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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