Powdered Hojicha – the low-key sister of matcha
Hojicha (pronounced: ‘hojee - cha') is a roasted loose-leaf Japanese green tea made with mature leaves and stalks of the "title="BLOG: What is tea made from? Introducing the Camellia Sinensis tea plant" href="https://theteacurator.co.nz/blogs/news/what-is-tea-made-from-introducing-the-camellia-sinensis-tea-plant">Camellia Sinensis tea plant. After harvest, the leaves are steamed, rolled and dried like a standard Japanese green tea, then roasted.
Roasting changes the colour of the leaf from green to brown. It transforms the flavour, creating a soothing and mellow tea with nutty, woody and sweet aromas rather than the punchier marine and green vegetable notes you get from a traditional Japanese green tea.
Hojicha not only tastes different to non-roasted Japanese green teas, it also has significantly less caffeine. This is due to mature leaves - which naturally have less caffeine - being used, as well as the roasting process - which reduces caffeine levels inside the leaf.
To create Powdered Hojicha the leaves undergo an extra step - stone grinding into powder form after they’re roasted and cooled.
Given they're the same tea in different forms, the flavour notes of loose leaf hojicha and powdered hojicha are similar. However, the infused loose leaf tea has a cleaner mouthfeel than the thicker infusion of the whisked powder, and its roasty notes are more dominant. When the powder is used in a hojicha latte, the taste is sweeter and the nutty notes are elevated.
How to prepare powdered hojicha
Powdered hojicha is one of the most versatile styles of tea. It can be prepared in different ways:
Whisked
Add 1 gram (½ tsp) powder per 100mls hot water (80’c) then whisk. Drink it straight from your tea bowl just like traditionally prepared matcha.
Hojicha latte
Prepare as above then add approx. 100mls warm milk, finishing with a sprinkle of powder on top. I find dairy and oat milks pair best with Hojicha powder due to their sweetness from their natural sugar content.
Iced Hojicha
Whisk the hojicha powder as above then pour over milk and ice. Or, create a frappe by adding ½ tsp of dry powder per 200mls of cold milk into a jar or shaker and shake, then stain into a cup.
Flavour bomb
My favourite way to use Hojicha as a flavour bomb is to make a thick whisk (high powder/low water ratio) then pour it over my morning bowl of muesli, fruit and Greek yoghurt.
You can drizzle it over any dessert (vanilla icecream is a great match), or add the powder to home-made muesli, a nut mix or sprinkled over anything for a roasty/nutty garnish. I haven’t tried it yet, but it could work well added to savoury dishes such as mushroom/truffle pasta or risotto, added as part of a dukkah mix or sprinkled over dips or cheese on an antipasto.
Baking
Add powdered Hojicha as a dry ingredient to any baking that suits nutty flavours. Biscuits, cakes, crackers - even sourdough.
How matcha and powdered hojicha compare
Matcha and powdered hojicha are made with leaves from the same plant – the Camellia Sinensis tea plant. High grade matcha uses young, spring leaves which are shaded for a few weeks before they're harvested. Hojicha is, in theory, a lower grade tea as it uses older, more mature leaves which aren’t shaded.
Matcha leaves are steamed, rolled and dried, then stone ground. Powdered hojicha is taken through the same process with an extra step before grinding – roasting. This is why hojicha is brown not green like matcha.
While it is still very good for you, the mature leaves and roasting for hojicha not only reduces caffeine, it also reduces the antioxidants, so its not classed as a superfood like matcha.
And, just like matcha, when you drink powdered hojicha, you are ingesting the entire leaf – rather than just the flavour/nutrients that are infused into the hot water with loose leaf tea prep. So, in theory, you gain more nutrients drinking powdered hojicha than loose leaf hojicha.
A playful tea to be creative with
Powered hojicha is a fun and playful tea that lends itself to experimentation. Its flavour is mild enough to pair with so many different flavours and ingredients. My favourite ways to enjoy it are as a hojicha latte and over my morning muesli. What are yours?
Final tip - when you’re buying powdered hojicha, make sure you look out for the word ‘powder' or 'powdered’, otherwise you’ll end up with the non-ground, loose leaf hojicha - a little like the buying full coffee beans instead of ground coffee!
~ Anna
> Shop powdered hojicha and other roasted green teas here
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