★★★★☆
Nice, light, vegetal flavor. It's one of my substitutes for gyokuru when I don't want to empty out my wallet.
Green tea from Japan that is rendered brown by roasting Bancha (a summer crop tea, harvested after Sencha) tea leaves. An Adagio customer favorite, with a toasty nutty flavor and slightly mesquite note. Earthy and warm quality, soothing finish.
Customers use these reviews to describe their experience with Hojicha, including flavor, aroma, preparation preferences, strength, and how the tea fits into daily routines. Browse the full review history page by page to compare tasting notes, steeping tips, and favorite ways to enjoy this tea.
Nice, light, vegetal flavor. It's one of my substitutes for gyokuru when I don't want to empty out my wallet.
If you are looking for a simple standard green tea this is a good choice for you.
A little earthier than most green teas but not in the 'tastes like dirt' kind of way. I find it pretty pleasant.
Hojicha is a green tea. It is very mellow and slightly sweet tasting, not astringent. It is very forgiving. I once used the black tea settings on my tea pot and the tea still tasted great. The same goes for the Oolong settings. I tried that, and the tea was great. So if you do not have a dedicated teapot, you cannot mess up this tea's brewing.
Not my favorite. Just a bit too earthy for me. :-l
Not what I expected in a green tea. Wonderful woody, nutty flavor. Has the sweetness of a green tea, but not the vegetal taste. Second steep (4ish minutes) maintained some of the flavor, but not as well as e.g. gunpowder. Second steep is still enjoyable, though. This is great for evenings.
Classic taste you expect from hojicha. Wouldn't mind ordering more in the future.
Interesting tea. Completely different from any other green tea I've tried. If you do not like grassy tea, give this one a try.
Aww, I really like this tea. So nutty and sweet. Making a pot of this tea satisfies my desire for baked goodies. As the tea cools the roasted flavor became more pronounced, so I made a batch and iced it...fantastic.
This tea is wonderfully nutty and toasty, with touches of caramelized sugar in the flavor profile. There's a bit of a smokiness as well, but subtle. The mouthfeel is light, and has a bit of a 'clear' sort of texture. All around, one of my favorites. I must also note, that hojicha reminds me a bit of Sugar Smacks cereal, which I find really entertaining!
One of the best teas I've ever had - I wish I would have started drinking Hojicha sooner. Great toasty flavor.
This green has a deep, earthy taste. Very comforting - a complex flavor without being overwhelming or showy. I find most green teas to be too delicate for my mornings, but this one is substantial and almost chewy.
I'm not a big fan of green teas in general, but I did like the darker nutty roastiness of this one.
I've never had a Hojicha before. Not being a fine tea connoisseur, I would describe the overall flavor as 'What Genmai-cha wants to be when it grows up.' It lacks the puffed rice of Genmai-cha but the tea flavor itself is similar, just more concentrated, darker, bolder. This one surprised me---it was an afterthought that I just tacked on to my first order, and it's wound up becoming one of my favorites. I love a good Genmai, but this Hojicha is right up there on my favorites list as well.
This is one of my absolute favorite green teas. It's toasty and warm and earthy, and actually blends rather fantastically if you're looking to make your own blends. Additionally, it's delicious cold. I don't mean like... iced, I haven't tried that, but you know when you forget a cup of tea and when you find it again it's stone cold? Yeah, this one's still great.
A solid Japanese tea. Strong flavor, almost roasty.
It had a very nutty taste to it. I really like the pretty amber color.
good tea, love this tea, no bitter. good tea, love this tea, no bitter.
Very toasty. The taste is very similar to the genmaicha, but I prefer the genmaicha.
At first I felt like I was drinking a cup full of musty straw, but the more I drank, the more I liked it. By the end of the cup it seemed like a more comforting and toasty flavor. I don't know if I could drink a whole potful in one sitting, but I'm eager to blend it with a spiced tea of some sort.
I really like this hojicha. Nice nutty roasted flavor. Not something I drink every day, but a good tea to change it up.
I have been wanting to try this tea type for a while. The roasted greens taste is new, and reminds me of nori.
Full, smoky, and earthy. The taste varies wildly by brewing time so try experimenting. Also very nice iced! Avoid the milk and sugar.
Great tea with interesting flavor. Does not taste like most green teas.
I'm definitely pleased with this tea. It smells a bit like burnt nuts in the cup, but it tasted more roasted than burned. A little bit of raw honey made for a nice, warming cup of tea.
I really like Japanese green tea, however, even though the store near me sells high quality stuff, it is really expensive and the price for this is really good for the quality.
