Organic Hojicha Powder by Whisk Premium Matcha
Green Tea / Straight
$29.00 for 100g
First Impressions
Out of the purchases I had shared from the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival in my Instagram stories, the Organic Hojicha Powder that I picked up from Kimmy at Whisk Premium Matcha did garner the most interest. What do you do with it? What does it taste like? Is it better than matcha? Answers: whatever you want (drink, use in baking, smoothies, etc); I’m going to get to that; and no? yes? I guess that really depends on if you like matcha or not.
Organic Hojicha Powder comes in a big shiny black pouch that is sealed and resealable with lovely black printed labels on the front and back. Whisk Premium Matcha describes Organic Hojicha Powder as a roasted and ground Japanese green tea, it’s single-origin and farm direct, USDA organic and from Uji, Kyoto, Japan.The power itself has a warm brown cocoa-like appearance. There is a strong roasted tea aroma that seems much stronger than a typical hojicha that hasn’t been ground into a fine powder (which I also like).
Preparation
Whisk Premium Matcha recommends whisking Organic Hojicha Powder with some warm water. No temperature suggestions were given, so I simply went with the lowest temperature setting on my Breville IQ Kettle (still my best purchase 4 years later and going strong every day!) – which is 175°F (79°C).
I did prepare Organic Hojicha Powder much like I do matcha – I scooped some of the powder up and sifted it into my matcha bowl, added a bit of water, whisked it, and then added further water to thin it out. I went over the basics of preparing matcha a while ago, but linking it here for easy reference!
First Taste
Organic Hojicha Powder easily whisks up to a dark almost chocolate brown. It has a really strong roasted and nutty aroma to it – reminds me of a steeped hojicha tea, but amplified. The flavour is very strong – roasted, toasted nutty flavours, just a soft and mild floral note in the background. I found the strong nutty flavour really lingers on the tongue. Organic Hojicha Powder is intense compared to a regular hojicha in terms of flavour.
A Second Cup?
Like a matcha, Organic Hojicha Powder is a suspension so there are no second steeps with the same powder.
My Overall Impression
I loved Whisk Premium Matcha’s Organic Hojicha Powder. There’s just something really great about it that just punches you in the taste buds with all of those intense flavours – roasted and toasted flavours, the nuttiness throughout, the sweet that just peeks through the flavour profile to make itself known. I can definitely see myself utilizing this in a hojicha latte, or using it in baking in place of cocoa or matcha – I think it’d be pretty tasty!
Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.