Description
Houjicha is a roasted green tea that has a smooth and mellow roasted nut flavor. Our houjicha is grown on the family farms in the foothills of Mount Fuji that is organically grown for over 25 years and roasted by a tea artisan that has the top quality roasting technique in Japan. Houjicha’s refreshing taste will be suitable when served with a meal, and of course great for after meals and simply for tea time too. Read About Our Farmer.
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Tasting Notes
The dry leaf for this tea might be a bit intimidating for some. Not as strong as some lapsang or genmaicha I’ve smelled, but it is a slightly funky, earthy, and straw-like scent.
The brewed tea is much more mild and smells almost like roasted corn. I was afraid this tea would be similar to barley tea (mugicha), which for some reason I don’t like the taste of, but I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of this tea when brewed. It stood up to a nice long brewing of 3 minutes since it is less fragile than a non-roasted green tea. There is absolutely no bitterness, astringency, or even the slight acidity that regular green teas can sometimes have. It does inherit the grassiness and smooth buttery finish of a high quality green tea.
The finish is sweet and smooth, reminding me of a non-salted version of those grocery snack corn nuts. The after taste has a bit of tannin that reminds me of oolong teas served in restaurants to help with digestion, but it is more of a nostalgic reminder and does not affect the overall taste of the tea at all.
Flavors: Butter, Hay, Roasted nuts, Straw, Toasted Rice
About 
Shizen’s mission is to support sustainable organic farming for the better environment and safer health foods by becoming a bridge between organic farmers and consumers around the world. In Japan, there are farmers who have strong commitments to organic farming. Most of these farmers believe that organic farming is the sustainable way to keep their land healthy so that future generations can enjoy the same beautiful nature. However, Japanese consumers do not have as much appreciation in organic products as consumers in other countries do.
Product provided for review. All notes & opinions are my own.
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