Houjicha (Bancha)

[thanks]

I'm having trouble recreating my first experience with houjicha. I first had it at a local ramen shop where they told me they had acquired it at a local Japanese grocery store. So I went there and bought a 200g bag of the only houjicha they had available. I spent $2.55. When I had first tried houjicha at the ramen shop, it was incredibly sweet, rich, and still had some good green tea flavors that came through. Very complex and deliciously warm tea. However, with this new bag I had purchased, it was just simply too roasted. Like a bad wuyi that would otherwise need a few years of aging to be drinkable, it was just too difficult to brew at all.

I know houjicha is a very cheap tea, that's what makes it so difficult to shop for online. Where is the best place to get the best tasting houjicha without paying gaoshan oolong prices? I love Hibiki-an, but $17 for 200g is very steep for houjicha.

[Chip]

Hi Thanks. Actually 17 USD isn't bad at all for the higher quality, and it is 200 grams in 2 100 gram bags. My biggest problem with that is buying 200 grams and worrying about wasting it. Their Houjicha Karigane is worth trying also if you like the toastiness. If you spend 38 USD, shipping is free.

They also have a 4 tea sampler including these 2 plus 2 different Genmaicha.

I have not tried a lot of different Houjicha, so hard for me to offer any recommendation.

[olivierco]

Ippodo is my favourite right now, but shipping costs are high unless you put a larger order.
Hibiki-an would be my my second choice, O-cha my third one.

Usually Houjicha karigane is less smoky than houjicha.

[inspectoring]

I am waiting for my den's order...I will let you know how that goes. I have tried the itoen vanilla - and it is totally out of this world....amazing...and at a very good price as well.

[Ritva]

I think Hibiki-an uses sencha for houjicha and genmaicha instead of bancha and that's why the price is rather high for houjicha.

Maikotea sells cheap houjicha and if you choose Regular Airmail the shipping costs are not too high. I haven't tried it so I can't say anything about the taste.
http://www.maiko.ne.jp/english/shopping/houji.htm

I have ordered teaware from Chajin http://www.teashop.jp/category/137.html and I also wanted to taste houjicha. This is what they answered when I asked recomendations:

600yen/100g Houji-cha is good.
taste is deep.
http://www.teashop.jp/item/3506.html

If you do not stick to the home (= Ise area),
I recommend 900yen/300g Houji-cha from Shizuoka.
this is roasted Stalk.
The cost performance is high.
http://www.teashop.jp/item/3507.html

I ordered the first one and I've liked it. Since it's my first houjicha I can't compare the taste to others. If you're interested you can mail them info@teashop.jp. The payment is by credit card using a japanese secure server system, they send you a link. Again, it's a good idea to ask shipping costs by RAM instead of EMS.

[thanks]

I just recently received my order from den's tea of their Houjicha Gold, and it's absolutely amazing! I'm ordering a pound for sure. First tea I've ever considered ordering a pound of before (not including pu'er). However I wasn't as impressed with their Houji-Kukicha. It's sweeter to be sure, but it reminds me of Smacks cereal. It's like I'm actually drinking a cup of Smacks.

[VinceBLG]

I had one from Replublic of Tea that was better than I expected. It had a nice natural sweetness.