Yamamotoyama Hojicha

This was my first loose-leaf tea:

https://www.amazon.com/Yamamotoyama-Tokusen-Hoji-Roasted-Green/dp/B0002CRZRC

I acquired it from the local “Oriental Market”, which is a shop that has had a bit of history around these parts.  Its current rendition seems to market mostly Japanese and Chinese styled goods, though there’s some Thai and Philipino items as well.  The current owners / operators appear to be the latter, though I could be mistaken.

I used to drink this tea with some frequency some months ago.  I managed to misplace it in my cabnet and forgot about it, only to rediscover it last night.  Naturally, I brewed a cup, following the suggestion to run it for 30 seconds @ ~90 degrees.

The resultant brew was smooth, but weak.  There is a certain flavour tea seems to take on when it’s “not quite almost ready”, for lack of a better phrase.  It had a bit of that, which tells me that it needs to brew longer (45 seconds is how I beleive I used to do it).

This is also my first Hojicha.  I remember the more properly infused compound from before being more flavourful, mostly in the “earthy” direction.  I expected it to be smokey, but I did not get that from this specific product.

This isn’t a top-shelf tea.  I think I spent 10USD for that package (10 cents a gram).  However, it is the tea that helped me become more aware of lose leaf teas, so it has an important function in my own tea history.  I intend to acquire some nice hojicha in the future, from a respected dealer, so that I can cross compare.  In any case, if you come across some of this, give it a try.

Regards,

M.