Hojicha: The Roasted Green Tea That Became Japan's Evening Drink

Hojicha is a Japanese green tea that has been roasted in a porcelain or iron pan over charcoal or gas flame until it develops a deep reddish-brown colour and a toasty, caramel-like aroma. Unlike most green teas, which are steamed to halt oxidation, hojicha's defining step is the roasting — a process that fundamentally changes the flavour, colour, and even the chemistry of the tea. The result is a low-caffeine, low-tannin drink that has become Japan's favoured evening tea, served hot in winter and cold in summer.

The roasting step reduces caffeine content to roughly half that of sencha, and converts the catechins that produce bitterness into less astringent Maillard reaction products. This makes hojicha accessible to people who find other green teas harsh, and makes it suitable for evening consumption when caffeine would interfere with sleep.

The principle behind Hojicha

Hojicha's character comes from roasting green tea at high temperature until the leaves turn reddish-brown. The roasting produces Maillard reaction compounds (pyrazines, furans) that contribute the toasty, caramel-like flavour, while reducing the catechin and caffeine content of the original green tea. The result is a tea that brews to a clear, light brown colour with a roasted aroma and very low astringency.

Leaf, water temperature and contact time interact, so changing one without noting the others tells you very little. Tea also forgives high temperature far less than coffee does: the same leaf that is sweet at 80C can be flatly astringent at 95C. Fix temperature first, then adjust the leaf.

What most changes the result

Roasting temperature and time

The degree of roasting determines the flavour intensity. Lightly roasted hojicha has a more tea-forward character with hints of the original green tea; deeply roasted hojicha is more coffee-like in aroma with strong caramel and chocolate notes. Most hojicha is medium-roasted, producing a balance of both.

Leaf grade

Hojicha is typically made from bancha (later-harvest leaves), kukicha (stem tea) or low-grade sencha — the less expensive grades that produce a less premium green tea. The roasting step makes these leaves more palatable than they would be in their unroasted form.

Brewing

Hojicha is more forgiving than most Japanese green teas. Water at 90–95 °C (near boiling) is appropriate; the high temperature extracts the roasted compounds effectively. Steep for 30–60 seconds.

Caffeine content

The roasting process reduces caffeine to approximately 10–20 mg per serving — significantly less than sencha or matcha. This makes hojicha a reasonable evening drink for people sensitive to caffeine, though it is not caffeine-free.

Cold brew

Hojicha makes an excellent cold-brewed tea. The roasted compounds are extracted well by cold water, producing a clean, slightly sweet, low-caffeine iced tea.

A repeatable starting method

1. Use 5–7 grams of hojicha per 200 ml of water. The leaves are larger and more brittle than sencha, so measuring by weight is more reliable than measuring by volume.
2. Heat water to 90–95 °C — closer to boiling than for other Japanese green teas. The higher temperature extracts the roasted compounds without producing bitterness.
3. Steep for 30–60 seconds. Hojicha can be re-infused once or twice.
4. For iced hojicha, use cold water and steep for 4–6 hours in the refrigerator. The cold extraction produces a clean, smooth cup without any bitterness.
5. Try hojicha with food. Its roasted character pairs well with grilled foods, sushi and agedashi tofu.

Note the leaf weight, the water temperature, the vessel and the length of each steep separately. Tea changes across infusions, so a single averaged impression hides most of what the leaf actually did.

The numbers we use

These are the figures behind our own green tea guidance, and the starting point this article assumes.

When it goes wrong

• Bitter and drying — Water too hot, or steeped too long Let the kettle stand longer, and pull the leaf at 2 minutes.
• Tastes of nothing — Not enough leaf Use more leaf rather than a longer steep.

Worth knowing: It still contains caffeine and may not suit strict caffeine restrictions.

Common mistakes

• Treating hojicha as caffeine-free. It contains significantly less caffeine than most green teas, but not zero. People with extreme caffeine sensitivity should still treat it with caution in the evening.
• Brewing hojicha at low temperatures. The roasted compounds are not well extracted by cool water, and the result is a thin, under-flavoured cup.
• Confusing hojicha with genmaicha. Both have roasted elements, but hojicha is roasted tea (no rice), and genmaicha is a blend of green tea and toasted rice. The flavour profiles are distinct.
• Assuming hojicha is a low-quality tea. The use of bancha and kukicha is a deliberate choice that makes the tea suitable for roasting; it is not a sign of inferior leaf.

How to choose your next adjustment

Use hojicha as an evening tea with low caffeine, a roasted character that pairs well with food, and brewing flexibility from cold brew to near-boiling. The combination of distinctive flavour and low caffeine is unusual among green teas and makes hojicha a useful addition to a tea collection.

One caveat on caffeine: leaf ratio and steep length move it more than the tea type does. Brewing gongfu-style at six times the usual leaf ratio produces a far larger dose per cup than the category figure implies.

Related on CupCura

• Hojicha Roasted Green Tea
• Japanese Mugicha Roasted Barley Infusion
• Pan-Fired Tamaryokucha Green Tea
• Shizuoka Kabusecha Green Tea
• Kabusecha Shaded Green Tea
• The tea catalogue
• Water temperature and steep times

Frequently asked questions

What should I change first with hojicha?

Roasting temperature and time. The degree of roasting determines the flavour intensity. Lightly roasted hojicha has a more tea-forward character with hints of the original green tea; deeply roasted hojicha is more coffee-like in aroma with strong caramel and chocolate notes. Most hojicha is medium-roasted, producing a balance of both.

What is the most common mistake?

Treating hojicha as caffeine-free. It contains significantly less caffeine than most green teas, but not zero. People with extreme caffeine sensitivity should still treat it with caution in the evening. It is worth ruling that out before changing anything else, because it makes every other adjustment harder to read.

Does cold brew matter?

Hojicha makes an excellent cold-brewed tea. The roasted compounds are extracted well by cold water, producing a clean, slightly sweet, low-caffeine iced tea.

How do I know when to stop steeping?

When the infusion stops giving you something you want. Good leaf usually keeps going longer than people expect, and the later steeps are often the most interesting part of the session.

Sources

• Food Chemistry 2009; 113(4): 1198–1202 — Maillard compounds in roasted tea; Suzuki Y. Tea Research Journal 2013 — caffeine and catechin changes during roasting.