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“Thanks so much to Roswell Strange and VariaTea for organizing this TTB! I had a lovely time with it, and it will be moving on to AJRimmer tomorrow. I made this hojicha from the Strange VariaTea TTB...” Read full tasting note
“I want to like this tea very badly. It’s such a simple, straight forward blend and in theory I can see the warm, toasty notes of hojicha being quite lovely with the sweetness of sarsaparilla....” Read full tasting note
About this Product
Origin: Shizuoka and Kagoshima Prefectures, Japan
Cultivar: Yabukita
Harvest: May 2022
Elevation: 300m
This winter we are releasing unique houjicha blends that are warming and comforting. Houjicha is a category of Japanese green tea defined by its level of roasting. Green tea leaves and stems are hot roasted and transformed by way of the Maillard reaction, similar to the caramelization of a properly baked sweet potato or striking the right roast in coffee or cocoa.
We selected a deeply roasted and sweet lot of houjicha made from only the first flush harvested stems from sencha and kukicha. These stems have amino acids, polysaccharides and tender fibers that when roasted with skill provide a deep sweetness, rich mouthfeel and a heady aroma.
This batch of houjicha is warming and toasty with a deep tea taste and notes of caramel, kuromitsu, dark chocolate, and espresso bean. We added a small percentage of Indian sarsaparilla with irresistible flavor notes of vanilla cream, root beer, sassafras and sweet rose with woodsy and floral accents. Houjicha Sarsaparilla is brimming with warm nostalgia and amazing aromas.
Traditional Preparation
Add 4g−5g to a small (200ml−290ml) kyusu teapot.
Use 190°F water.
Infuse for 1−2 minutes and decant.
Repeat for another 1−2 infusions for 1 minute.
Tasting Notes
Root beer, sarsaparilla, cream, kinako and caramel
Ingredients
Organic deep roast houjicha, organic sarsaparilla root
Rishi Tea specializes in sourcing the most rarefied teas and botanical ingredients from exotic origins around the globe. This forms a palette from which we craft original blends inspired by equal parts ancient herbal wisdom and modern culinary innovation. Discover new tastes and join us on our journey to leave ‘No Leaf Unturned’.
Thanks so much to Roswell Strange and VariaTea for organizing this TTB! I had a lovely time with it, and it will be moving on to AJRimmer tomorrow. I made this hojicha from the Strange VariaTea TTB a few times and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I can say that the sarsaparilla’s root beer note is very strong when this is cold, in a nice and almost tingly way. Hot, I just really struggled to describe the flavor or even decide whether I actively liked it. Jury very much still out. I ended up keeping it because I couldn’t get the box closed without taking out another tea, so I chose this one because a) I like hojicha a lot, b) I definitely like it when it’s cold, and c) I’m intrigued by how difficult it is for me to describe it when it’s hot.
I want to like this tea very badly. It’s such a simple, straight forward blend and in theory I can see the warm, toasty notes of hojicha being quite lovely with the sweetness of sarsaparilla. However, there’s something about the hojicha itself that seems just a little bit off to me. It almost tastes like burnt bread? But not in that kind of way where a hint of intentional char actually highlights the sweet golden notes of grains. No, this kind of burnt note feels a little bit like an accident. It kind of sucks down the flavours of the hojicha in a way that makes them feels a little one dimensional, and then on top of that the sarsaparilla is adding a coating sweetness that feels cacophonous to me.
I’m not writing this one off yet because I just feel in my bones that there’s something more to this that I’m not understanding or that I haven’t “unlocked” with how I initially steeped it, but I just don’t feel quite right about this first tasting. The notes didn’t click together for me how I expected them to at all.
Kaylee-are you able to PM me? I tried to and it didn’t work to send you a message? :)
I got a message through to Michelle a while back but she was 7nable to get one back to me. Thankfully I had sent my personal email address to her. It must be glitchy right now.