Does Hojicha have caffeine? Yes. But how much?
Caffeine’s popularity as a natural stimulant is unparalleled. While caffeine is considered safe, drinking too much may raise some concerns. And is this case, hojicha is definitely going to be your cup of tea!
In this article, we’re going to give you the exact hojicha caffeine content, explain you why does hojicha have caffeine, evaluate factors that influence the caffeine level in the tea, compare the hojicha level vs coffee and green tea, share different ways to even reduce the caffeine level and finally, share with you our list of the most premium Japanese hojicha.
Sounds good? Great!
Without further ado, let’s get started! ☕️🫖🍃
Hojicha Caffeine Content mg
What we’re looking for here is the hojicha caffeine mg or milligram measurement.
A milligram is 1/1000th of a gram, and it is usually the way caffeine is measured.
You should try and stay under 300-400mg of caffeine per day.
A cup of hojicha can have as little as 10mg of caffeine, which makes it suitable for people who are more sensitive to caffeine.
It also makes for a nice relaxing tea to enjoy in the late afternoon or evening.
But, do you know which tea has the most caffeine?
Our team of experts wrote an article in which they share a ranking of teas with the highest caffeine. You can check out this list to discover 👉 Which Tea Has the Most Caffeine
Hojicha vs Green Tea Caffeine
In this chart, you can see the hojicha vs green tea caffeine compared.
These numbers are based on the percentage of the leaf that is comprised of caffeine.
You can use this chart to easily find the hojicha caffeine content.
For example, one gram of leaf will contain approximately 19mg of caffeine.
Typically when you make a cup of Japanese green tea you use 5 grams of leaves but it is not all extracted at once.
It is helpful to keep an eye on the hojicha tea caffeine, especially if you are sensitive to it.
In the next section, we are going to answer this question and also go through the variety of factors that influence how much caffeine in hojicha.
Why Does Hojicha Have Caffeine?
Just like every other type of true tea there is caffeine in hojicha. What gives hojicha green tea caffeine is the tea plant itself, not any stage in the production process, although caffeine can be raised or lowered depending on how the farmer decides to produce the tea.
The tea plant produces caffeine as a defense mechanism to protect itself against insects. Caffeine can be bitter or even poisonous to small insects, so it makes for a good protective coating.
Is hojicha caffeinated naturally?
So is hojicha caffeinated naturally? When people ask if hojicha is caffeinated, the short answer is yes, it does contain caffeine but the caffeine is naturally occurring. The hojicha tea caffeine comes from a variety of different factors and it can change based on how the tea is grown, picked an processed.
In the next section, we are going to take a look at the factors that influence the hojicha caffeine content. We'll also take a look at the hojicha vs green tea caffeine content and see what makes hojicha so low in caffeine.
Factors that influence the caffeine in Hojicha
Harvest
Hojicha is made from older tea leaves, which makes the hojicha caffeine on the lower end of the spectrum. In a later section, we will discuss how the hojicha caffeine level compares to teas produced with younger tea leaves.
Roasting
While it doesn’t make that much of a difference in how much caffeine in hojicha, the roasting process does play a small part. Some of the caffeine is burnt off through the roasting process as the tea leaves are turned in a large hot pan.
If you’re interested in learning more about what hojicha is and how its made, you can check out our guide on 👉 Everything You Need to Know about Hojicha
Comparison of caffeine vs coffee and green tea
Hojicha caffeine vs tea
The hojicha tea caffeine content is very insignificant compared to coffee. A typical cup of coffee can have somewhere in between 80-100mg of caffeine per cup. This is 8-10 times the hojicha caffeine mg!
Because hojicha has some warmer and darker flavors, it might be a good replacement for coffee if you are trying to cut back on your caffeine intake.
Another way of looking at it is that you can drink 10 times the amount of hojicha for the same caffeine!
Hojicha caffeine vs other green tea
When you compare the hojicha caffeine vs green tea like matcha, sencha and gyokuro, you will find that it is quite a low caffeine tea. The reason the hojicha tea caffeine level is so low is mostly due to the fact that older tea leaves are used.
Premium teas in Japan tend to be made from the youngest leaves of the tea plant, as these are packed with nutrients and filled with flavor.
As hojicha tea gets its flavor mostly from the roasting process, it can be made from older tea leaves, like those used for bancha.
Does hojicha have caffeine if it is decaf?
Just like you may come across decaf coffee, you may also come across decaf hojicha. This begs the question does hojicha have caffeine if it is labeled as decaf. The decaffeination process uses chemicals to extract the caffeine and as a result the end product contains some caffeine, albeit significantly less.
How to reduce the caffeine in your Hojicha
Cold brew your Hojicha
If you read a lot of our articles or watch a lot of our videos, you may be asking does hojicha have caffeine if it is cold brewed? The answer is yes. Although hojicha is a low caffeine tea and cold water does extract less caffeine than hot water, cold brewed hojicha will still not be caffeine free. It will however have less caffeine than hot brewed hojicha, so if you’re looking to have a relaxing summer afternoon, this might be the perfect choice!
Make a foamy Hojicha Latte to reduce the Caffeine
Hojicha latte is definitely a way to reduce the level of caffeine in your drink. And if best sure to make a perfect Hojicha Latte with our ultimate Recipe!
Because there is no caffeine from the milk or sugar, the hojicha latte caffeine comes from the hojicha powder itself. This means that if you want to find the caffeine content of your hojicha latte, you can just check the caffeine content of whatever hojicha powder you added.
As you can see, the caffeine hojicha provides is relatively small compared to both coffee and other types of tea, but there is caffeine in hojicha nonetheless.
Which Hojicha to Start with
If you are sensitive to caffeine and you prefer these more warming and soothing flavors, we would recommend you try out one of our hojicha teas! After traveling around Japan for the past few years, we’ve met with dozens of farmers and sampled many different types of roasted tea. We ultimately decided on just a small handful of our favorites.
#1 Hojicha from Mr. Noike
We have a great lightly roasted hojicha from Mr. Noike in Kyoto that is extremely popular!
Because this tea is grown in the middle of a forest, it is partially shaded throughout the day and therefore it develops a natural sweetness.
