From Wikipedia:

Hōjicha (ほうじ茶?) is a Japanese green tea that is distinguished from others because it is roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal; Japanese tea is usually steamed. The tea is fired at high temperature, altering the leaf colour tints from green to reddish-brown. The process was first performed in Kyoto, Japan in the 1920s and its popularity persists today.

Hōjicha infusions have a light- to reddish-brown appearance, and are less astringent due to losing catechins during the high temperature roasting process. The roasted flavours are extracted and predominate this blend: the roasting replaces the vegetative tones of standard green tea with a toasty, slightly caramel-like flavour. The roasting process used to make Hōjicha lowers the amount of caffeine in the tea. Because of its mildness, Hōjicha is a popular tea to serve during the meal or after the evening meal before going to sleep and even preferred for children and elderly.

Temperature: 82°C
Time: 1 – 3 minutes
Number of infusions: 2
Quantity: 4 teaspoons per litre

On one of the forums I follow, someone recently made the charge that flavored teas are always made with the lowest grade of tea available. I take personal affront with this, since I like to use the finest and most unique teas I can find to create our blends. Even our simple flavored black teas are made with high grade Indian black teas. Though I could get cheaper teas, I refuse. This week’s tea of the week and this past weekend’s VIT blend are just further examples of the boundaries 52teas likes to push.

Here’s a toasted green Hōjicha blended with freeze-dried bananas, our honking big coconut flakes and natural flavors. This is a truly delicious treat you are NOT going to want to miss out on. As with the Lemon-Lime Meringue Kukicha, this is a very limited edition blend. I do not have a final pouch count just yet, but these are going to go fast, and when they are gone, they’re gone.

Lastly, I just updated the In-Stock page to reflect our latest inventory. There might be a few teas you thought you missed out on that we do have in stock after all.

Our Tea of the Week for the Week of September 26th, 2011

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