Tea Store›The Tea Journal›Green Tea›Hojicha in NZ: What It Is and How to Brew It

Hojicha in NZ: What It Is and How to Brew It

By the Tealyra Tea Team · October 27, 2026 · 4 min read

Glass cup of amber hojicha with a Tealyra tea tag and a dish of roasted hojicha leaves and stems

In short: hojicha is Japanese green tea that has been roasted over high heat, which turns the leaves reddish-brown and gives the cup a toasty, nutty, caramel-like flavour. It is naturally low in caffeine, almost never bitter, and easy to brew: 1 heaped teaspoon (3 g) per 250 ml at 90 to 95°C for 30 seconds to 1 minute. It also makes a lovely latte.

More and more Kiwis are discovering hojicha in cafés from Auckland to Dunedin, usually as a latte. The good news is that it is one of the easiest teas to make at home. Here is what it is, how it tastes and how to brew it well.

What is hojicha?

Hojicha (sometimes spelt houjicha) comes from Kyoto in the 1920s, when tea merchants started roasting leftover leaves and stems to make something new. Most Japanese green teas are steamed and dried, which keeps them bright green and grassy. Hojicha goes one step further: the dried tea is roasted in a porcelain pot or drum over charcoal or high heat.

Roasting changes almost everything:

The leaves turn from green to chestnut brown.
The cup becomes amber to reddish-brown instead of green.
Grassy, vegetal notes give way to toasted grain, roasted nuts and caramel.
Bitterness drops away, so the tea is very forgiving.

Hojicha is usually made from bancha (later-harvest leaves) or kukicha (stems). Stem-rich hojicha tastes sweeter and lighter; leaf-rich hojicha is a little fuller.

What does hojicha taste like?

Think of a cross between a mild green tea and a toasted barley tea. It is smooth and round with a sweet, roasty aroma, often compared to toasted rice, hazelnut or a hint of cocoa. There is no grassy sharpness, which makes it a great first Japanese tea for people who find sencha too green.

Hojicha vs other Japanese teas

Tea	Processing	Colour in cup	Flavour	Caffeine
Hojicha	Steamed, dried, then roasted	Amber, reddish-brown	Toasty, nutty, caramel	Low
Sencha	Steamed and rolled	Yellow-green	Fresh, grassy, sweet	Medium
Genmaicha	Green tea plus toasted rice	Pale gold	Savoury, toasted rice	Low to medium
Matcha	Shaded leaves stone-ground to powder	Bright green	Rich, umami, creamy	High

Roasting and the use of later-harvest leaves and stems both mean hojicha usually has less caffeine than sencha or matcha. It is not caffeine-free, but many people happily drink it in the evening.

How to brew hojicha

Hojicha likes hotter water than most green teas, because there is no delicate grassiness to protect.

Method	Tea	Water	Temperature	Time
Teapot (Japanese style)	5 g	200 ml	95°C	30 seconds, then 10 to 20 s more for each re-steep
Mug	3 g (1 heaped tsp)	250 ml	90 to 95°C	1 to 2 minutes
Cold brew	8 to 10 g	1 litre cold water	Fridge	6 to 8 hours

Tips:

Rinse your teapot or mug with hot water first so the tea stays warm.
Pour all the tea out at the end of each steep so the leaves do not stew.
Good hojicha gives 2 to 3 steeps. The second is often the sweetest.

If your cup tastes thin, add more leaf rather than steeping much longer. Hojicha leaves are large and light, so a heaped teaspoon weighs less than you might expect.

Pouring amber hojicha from a kyusu teapot into two small cups, with roasted hojicha leaves in a wooden scoop

How to make a hojicha latte

A café-style hojicha latte is easy with loose leaf tea:

Steep 2 heaped teaspoons (6 g) of hojicha in 80 ml of water at 95°C for 3 minutes.
Strain well, pressing the leaves gently to get the most flavour.
Heat and froth 180 ml of milk or oat milk.
Pour the milk over the tea and sweeten to taste with honey, brown sugar or maple syrup.

On a hot summer day, cool the concentrate and pour it over ice with cold milk for an iced hojicha latte. It is a nice change from iced coffee when the Christmas heat arrives.

Which hojicha to try

Hojicha is our everyday roasted green tea, with a toasty, nutty flavour and a sweet aroma like toasted rice. A great place to start and a good choice for lattes.
Superior Miyazaki Hojicha is made from first-flush stems and leaves from Miyazaki, lightly roasted for an especially smooth, sweet cup. Brew this one straight to enjoy the aroma.

You will find more Japanese teas, from sencha to gyokuro, in our Japanese green tea range, and the full green tea collection.

How to store hojicha

Roasted tea holds its flavour better than most green teas, but it still fades with air, light and humidity. Keep it in an airtight, opaque tin in a cool cupboard, away from the kettle and the spice rack. In humid parts of the country, such as Auckland and Northland, close the tin straight after use. Use it within 6 months of opening for the best aroma.

Iced hojicha latte in a tall glass with a bowl of roasted hojicha leaves on a sunny outdoor table

Frequently asked questions

Does hojicha have caffeine?

Yes, but usually less than other green teas. Roasting and the later-harvest leaves and stems it is made from mean a cup of hojicha generally has less caffeine than sencha or matcha, which is why many people enjoy it in the evening.

Is hojicha green tea?

Yes. Hojicha starts as Japanese green tea and is then roasted. That is why it tastes and looks so different from sencha, even though it comes from the same tea plant.

Is hojicha bitter?

Rarely. Roasting removes most of the compounds that make green tea taste bitter, so hojicha stays smooth even with hot water. If it tastes harsh, the leaves are probably old or burnt.

Can I use loose leaf hojicha for a latte?

Yes. Brew a strong concentrate with double the usual amount of tea and less water, then add frothed milk. It gives a cleaner, more aromatic latte than many powders.