Hōjicha (焙じ茶) is a Japanese green tea that has been roasted at high temperature until the leaf turns reddish-brown. The roasting transforms the cup completely: the green-tea grassiness gives way to a sweet, nutty, caramel-toned cup that tastes more like a light coffee than a green tea. It also lowers the caffeine to among the lowest of any caffeinated tea — under 10mg per cup, less than a quarter of standard sencha.
Hōjicha is the after-dinner tea of Kyoto. It is what Japanese mothers give to children. It is what is poured at the end of a kaiseki meal. It is — for our money — the most underrated tea in the Japanese canon outside of Japan itself.
What hōjicha is made from
Hōjicha can be made from any base green tea, but the four common starting materials are:
- Bancha — the most common. Lower-grade green tea made from larger, older leaves harvested late in the season. Bancha hōjicha is what most Japanese families drink daily.
- Sencha — higher-quality and slightly more refined. The roast tames sencha's grassiness and brings out a sweeter cup.
- Karigane (kukicha) — stems and leaves. The stems left over from gyokuro and high-grade sencha processing, separated and roasted. Considered the most refined hōjicha; the stems carry a residual sweetness from the shading process and the cup is more layered. This is what we use in the Saint Graal Hōjicha.
- Houjicha — leaf-only stems-removed. Used by some industrial roasters; gives a one-dimensional cup compared to karigane.
How it is made
The defining step is the roast. Traditionally, the tea is roasted in a small porcelain cylinder called a houjiki, over charcoal, for about three to ten minutes — depending on the master and the tea — until the leaves turn from green to red-brown. The roast volatilizes much of the caffeine (which is why hōjicha is so low) and transforms the chlorophyll-driven grassy notes into the toasted-nut, caramel character that defines the cup.
The key variables are temperature, time, and judgment. Roast too cool, and the cup retains green-tea character without gaining the new layer; too hot, and the leaf goes bitter and burnt. The window is narrow. A master roaster in Uji, Kyoto, will roast in handful-sized batches and adjust by sight, smell, and the sound of the leaf on the cylinder.
Industrial hōjicha — most of what is sold in the United States — is roasted in large machine drums at higher temperatures and faster pace. Cheaper, more consistent, and more one-dimensional in the cup.
What hōjicha tastes like
The clearest way to describe a good hōjicha is: imagine a cup of roasted hazelnuts, slightly sweet, with a soft caramel finish, served as a light tea.
Specifically:
- Roasted hazelnut — the dominant note, present from the first sip.
- Caramel and dark sugar — the second layer, especially in karigane-base hōjicha.
- Toasted bread / cereal — a soft middle.
- Smoke — present in light traces; not bonfire-smoke, more like a wood-fire in a distant room.
- A clean finish — no astringency, no green-tea bitterness.
The cup is forgiving. Even slightly over-brewed, the roast keeps the cup balanced — there is no tannic punishment for a four-minute steep instead of a three.
The history
Hōjicha was invented in the 1920s in Kyoto, by a Japanese tea merchant who wanted a use for the lower-grade leaf that did not sell well as plain bancha. Roasting was an old preservation technique, but the application to green tea — and the discovery that the roast produced something genuinely new — was relatively recent. By the 1930s, hōjicha was widespread in Kyoto homes; by the 1960s, it was the standard after-dinner tea across most of Japan.
Outside Japan, hōjicha is still less well-known than matcha or sencha, but it has been quietly gaining traction in the US specialty market over the past decade. The "hōjicha latte" — typically hōjicha powder, milk, and a touch of sweetener — has been a staple of Japanese-influenced cafés for years and is now common in third-wave coffee shops in major American cities.
Caffeine
Hōjicha is one of the lowest-caffeine teas in the world. The roast process volatilizes much of the caffeine; what is left is roughly:
| Tea | Caffeine per 8oz cup |
|---|---|
| Coffee (drip) | ~95 mg |
| Black tea (Earl Grey, English Breakfast) | ~40–60 mg |
| Sencha | ~25–35 mg |
| Matcha (1.5g) | ~30–50 mg |
| Hōjicha | ~5–10 mg |
That is the reason hōjicha is the standard evening tea in Japan, and the reason it is given to children. (For comparison, decaffeinated coffee is typically 2–5mg.)
How to brew it
Hōjicha is one of the most forgiving teas. Use water at 95°C / 203°F — full boil — and steep for 90 seconds for the first cup, two minutes for the second. Whole leaf gives three good pours. The leaf-to-water ratio is one heaped teaspoon (~3g) per 8oz / 240ml.
Unlike most green teas, hōjicha does not punish a longer steep. It does not need cooler water. It does not need a precise pour. The roasting has done most of the work; you cannot really mess it up.
Hōjicha latte
Combine 1 teaspoon hōjicha powder (or strongly-brewed hōjicha) with 6oz of steamed whole milk and a touch of brown sugar or honey. Whisk. The result is one of the cleanest milk-tea drinks in the canon — no astringency, no metallic finish.
FAQ
Is hōjicha green tea?
Yes — by base, hōjicha is a green tea (made from Camellia sinensis, unfermented). The roasting changes the cup so completely that it tastes nothing like other Japanese green teas, but the leaf is still classified as green.
How is hōjicha different from genmaicha?
Genmaicha is sencha or bancha mixed with toasted brown rice — the rice provides the toasted character. Hōjicha is the leaf itself roasted. The flavor profiles overlap (both have a toasted note) but hōjicha is deeper, more uniform, and more caramel-toned. Genmaicha is brighter and more cereal-toned.
How much caffeine does hōjicha have?
Very little — around 5–10mg per cup, less than a quarter of standard sencha and roughly a tenth of brewed coffee. The roasting process volatilizes most of the caffeine.
Can I drink hōjicha at night?
Yes. It is the standard Japanese evening tea precisely because the caffeine is so low. We drink it after dinner.
Why does my hōjicha taste burnt?
Because it was probably roasted too aggressively in an industrial drum. A well-made karigane hōjicha from Uji has a clean toasted-nut character with no burnt edge. If yours tastes acrid, it is not the brewing — it is the source. Try a different producer.
Is hōjicha good for sleep?
It is not a sleep aid in the herbal sense, but its very low caffeine means it does not interfere with sleep the way most caffeinated teas do. Many Japanese drinkers have a cup an hour before bed.
Saint Graal Hōjicha is karigane (stem-and-leaf) from a small Uji roastery, charcoal-roasted in handful-sized batches. See the cup →
