September 11, 2023
What is hojicha and why hojicha for our original bubble tea base?
Hojicha (hou-jee-cha) is a type of roasted tea from Japan that is made from green tea leaves.
Tasting notes include: Cocoa, Chestnuts, Coffee Bean, Caramel
Processing: Steamed, dried, roasted, and ground
Hojicha is typically made by roasting green tea leaves in a ceramic pot over a charcoal fire to roast the tea leaves until they give a nutty, toasted aroma.
The green tea leaves are first deep steamed to remove any bitter tanins, dried, and then roasted to over 300 degrees Celsius.
The result is a brilliant earthy red toned tea that has rich, nutty, and toasty flavours.
Due to the high roasting temperature, hojicha is naturally low in caffeine, with only 7 mg per 250 ml serving.
Hojicha powder is made purely from very finely ground hojicha leaves.
We chose the Original bubble tea flavour for Just Great Tea to be hojicha due to its likeness to roasted oolong tea, which is a very popular milk tea flavour in Taiwan.
To ensure that the tea we chose was high quality and finely microground, we chose hojicha powder to achieve a true instant bubble tea powder without the use of starches or additives. Finally, because we value inclusivity, we chose a tea that was low in caffeine, so more people could enjoy it. On average black tea has 40-80 mg of caffeine per 250 ml serving.
Japan is the gold standard when it comes to matcha powder, or finely ground green tea leaves, and hojicha is the roasted version.
Our hojicha comes from the mountainous regions in Shizuoka, which is known as the capital of Japanese tea, and the largest tea producing area in Japan (a whopping 40%!). Due to the thick fog and mountainous slopes, the green tea plants here thrive in a cool, misty environment which results in high quality tea. Sweet in taste and mellow in flavour.
Hojicha is also commonly used in sweet and baked goods, such as lattes, ice cream, chocolates and hojicha baked cakes.
We hope you stay tuned to find our upcoming recipes!
Grab your kit here.
November 20, 2023
Ever wonder how Just Great Tea decided on Hojicha as its original bubble tea flavour?
This blog post goes into detail on what inspired the Just Great Tea original bubble tea flavour and why we chose hojicha!
November 09, 2023
Everything you need to know about Taiwanese brown sugar, and why it's so special.
From our bubble tea powder to our tapioca, we can't get enough of Taiwanese brown sugar.
Get 10% off your next order, early access to new products, and exclusive LoyalTea-only deals.
© 2024 Just Great Tea.
Get 10% off your next order, early access to new products, and exclusive LoyalTea-only deals.