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.
This is my absolute favorite green tea, it's simply perfect. It's nutty, earthy, smooth, crisp, and amazing cold-brewed or hot. The perfect wake me up in the morning, or after dinner cup. It is certainly in no way similar to traditional greens, so be wary if you're expecting that.
The perfect after dinner tea. Doesn’t have the seaweed taste of many others.
This smells earthy and a bit like warm hay, in a really good way. Once brewed, it's comforting and delicious. It tastes more substantial than your average green tea, and the leaves can be brewed more than once without loss of flavor. A new favorite of mine.
Pretty good quality hojicha, not too intensely bitter as long as you don't oversteep it, and with that subtle roasty note that helps balance it out. Pretty comparable to the stuff I brought home from Kyoto a few years back.
I’ve tried other hojicha from Amazon and this is the best quality for the price that I’ve found. Delicious roasted flavor and clean, not overly bitter tea taste.
The toasty taste of crisped rice makes this tea wonderful. Obviously not for a purist, for which I don’t have the necessary taste buds!!
I really enjoyed the earthy warm notes in this tea
To be fair, I do not care for Japanese green teas. Too much umami for my taste. However, the roasting process is preferable to steaming, so it was tolerable to my taste buds. Everyone is different, so if savory teas are your jam, then this one will probably be welcomed.
I am not into this type of tea. I do not like roasted tea.
CommuniTEA sample: I really enjoy hojicah, and todays sample was no exception. Strong toasted aromas with nutty, toasted, rice flavors and subtle sweetness. A very delicious brew! 175 for 2 min.
I thought I had reviewed this with CT before, but I guess not. I’m glad I didn’t see the comments today before I drank it. I lowered my temp to 175° and steeped for 2.5 minutes. It tasted like a smooth toasty regular tea. Nothing fancy but a nice cuppa. I didn’t get any grassy, seaweed, or fishy flavor to mine. It was closer to an oolong or black, than a green to me. I enjoyed two steeps, nothing added.
I cold brewed this tea overnight in the fridge and added a little Stevia (my standard treatment for green teas). Nice solid green tea with a hint of nuttiness in it. Held up well even after the third steep. This CommuniTea sample size was great way to try out this tea - unlike some other blends, with so few ingredients everything was fully present in my sample
CommuniTEA 5/10/22: great roasted flavor! Good way to begin the morning.
175° 3½ minutes
Ya know... I just don't like seaweed. And I don't care for this kind of earthiness in a tea. Not my thing and never gonna be my thing. But if those are your thing, you're going to like it.
Wonderful earthy green tea. Light and refreshing and good for a second brew as well.
What a delicious green tea. It's super robust, and would make an excellent lower caffeine substitute to my typical English breakfast tea.
A nice light earthy nutty flavored green tea. I wasn't sure about this one but it was actually pretty good.
Nice subtle surprise. Pleasant taste enjoyed sipping throughout the day. Steeped twice.
At first, my tea had a slight fishy smell to it. I gave the leaves a quick rinse with hot water before brewing. It removed the smell and potential funky taste. I was left with a lovely, toasty green tea, with a malty, slightly vegetal flavor. Delicious!
I’m so sorry to give such a low rating but this is such a grassy taste that I couldn’t drink it. I know there are plenty of people who like this tea but it’s just not for me.
Hojicha is a tea is especially enjoy in the cooler winter months — reminds me of the coziness of a cuppa hot chocolate without the chocolate.
The toasty bancha is a delight with its malty smokiness.
I am especially happy to enjoy a tea that is not loaded down with blended ingredients. I am a fan of the taste of tea! Tea alone brings so many natural flavors and essences to the palate.
Steeping Notes — 195 degrees (perhaps too hot) for 5+ minutes in my tea traveler. I am finding that Hojicha is one tea that does not lend itself to Grandpa style tea enjoyment.
A unique tasting green tea that tastes more earthy than other types of green tea.
Lovely toasted flavor with scents of drying hay. Warm rather than bright.
I’ve never had a green tea like this before and it was delightful.
The flavor goes a little past earthy and into 'damp forest' territory. Very nutty, bold, and smooth. Teas like this always taste best to me in the second steep
love the toastiness of this green tea.
Toasty and slightly vegetal, this blend is different from any other green I've tried. There's a slight grassy flavor combined with a mild seaweed flavor that worried me when I caught the scent as I'm not typically a fan of savory green teas, but the malty flavor gives it a bit of light, natural sweetness that tips it in my favor. This won't be an every day cup for me, but I can see this going great with a nice sushi dinner occasionally.
This is a bold green tea. It’s earthy and woody, toasty and smoky. Very nice and robust!
