which complemented the nutty flavors very well. Other than that, it is pretty much the same as the first.

The final verdict on this tea is that it’s rather nice, but not particularly special. There is nothing that says “I’m unique!” about this tea, so I can’t justify giving it a higher rating. Also, I have no experience with this type of tea, so even though I like it a lot, I need to be a bit conservative here. Regardless, I’ll keep this tea in mind, and if I don’t find anything better, I might buy it again.

I love the rich toasty taste of this tea! It’s much more bold and flavourful than I’ve come to expect from a green tea; it always surprises me. I don’t drink many unflavoured teas, so this is a nice change for me.

Adagio seems really hit or miss for me, but I really do enjoy this one.

This was the last of the four samples in my Adagio sampler – this one tasted more like a chinese green to me – roasted and not as “green.” It was quite smooth and pleasing with food, though.

Had this for the second time this morning; needless to say, I found it much tastier. I think adding more leaves helped a lot, although I’m still not a big fan. I steeped it for about 4 minutes this time, and it made the tea much darker. It tasted a lot thicker as well. In terms of smokeyness, the roasted flavor in the description was there this time around. I guess I got the steep time/amount right. Definitely tasted that charcoal flavor. Not my favorite, but nicer than my last brew.

The first thing I noticed when opening the tin was the color of the leaves: a reddish-greenish-brown. Apparently these leaves are roasted, and the scent of the leaves definitely says “burnt.”

The liquor smells like Genmai Cha, with a roasty, malty scent. The taste is also much like Genmai Cha, without the rice taste. The usual grassiness of the green has been replaced by a toasted, almost burnt taste, with a bit of smoke. I have to admit that I was expecting quite a bit more out of this tea after reading the description.