How to Brew Hojicha Step by Step Guide
When it comes to brewing hojicha tea, there are only a few simple steps to follow. It is much more forgiving compared to other types of Japanese green tea, so it can be an easy way to begin your tea journey.
- Step 1: Measure out 5 grams of leaves and place them in the bottom of your Japanese teapot.
- Step 2: Next, you can pour in 150ml of water. For this, you can use a hojicha brewing temp of 175 degrees fahrenheit or 80 degrees Celsius.
- Step 3: Put the lid of the teapot on to keep the tea warm, and let it sit undisturbed. You can use a hojicha brewing time of 1 minute minimum, but feel free to let it sit longer if you appreciate a more powerful flavor.
Master the amount of leaves to use
As long as you master the amount of leaves to use, what temperature water to use and how long to brew hojicha, you should be able to start preparing great tasting cups of hojicha tea in no time!
If you want to learn about brewing other types of Japanese green teas, you can follow this complete guide on 👉 How to Make Loose Leaf Tea
How to Brew Hojicha Video
Hojicha Brewing Temperature
A key component when it comes to how to brew hojicha is getting the hojicha brewing temperature right.
When it comes to the hojicha brewing temperature, you can go much higher than you would with other types of Japanese green teas.
If you want to learn how to brew the best cup of any type green tea, you should follow this guide 👉 How green tea tastes good, explained by tea experts
Why we recommend lower hojicha brewing temperature
The reason we recommend a lower brewing temperature for most types of Japanese green teas is because the catechins in the tea are extracted at a hotter temperature and these can quickly overpower the flavor of the tea.
Because hojicha has less of these grassy or astringent catechins, you can use a higher hojicha brew temperature and not end up with quite as much bitterness.
Hojicha Brewing Time
In addition to the hojicha brew temp being higher, the hojicha brew time can also be longer. This harder method of brewing will ensure you extract plenty of that roasted flavor from the tea.
Ultimately, how long brew hojicha comes down to how strong you want the flavor so as long as you don’t mind this intense roasted tea flavor, you can let the tea brew for 2 minutes or more.
If you want to become an expert on how long to brew each type of green tea, you can read our guide 👉 How long to steep green tea for the best flavor
What does Hojicha taste like?
Because hojicha is a roasted tea, it takes on much more of these warm notes like coffee, caramel and chocolate. Some lighter roasted hojicha fall on the sweeter side of the spectrum, with flavors of caramel while the darker roasted hojicha teas like the kuki hojicha, tend to taste like dark chocolate or black coffee.
If you are interested in learning about other types of teas that taste like coffee, you may enjoy this about 👉 Tea That Tastes Like Coffee
How to Brew Hojicha Single Cup Method
If you don't have a teapot at home and you want to learn how to brew hojicha in a single cup, you can simply use a tea strainer. Put the tea strainer over the cup, add 5 grams of tea leaves into the strainer and then fill it up with water, using the same hojicha temp brewing as before and the same brewing time.
If you are interested in brewing other types of green teas without a teapot or infuser, you might appreciate this article on 👉 How to make loose leaf tea without an infuser
Brewing Hojicha in Milk
You can also try brewing hojicha in milk to make a hojicha latte. This can be done by either using the tea strainer method mentioned before with hot milk, or you can brew the tea normally and pour it into your oatmilk later.
However if you really want to know how to make hojicha lattes like a pro, you should use hojicha powder.
How to make Hojicha Taste Better
In addition to learning how to brew hojicha, you may also be interested in learning how to make hojicha taste better. One of the things you can try is brewing the tea for a longer time.
The problem you may run into when it comes to how to brew hojicha is that the flavor is not quite as strong as you like it. If you are coming from the world of coffee, hojicha may be a familiar flavor to you but it will be relatively weak by comparison.
If you want to learn how to make hojicha stronger, you will need to play around with either a higher temperature of a longer brewing time. This extra time will allow you to extract more of these strong, roasted flavors from the tea leaves.
Which hojicha to start with
Now that we've taught you how to brew hojicha, it's time to put you're knowledge to the test. You can find a great assortment of hojicha teas on our website.
The hojicha noike for example is a great tea for beginners.
It's a sweeter, light roasted hojicha coming from a talented farmer in Kyoto. Many people report loving this tea, even those that don’t have much experience with Japanese green tea.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of hojicha tea, you can learn about them in this article on 👉 Hojicha Benefits
