Second tea from the sample pack. This time it is Kaga Bocha.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was the light brown/green colour. This is an excellent sign of a decent houjicha. Usually many people would roast bancha, kukicha or sencha too much and then the tea would often have more of a scorced, and sometimes bad, taste to it. (Do not get me wrong , I do like some more roasty houjichas as well.)
A good houjicha is usually more green than brown, so this might have been just slightly overdone but seemed promising nonetheless. (The leaves I tend to see here are dark brown) Since the tea consists of only stems, I assume it has been made from kukicha.
Certainly, the tea was much less strong and roasty than other houjichas I have tasted and the taste itself was much richer. There was also a slight natural sweetness attached to it as well, that made the beverage much more enjoyable. I love it, actually.
I think I might just buy more of this tea to enjoy during the now more colder winter days in Japan. Not that I should complain though. As I am writing this, it is about -18 degrees Celsius at the place I usually live in Norway, compared to 1 degree Celsius here in Japan.
Better make another cup!
