Hōjicha

Hōjicha (ほうじ茶, 焙じ茶) is a Japanese green tea. It is distinctive from other Japanese green teas because it is roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal. It is roasted at 150 C to prevent oxidation and produce a light golden colour, as opposed to other Japanese teas which are steamed. In general, the base of a hōjicha consists of leaves from the second harvest or after.

Visual appearance
Dry hōjicha tea leaves are brown wedge-shaped needles. The tea is fired at a high temperature, altering the leaf colour tints from green to reddish-brown.

Infusions have a distinctive clear red appearance and nutty fragrance. Hojicha is sometimes sold in a powdered form and used to make steamed milk drinks.

Taste
Once infused, hōjicha has a nutty, toasty, sweet flavor. The tea has little to no bitterness.

History
The process of making hōjicha was discovered in 1920 by accident when a Kyoto merchant had unsaleable bancha. By roasting the bancha, the merchant created a new flavor; hōjicha.

Hōjicha is often made from bancha (番茶 'common tea'), tea from the last harvest of the season. However, other varieties of hōjicha also exist, including a variety made from sencha and kukicha. Kukicha (also known as or 'twig tea') is made primarily from the twigs and stems of the tea plant rather than the leaves alone.

Hōjicha infusions have a light- to reddish-brown appearance and are less astringent. The lower levels of astringency in hōjicha are due to the tea losing catechins during the high-temperature roasting process.

The roasted flavours are extracted and dominate this tea: the roasting replaces the vegetative tones of other varieties of Japanese green tea with a toasty, slightly caramel-like flavour.

The roasting process used to make hōjicha also lowers the amount of caffeine in the tea. Because of its mildness, hōjicha is a popular tea to serve during the evening meal, before sleep, and preferred for children and the elderly.