Very different from any other green tea I have had in the past and reminded me more closely to an oolong then a green. Very earthie in flavor with a mild roasted nut quality.
Roasted, nutty smooth flavors in my cup from Hojicha. I have learned the hard way to brew it low at 175 and short 3 min to avoid fishy overtones. The result is a truly enjoyable sip.
I'm not loving this tea. There is an earthiness and almost fish taste that I personally don't like. The flavor isn't overly strong but there are so many teas that I like better.
Vegetal green tea aren't my favorite, so I was pleasantly surprised when this tasted less vegetal and more earthy than it smelled. It has the faintest smokey taste, but I found the flavor was primarily nutty.
I love this green tea. It has a roasted nutty flavor. Personally I don't taste any grassy notes that are typical in a green tea.
This is a lovely green tea! It's toasty and surprisingly buttery. I usually love green teas and this is no exception
Toasty and tasty, this is a unique tea that has a nutty grain flavor. It finishes smooth giving it an almost savory caramel quality.
CommuniTEA portion: Still just love this tea. :-)
27 Feb 2022 - Lovely tea. Slightly nutty, slighty grassy. Just a hint of smokeiness. Very smooth, almost buttery at the end. Just a nice straight up tea. Would purchase again (especially since I spilled half of my sample bag on the floor :-( ). Ha! Good for 3 steeps for me. Pleasant way to start the day!
Such a unique experience! Roasty richness, but followed by a spring vegetal note. If you know that you like green teas (not everyone does), I recommend trying this. I’m thoroughly enjoying it.
This smells like dry hay as the CommuniTea packet opens. Hmmm, some very brown leaves or sticks appear. It steeps into a clear orange/red tea. Very dark for a “green tea” however, it is nothing like any green tea I have had. It tastes very nutty and earthy, like dry hay. There is no bitterness, plus this is rich and full bodied with a clean finish. It is surprisingly sweet all on its own, so I do not add anything. Great tea and good for several steeps. (3 mins @ 180ºF).
This sip is filled out with deep, malty flavors, but settles into a pleasantly nutty-sweet aftertaste. This is a perfect tea for those who love the malted cocoa flavor of black tea, but with an earthy green twist.
I either hate green teas or I love them, and the main tipping factor for that decision is how grassy/vegetal the tea tastes. This green tea is earthy but not vegetal and has a nice toasty feel and taste with a little nuttiness in flavor. One of the few green teas I would choose to drink!
Every time I get around to having some Hojicha, I am reminded that I need to drink it more often. Medium-to-dark roasted oolongs are some of my favorite teas and so it should be no surprise that a charcoal roasted green tea would be one of my favorite green teas. Hints of the sweetness and vegetalness (is that a word??) of the pre-roasted green tea comes through, but then a creamy, toasty flavor picks up and carries the taste the rest of the day. An excellent tea!
I found this tea to be a little blah until I added some honey. While it carries some honey flavor after that, I am better able to enjoy the toasted, almond-like flavor of the tea. It smells green in the packet but doesn’t really carry a green tea flavor into the tea itself. I steeped at 175 degrees for 2 minutes and enjoyed a second, smaller steep as well.
This is very different than other green teas I've had. It's much more nutty, as the description says.
This one is nice and bright. I was going into this CT packet bummed that there was no extra flavor, it doesn’t need anything extra, perfect as is!
This green tea is more toasted and nutty than vegetable and it has a smooth buttery finish. Also makes great additional cups. (180F for 2min)
This tea has a lovely toasted wheat like aroma...and the taste reminded me a bit of shredded wheat. Malty & nutty -- just a lovely cup of tea! I can see why this tea is used as a base in a lot of blends...naturally sweet and a nice pleasant aroma and taste. Brews up quite dark for a green tea. I brewed 180F, 3 minutes Adding to my wishlist -- this is a relaxing and nice cup of tea!
5/10/2022 - This has become one of my favorite teas! I love its malty/wheat like aroma and taste. When I want just a plain, lovely cup of tea, I go for this one quite often! A staple in my tea stash!
This tea is sweet and smooth, roasted and nutty, without any green tea astringency. I don't usually prefer hojicha, but this one is as pleasant as a Dragonwell and preferable in my opinion to a genimatcha. I do prefer greener teas more, and might prefer this in a blend. For what it is, this is pretty good. Pairs well with matcha-flavored sweets
I like the taste of the earthy, woodsy and roasted nuts green tea.
the earth tones shine thru with just enough sweetness to make this a pleasant enjoyable tea to drink
Hojicha is a wonderful nutty and toasty tea. It's not vegetal or grassy tasting.