Matcha + Hojicha 101
Your Guide to Japanese Green Tea
Sea Salt Vanilla Bean Matcha → Matcha vs Hojicha → History → Ceremonial Grade!
In celebration of my salty special at Jenki, I thought it would be interesting to dive into Japanese green tea this week! If you’re in London, make sure to stop by Jenki to try it for yourself, it’s available for the next 2 weeks as of Sept 26th. Make sure to tag me and Jenki in your pics :)
Growing up in LA, I was lucky that matcha was quite omnipresent in most coffee shops. It was my family’s go-to ice cream tub flavor at home, my boba order, and you better believe I went out of my way to find the special matcha Pocky and Kit-Kats when they were in stock at Nijiya (my LA city guide). I learned to love this bright green and creamy Japanese green tea early, so although I know many people find it too “grassy”, the taste is one of comfort and pure nostalgia to me.
In the past few years, I’ve seen matcha really rise in popularity here in London - something I LOVE to see. Unfortunately, with its newfound popularity there are also too many shops selling bad versions of the product leading to many people, including loads of my friends, thinking they do not like matcha. Listen, it’s possible that you don’t, but I urge you to find a good quality, most likely pricier, matcha and I can assure you you’ll have a new respect for the tea.
Unsurprisingly, I am quite picky (sorry!!!!!) with my matcha so I usually wouldn’t stop into a random coffee shop for a matcha latte unless it was a specialized matcha shop and I was willing to pay over £5… I make my matcha at home every morning using my Jenki ceremonial grade matcha - which is why this special collab means the world to me! Luckily for me, they also have a few shops around London so if I’m out and about, I can get my fix without crying at both the price and flavor of store-bought matcha.
Matcha vs Hojicha
Although matcha has become *famous*, hojicha has still not amassed the same following. To quickly summarize, both matcha and hojicha are Japanese green teas. Matcha is made with powdered young tea leaves and hojicha is made from roasted older tea leaves, twigs, and stems. Don’t worry, I won’t only leave you with that! Please find a cutie chart I spent FAR too long making as well as further explanations below.
To be considered a real tea, it has to come from the Camelia Sinensis plant - both matcha and hojicha are real Japanese green teas.
Matcha
Matcha, powdered + cha (tea)
What is it? Unroasted made from the youngest sprouts of the tea plant
Form: powder
Color: bright green
Flavor: fresh - grassy, herby…
Caffeine Levels: 68mg cup
Nutrients: both hojicha and matcha are good for you but matcha is more nutritionally beneficial than hojicha since you are literally grinding up the entire leaf and getting all of the benefits from it. Further, younger leaves have more nutrients in them than dried leftovers (hojicha). The tea plant for matcha is also shaded so it produces more L-Theanine
Hojicha
Hoji (houji), houjiru (焙じる) - to roast + cha (tea)
What is it? Roasted older tea leaves, twigs, stems
Form: loose leaf - if you’ve had a latte then you have used powdered version of the loose leaf
Color: brown
Flavor: warm - nutty, caramelly, hay-like, earthy…
Caffeine Levels: older leaves, not shaded and roasted which removes 10mg so it’s great in the afternoon if you don’t actually want much caffeine.
Nutrients: Compared to matcha which is the fully powdered leaf, when you get loose leaf tea you’re only getting the benefits that have seeped into the hot water. So yes, it’s still great for you, but just not as nutritionally beneficial as matcha
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Matcha + Hojicha History
Matcha is the original tea in Japan, it was brought back to the country by Eisai, a Japanese Buddhist Monk, from China in 1191. Monks quickly praised the beverage as it would help them focus during meditation. The L-theanine present in the tea leaves calms the brain but still keeps it alert which is why it’s such a great way to start the day, monk or not!
When the seeds were brought back from China to Kyoto, the Japanese continued the Chinese tradition of making tea but the drink was primarily for the wealthy. As the years progressed, the tea ceremony in Japan was introduced which is the celebration of both host and guest as two equals by sharing a cup of matcha prepared by the host.
Uji, a town south of Kyoto, is the actual birthplace of matcha tea and also where Jenki gets theirs from. I would LOVE to go visit the fields one day!
Hojicha, on the other hand, is a recently new invention. With the modernization of green tea and new machinery also came new waste. Basically, when green tea leaves are picked by hand, there’s not much leftover whereas when a machine passes over a plant, there is a significant amount of debris that falls to the ground. It is most likely that hojicha was conceived as late as the 1920s when a tea merchant roasted the leftover leaves, stems, and twigs in an attempt to minimize this tea plant waste. How neat is that??
Like matcha, hojicha also originated in Kyoto and the method to create the roasty toasty tea was quickly disseminated across the country.
What’s the Deal with Ceremonial Grade Matcha?
When buying matcha at the store, you’ll likely see different price points and levels of matcha. If you’re wanting to invest in matcha to drink, I highly reccomend you invest in ceremonial grade - but what does this even mean?? First off, the reason the highest grade of matcha is even called ceremonial grade is because of its importance in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. It is THE tea used so with every sip you’re drinking the same level tea that is used in a ritual and longstanding tradition.
How it’s produced
For weeks prior to harvest, the tea plant is shaded as any sunlight gives its leaves a bitter taste. While this was done at first to protect from the cold, farmers quickly realized how delicious and creamy the flavor of the tea became as well as the eye-catching nature of its bright green color. Further, while shading gives off an overall well-rounded umami flavor, it also increases the nutritional benefits such as the L-Theanine present.
To make any ceremonial grade matcha, farmers will also only pluck the top leaves from the plant only ONCE a year. This first harvest of the year is called Ichibancha.
Once harvested, the leaves are steamed for about 15 seconds to keep their bright green color and prevent oxidation. They are then dried and prepped to become tencha.
After the green leaves are separated from their stems and tough extra bits, the result is called tencha. These green leftovers are then ground into matcha powder for hours at a slow pace in traditional stone mills, usually made of granite, as to ensure no extra heat touches the leaves. Although some modern matcha makers use modern techniques to grind, I love knowing that Jenki still stone grinds their matcha :)
Whereas hojicha is the dried tea infused in water, matcha is a powder that’s directly mixed in so its taste will be extremely pronounced whether it’s good or bad.
A good indication of a “good” matcha is how bright green it is! Any greyish, brown color will indicate a lesser grade - like culinary grade, I still use this for baking but just wouldn’t want to drink it!
Vanilla Bean Sea Salt Matcha
Just an extra little paragraph to thank Jenki SO much for making my dream drink come to life in their shops across London! I’ve been a fan for over a year now and a religious Jenki-only drinker at home. I’m really so excited for you all to taste my daily morning bevvy!!!
Thanks for sharing - also love matcha and appreciate it so much :) Feeling the importance lately of connecting to the backstory and origin of these types of special imported goods that we have the fortune of consuming. Congrats on the collab, looks delicious!
I loved your article on Matcha and Hojicha as much as I love both teas!
I'm from Japan and practiced Japanese tea ceremony growing up. I think you did a fantastic job (as expected from you, Claire!) clearing up some fog around 'bad' matcha and introducing hojicha. It upsets me greatly that many matcha lattes offered here (Buffalo, NY) is so watery and have a bitter, more pronounced grassy flavor. I wish I could try your collab drink because that sounds heavenly!