What is Houjicha actually?

Houjicha is a roasted green tea from Japan. The roasting process gives the Houjicha leaves a brown colour, which at first glance resembles that of a black tea. Roasting reduces the fresh and grassy aroma of green tea. Instead, the infusion tastes nutty caramelly, with notes of coffee and cocoa.

Houjicha is multifaceted

Houjicha is a tea category of its own with a variety of products. Everything starts with roasting the green tea in different intensities. A „Sencha“ or a „Bancha“ can classically be used for this. But also the green stems (Kukicha) or the mixing of the tea with rice as „Genmaicha“ sets various accents. These products can also be supplied as fine cuts on request. By roasting the tea to different degrees, various interesting taste nuances can be created.

Houjicha roasting

The green teas are briefly heated up to 300 degrees in a roasting machine. In this process, the strength of the roasting character in the tea can be controlled by the temperature and duration.

Houjicha preparation

The loose tea leaves are steeped in 100°C hot water for about 30 seconds. Houjicha powder can also be prepared in a tea bowl. In this case, the use of milk instead of water is recommendable, since the milk creates a very new taste level of the houjicha flavour reminding of a mixture of coffee and chocolate. A great mouthfeel!

Houjicha powder: The new trend from Japan

It‘s worth taking a look to Asia. As the origin of many new tea trends, the next innovation is now emerging in Japan: Houjicha powder. Ground into a fine powder, houjicha is not to be considered as a classic tea, but as a new kind of food ingredient with a variety of uses.

Matcha

• Matcha is made by preparing green tea leaves through a special process and grinding them into a fine powder.
• The tea leaves are shaded, harvested, steamed, dried and ground very finely.
• Green, in very different grades
• High caffeine level
• Tart, grassy, intense umami flavour, partly also nutty
• Matcha is part of the classic Japanese tea ceremony. However, as a trendy and innovative ingredient, it is finding more and more applications in a wide variety of foods.

Houjicha

• Houjicha is a roasted green tea. Houjicha powder is made by grinding the houjicha tea.
• The tea leaves are harvested, steamed, dried and roasted before being ground.
• Reddish-brown
• Low caffeine level
• Nutty, caramelly, roasty notes of coffee and cocoa
• Houjicha powder is a modern food ingredient. It is particularly suitable for preparing drinks with milk/dairy substitutes, or as an ingredient for baked goods, desserts or chocolate.

 

Learn more about Matcha and Houjicha powder for wholesale and industrial needs.