Good Hojicha

[Noonie]

I've been having issues with caffeine at night, and I usually have oolong around dinner. I decided to drink Hojicha at this time. I always drink sencha in the AM.

I've only ever had Den's Hojicha, it tastes fine but I would like to hear from others who have had dabbled in Hojicha for other recommendations. Also, any other decaf tea recommendations?

Thanks!

[BioHorn]

Yunomi has quite a number of Hojicha:
https://yunomi.us/shelf/green-tea/hojicha/

I have so far only brewed up two of their offerings. So far it is not my go to tea.

[Tead Off]

Many people like Ippodo's deeply roasted Hojicha. It is a bit different than others I have tried and full flavored. I would imagine that many of the vendors mentioned here sell a good Hojicha. Not hard to find.

[chingwa]

I always really enjoyed Hibiki-an's houjicha karigane. It's a bit lighter and sweeter than the typical "dark" almost "burnt" flavor of most other Houjicha I've tried.

I also enjoyed the kuki houjicha from Ippodo, as well as the kuki houjicha from Thes-du-Japon.

[William]

My favorites Hojicha are from Hojotea, Yuuki-cha and Horaido.
Generally speaking, Hojicha is such a nice tea, especially with meals or during the evening!

[pizzapotamus]

I've been having issues with caffeine at night
...
Also, any other decaf tea recommendations?

Just to be clear hojicha isn't really "decaf". It does seem to be a common claim that the roasting process eliminates the caffeine but that doesn't really make much sense to me as no other roasted tea gets touted as being super low in caffeine because of it. Further if strong roasting broke down caffeine the sludge from Starbucks should be virtually caffeine free So my initial thought was that claim was about as true as the oft repeated line that white tea is super low in caffeine.

Although thinking about it more my guess would be hojicha is lower in caffeine than an expensive first flush sencha just by virtue of generally being made from lower grade* tea(larger, later harvest, more stem).

I had a quick run with google looking for actual studies containing the caffeine content of various japense green teas and found this page http://www.myjapanesegreentea.com/why-i ... n-caffeine
linking to a couple of studies
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ch ... 83_21/_pdf
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ch ... 80_23/_pdf
that support that idea by show hojicha and bancha having about the same caffeine content.

As it is generally a lower level of caffeine compared to expensive senchas it's natural that it wouldn't effect you as much so if you tolerate it well at night that's brilliant and by all means keep on drinking it, it's just fairly far from "decaf" For alternatives with the same or less caffeine you could go with regular bancha or kukicha should be quite low in general. I'd think genmaicha(one not dusted with matcha) might work too I suspect it also generally uses lower grade tea and some of the caffeine containing tea leaves would be replaced by rice further reducing the caffeine content.


*I don't love "lower grade" as it implies the tea is inferior when it can satisfy just as well or better depending on the drinker and the circumstances but I don't have a better term.

[Tead Off]

First off, Hojicha usually contains more stems than leaves. I would think this would be the primary factor in lowering caffeine levels. If I'm wrong, then the assessment of mature leaves having less caffeine probably holds. But, I haven't run across a hojicha that has more leaves than stems.

Living in Thailand, a very warm climate, I find I have little desire for Hojicha. It seems like a tea that is much more suited for colder climates such as Japan. The roasted flavor also gets tiresome as there is not much complexity left after roasting. I much prefer the lighter roasted hojichas other than Ippodo. Ippodo is the most roasted I have come across. Even the color is much darker than most.

[kyarazen]

Yunomi has quite a number of Hojicha:
https://yunomi.us/shelf/green-tea/hojicha/

I have so far only brewed up two of their offerings. So far it is not my go to tea.

yunomi is a nice source if you want variety, there's one particular farm that did four different roasts for their houji so you can choose the roast level you like

i used to drink it as a breakfast tea

[Tead Off]

Yunomi has quite a number of Hojicha:
https://yunomi.us/shelf/green-tea/hojicha/

I have so far only brewed up two of their offerings. So far it is not my go to tea.

yunomi is a nice source if you want variety, there's one particular farm that did four different roasts for their houji so you can choose the roast level you like

i used to drink it as a breakfast tea

Not much get up and go as a breakfast tea.

[ethan]

I drink hojicha but don't expect much from it. There's the roasted taste & depending on the particular hojicha, a bit of green tea flavors or a very tiny bit of green tea flavors.

The best hojicha that I have tried & the worst are not much different. I don't feel any effect of caffeine.

When lucky enough to have a good white tea available, I'll usually drink that instead for low caffeine w/ better flavor. Nonetheless, sometimes simple roasted flavor of hojicha is what works for the moment.

[chingwa]

I also don't much enjoy the heavy roasted flavor of most Houjicha (and yeah, Ippodo's normal houjicha is too strong for me). The ones I recommended above all have a higher than usual twig to leaf ratio which helps smooth out the flavor.

The best houjicha I ever had was at a Japanese sushi restaurant, in which they served it after the meal. I've had this served to me a number of times this way, however the houjicha at this particular restaurant had the most light/sweet/pleasant taste and aroma, and I've never had it anywhere else. I wish I had gotten their source/brewing parameters

The notes about caffeine are interesting, as I simply accepted the prevailing notion that houjicha was really low in caffeine because of it being roasted. I never made the connection to roasted coffee... which once you make the mental leap becomes pretty obvious that the roasting probably wouldn't affect the caffeine levels much.

[Noonie]

Thanks for the recommendations, and information.