Tag: Green Tea

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Hojicha Co.’s Hojicha Gold Roast

Hojicha Gold Roast by Hojicha Co.
Green Tea / Straight
$24.00CAD for 80g

Hojicha Co. has provided me with Hojicha Gold Roast for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Hojicha Co. specializes in (surprise!) hojicha – if you ever wanted to learn about hojicha production, preparation, or recipes, their website is pretty informative! But let’s talk about Hojicha Gold Roast, which Hojicha Co. was very kind to send to me to try. It came in a kraft paper pouch that’s plastic lined, sealed, and resealable. The front label doesn’t have too much information, but the back is quite informative. There’s some tasting notes, preparation instructions, and the ingredient list of one.

The aroma of Hojicha Gold Roast is nutty and sweet, you can definitely tell it’s a roasted tea because of the general smokiness to it. It’s pleasant though, because it’s not overwhelming smokey and reminding me of a camp fire. Hojicha Gold Roast consists only of roasted green tea. From the product page, I found out that the tea was harvested in May in Kyoto, Japan and produced from a roasted sencha. It clearly pays to check out the product page for more information!

Preparation

Hojicha Co. recommends steeping Hojicha Gold Roast in 90°C (194°F) water for 30 seconds for the initial steep. I followed the steeping instructions and used water that was heated to 195°F and allowed it to cool for a bit as that was the closest temperature on my variable temperature kettle.

First Taste

Hojicha Gold Roast steeps to a light golden orange colour. There was some of the tea that got through my stainless steel infuser – so if that’s something that bugs you when you’re drinking tea, I would recommend steeping Hojicha Gold Roast in a filter bag. The aroma is a mix of nutty and smokiness. I found the tea itself to be sweet with some light floral notes that also had that smokey flavour and nuttiness to it. The green tea is smooth and was easy and pleasant to drink.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Hojicha Gold Roast five times (six steeps total). I found that the colour deepened with the first two resteeps, and gradually lightened after that. The flavour of the tea became less smokey and more nutty and umami, which was a nice touch. The light floral sweetness I found to stay fairly consistent throughout.

My Overall Impression

I loved Hojicha Co.’s Hojicha Gold Roast. This was just a really nice hojicha experience. The flavour profile is complex, and it’s definitely worth resteeping over and over again to get the different flavours as it subtly changes. I found that sweetness was enjoyable, as was the gentle smokiness that wasn’t overwhelming. I don’t think this tea needs any sweetener at all, as it has a nice natural sweetness to it that works really well with the other flavours.

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DavidsTea’s Vanilla Matcha

Vanilla Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

What’s this? Another matcha post on a Monday? I’m impressing even myself! This week’s #matchamonday review is DavidsTea’s Vanilla Matcha, which is a flavoured matcha drink mix that came in the Matcha Discovery Kit (first discussed in my review of Pumpkin Pie Matcha). In a familiar green-tone foil pouch (it comes sealed, and is resealable!) with the information about the ingredients and steeping instructions on the back.

Vanilla Matcha has a bit of a dull olive-ish sheen to it. The aroma is primarily that of vanilla. The packaging mentions that there is coconut in it somewhere, but I don’t smell anything that reminds me of coconut. Vanilla Matcha consists of: coconut nectar, matcha green tea, and natural vanilla flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking Vanilla Matcha in 85°C (185°F) water. I opted to follow the preparation instructions.

First Taste

Vanilla Matcha whisks to a bit of a dark green. It’s not as bright as I’m used to when it comes to matcha, but nonetheless it has a strong vanilla aroma to it. The taste of the matcha is primarily vanilla and sweet. I don’t really taste coconut still, and the flavour has a bit of grassy quality to it. The tea is was smooth, and the flavour is pleasant. I find that the vanilla and sweetness overpowers the grassy notes from the matcha base.

A Second Cup?

As matcha is a suspension and all of it is drunk on the first go-around, there are no second cups.

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s Vanilla Matcha was just okay. There was just something about it that didn’t speak to me as a personal preference. While I found the sweetness and the vanilla flavour was good, I wasn’t that fond of the grassy qualities in the blend because the vanilla flavour overwhelms the matcha base and it wasn’t the most enjoyable. I can see this blending easily as an iced matcha latte and it did whisk easily, so using a blender bottle would be easy if you were making matcha on the go.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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DavidsTea’s Peach Matcha

Peach Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Peach Matcha was one of the flavoured matchas that came in the Matcha Discovery Kit that I mentioned last week (when I shared my review of Pumpkin Pie Matcha). It came in a coloured foil pouch (sealed, and resealable). I like the fact that the text is readable on the background of the pale green of the Peach Matcha pouch. The powder is bright green, with visible sugar granules, and a strong peach aroma.

The ingredients of Peach Matcha are: cane sugar, matcha green tea, and natural peach flavouring. Surprisingly not a lot of ingredients, but sugar is still listed as number one which isn’t that surprising for a drink mix.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking Peach Matcha in 85C (185F) water. I followed the instructions and whisked it in my matcha bowl.

First Taste

Peach Matcha whisked easily, with a thin layer of froth on top. I found the aroma to be very peachy, and the flavour is spot on. There’s a strong sweetness to it, peachy flavour, and a light grassy note throughout. I found that the peach is much stronger than the matcha base. The overall sugar level is strong, and it reminds me a lot of fuzzy peaches.

A Second Cup?

As Peach Matcha is a suspension, there was no second ‘steep’.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Peach Matcha. I liked the aroma and flavour of the blend, the peachy quality is nice. I find that Peach Matcha is on the sweet side, almost too sweet, but it reminds me a lot of fuzzy peaches (the candy) which I love. The peach covers up most of the matcha, and I find it to be quite tasty. I think it’s great both hot or iced (as a latte?) and making it up as a latte would help temper the sweetness if you find it too sweet.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.