Very powerful tasting green tea. Perhaps a bit overbearing with its flavor but enjoyable nonetheless.
Quite good! I like how nutty and smooth this tea is, reminds me of a Wood Dragon Oolong tea.
I probably would have had a more accurate review if I hadn't stupidly burnt my tongue on first sip, but from what my remaining taste buds can tell this is really good.
Wonderfully nutty! Distinctly different from other green teas I have tasted and a great tea for fall and winter.
This is sort of similar to Lapsang Souchong, only green and nuttier. I didn't enjoy this the first time, but it's so good now. Tastes especially delicious when blended with a lighter chai.
One of my favourites. It has a seaweed-like smell, but earthy / woody flavour. It's calming and strong at the same time.
Nice, toasty, comfortable flavor. Great late-night tea.
Not 'my cup of tea'. I have been trying to find a green tea I enjoy, but this isn't one. I didn't enjoy the taste or aroma of the tea. I'm sure this is a good tea for those who like a roasted taste in their tea.
I was hoping for a nutty, roasted, less-grassy taste that most of the other reviewers described, and got a blend that was overwhelmingly redolent of seaweed. The roasted taste is there, but I don't get the nutty flavor. instead, I get more of a burnt taste. Burnt seaweed is not what I was expecting and is definitely not pleasant to drink. Would not buy again.
Given my past experience with Japanese greens (very bitter), I was skeptical, but pleasantly surprised. The flavor is light, and the toasty nuttiness definitely comes through. Maybe I should go back and try some of those that turned me off with a shorter steeping time.
Love the roasted, but not too strong, flavor. Not too much caffeine.
I had really high hopes for this tea. I normally handle green teas very well, and was not expecting this one to be any exception. Alas! It's a habit of mine to brew the first cup of a new tea weak, and adjust to my tastes from there. Thank god I brewed this hojicha weak, because I can't imagine what it would have done to me at full strength. Half a cup into the weak brew I found the tea was a digestive disaster and got a headache that lasted upwards of 12 hours! The taste also proved nothing special, but this is likely owing to it being weakly brewed - not bad, but nothing to write home about.
Horrid experience overall. Very disappointed, and very curious as to just what was in this tea to cause such a horrible reaction. :(
Doesn't taste like most green teas - much drier than you'd expect.
Good, though. And light.
I have tried other companies version of this roasted green tea and still find this is very high quality and value. It does taste like a nice alternative to coffee, especially later in the day. Less caffeine and very soothing. It also is delicious with stronger cheeses like aged Gouda!
it took me a while to appreciate this tea, it is very earthy and smells a bit like...seaweed, maybe? I love this tea for it's sort of toasty/nutty taste. would definitely order again.
This is really nice, dry and woody, slightly nutty. A really good green tea for those who don't like their tea really grassy.
This tea has a very strong toasted seaweed snack taste to it, which, to me, was not a bad thing at all. It was very smokey and cozy. It's a great afternoon or evening tea. But if you're not interested in drinking a cup of hot nori, this might not be the tea for you.
This is very earthy for a green tea and didn't remind me of any other green teas I've tried. To me, it tasted more like a lighter version of some oolong teas I've had. Luckily, that works for me and I loved it!
This is an excellent hojicha. Nutty, ricelike, and wonderful in blends. I can play around with this all day. It works very well with rooibos almond and a sweeter tea, like rooibos vanilla or caramel.
If you are looking for a green tea with an extremely unique and bold flavour, I think Hojicha is for you. It was part of my first experience with teas, and I am glad for that. Compared to the vegetal flavours of the other green teas I had purchased, hojicha has a very woody taste. Depending on my mood (and perchance also my technique) for that day, it can be exactly what I need.
I would recommend this for folks who aren't entirely fond of black tea, but would like to digress slightly from the typical green tea staple flavours.
Nice roasted smell. You can actually get a whiff of the nutty notes in the tea. Not bitter, or too powerful. very relaxing tea. I plan to try it with a mate to see if it can expound upon it.
I brewed this tea and almost didn't drink it because the smoke smell is slightly off-putting. But I forced myself to drink it anyway and it tastes quite good. I'm not sure that I would buy this again because of the smell but I will probably finish what remains.
I drank it pure, without honey or sugar, and I really enjoyed the taste. I was worried, because I thought it might have that plant taste that some green teas have...I'm not a huge fan of that. BUT this tea was delicious. I will be drinking more, very soon.
A really interesting and unexpected green - nice strength, and the scents and flavors remind me of several things: nuts, wood, smoke, and dried seaweed.