Hokusan Tea
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Iced latte with a little bit of cold foam!
Picked this up at Toronto Tea Festival in February. I’m such a fan of hojicha, but I already own so many different powdered forms of it that I initially wasn’t going to grab this one. However, having a chance to taste it at the festival really changed my mind. A rich, nutty flavour is almost an expectation for a hojicha powder so that didn’t surprise me. What did catch my attention was the really distinct notes of roasted chestnuts, which felt a lot more distinct to this powder. I was really happy to see those flavours in the latté I’d whisked up today as well!
I’ve also really been reflecting on the use of roasted matcha as a marketing term for hojicha powders, as it seems to be increasingly more commonplace – particularly within café spaces and coffee shops. On one hand, hojicha powder is different from matcha on a technical level beyond just the roasting process. The material often destined to become hojicha isn’t usually shade grown or deveined/stemmed even if it ends up milled down in the same or a similar way. On the flip side, there has to be room for language to evolve/change and language like “roasted matcha” very easily and quickly communicates several things to consumers, such as taste and usage/preparation. There’s a level of accessibility that comes with that, which feels like a net positive because it introduces hojicha to people who otherwise wouldn’t know what it is or feel empowered enough to try it…
But it gets complicated when there are companies out there like Aiya who are actually carrying hojicha powder AND roasted matcha that actually has been grown/processed like a typical matcha.
…so definitely curious what other people think! Do you like “roasted matcha” as a digestible marketing term, or should hojicha just be hojicha??
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHcAzwQShP9/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oqVaQ4SEHg&ab_channel=Where%27sJai
Gongfu!
Definitely the nicest wakocha I’ve tried, and for sure in the top five Japanese black teas. Maybe even top three. Medium to full-bodied with a syrupy aroma of cherry blossoms, marzipan, and poppy macarons like I buy for the Jean Talon market here in the summer. The taste is pretty sweet too with a pleasant split between nuttier notes of almond and pecans alongside notes of sakura, poppy, and darkly sweet honey. The undertones are rich, slightly spicy and just a bit woody – making me think of the almost red brown colour of mahogany, which the liquor itself it reminiscent of too! Such a beautiful tea experience!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DF6KUWayhql/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a30UbRPv3fw&ab_channel=ThatWoman
Gongfu!
I’ve been fortunate enough to taste more than a handful of Japanese black teas, and I have to say this is definitely the most fruity I’ve crossed paths with. I love how the deep red liquor almost seems to mirror the pungent notes of waxy ripe red fruits and plums that make up the body of each sip. Additionally, there’s a welcome touch of bitterness and astringency to this medium to full-bodied brew, both of which lean into the finishing notes of dark chocolate, leather, and exotic woods and incense. Great complexity!!
As so many of y’all know, I very rarely drink straight Japanese teas outside of Houjicha – so it’s probably not a surprise that I haven’t spent a whole lot of time really thinking about the unique challenges the Japanese tea industry is facing right now. However, hearing Rikko’s talk about sustainability and the Shizuoka Tea Auction was incredibly fascinating and eye-opening!! Drinking this really amazing tea has me thinking on it once more. If we want amazing teas like this one to continue to be available for the next generations to drink and enjoy, then sustainability of the industry can’t be something we push to the back of our minds. Very thankful that this tea and talk have re-emphasized that to me in new ways!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C23KyU-uIGf/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQPDaRrIko
I understand the point about accessibility, and I do think that anything that makes tea more accessible to people has value. But personally I find it really annoying to have something called by a name that doesn’t tell you what it actually is in any substantive way. If I saw a place calling hojicha “roasted matcha,” I’d likely just go somewhere else if possible (benefit of living in a city!). There was a time when most people in North America had never even heard of matcha, and now it’s ubiquitous – so there’s no reason people wouldn’t also understand what hojicha is if they get enough exposure to it.