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Kuki Hojicha tea packaging with 'Atlas Tea Co.' label on a dark background
White bowl filled with dried Kuki Hojicha tea on a dark gray background
Kuki Hojicha tea packaging with 'Atlas Tea Co.' label on a dark background
White bowl filled with dried Kuki Hojicha tea on a dark gray background
Uji · Japan

Kuki Hōjicha

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A toasty tea made from roasted stems.

Regular price $23.00
Sale price $23.00 Regular price $23.00
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About

Low in caffeine and perfect for winter, hojicha is a comforting and nutty roasted green tea unlike any other.

Kuki Hōjicha is a unique roasted tea made from the stems of bancha, the third flush pluck of sencha harvested in the Japanese summer and autumn months.

Like Hōjicha proper, the plant material is gently roasted over charcoal to give it a unique flavour and imparting a toasted and grainy note. Kuki Hōjicha has a bright, golden liquor and many describe this kuki version as being a little sweeter than regular hojicha.

The process of roasting reduces the caffeine content, making this roasted green tea a lovely choice for the evening or as the base for a latte.

Kuki Hōjicha benefits from being brewed at slightly cooler temperatures and for a shorter steep than a typical black tea.

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Kuki Hojicha tea packaging with 'Atlas Tea Co.' label on a dark background

Kuki Hōjicha

Tasting

Leaf

Roasted stems and twigs rather than leaf – slender, woody fragments in tan to reddish-brown. Loose and low-density in the scoop.

Aroma

Toasted and nutty up front – roasted grain, chestnut, a hint of caramel. Clean and dry with no grassiness.

Liquor

Clear amber to light golden-brown. Light-bodied and smooth, with minimal astringency. Toasted, nutty and faintly sweet, finishing clean and woody.

Profile
Tea Type Green
Processing Roasted
Caffeine Low
Perfect For Anytime
Milk Option Add steamed milk for a tea latte.
Preparation

How to brew Kuki Hōjicha

Traditionally brewed in a Japanese kyusu teapot, no such fuss is needed to enjoy. Steep for a few minutes in a tea strainer or brew in any style of teapot.

Temperature 90°C / 194°F
Measure 2.5g per 250ml
Steep Time 2 min
Infusions 1
Brewer's Note

To make a latte-style beverage, brew with this method and then add steamed milk or milk alternative.

Temperature 90°C / 194°F
Measure 5g per 200ml
Steep Time 1 min
Infusions 2 to 3
Brewer's Note

While its traditional to use Japanese kyusu, you can brew with this method in a small teapot with the same results.

Kuki Hojicha tea with 'Atlas Tea Co.' label and a glass mug of tea on a dark background
Japan
Origin

Uji · Kyoto Prefecture

Elevation ▲ 50-400m
Country Japan

South of Kyoto, where the river slows and the valley holds its mist long into the morning, the conditions for growing exceptional tea are unreasonably good. Uji has been producing tea for over eight centuries — the geography here is precise in its gifts: the Uji River moderates temperature, the surrounding hills trap moisture, and the slow release of morning fog diffuses light across the fields in a way that changes the character of everything that grows beneath it.

Japan received tea from China in the 9th century and, over the following centuries, made it entirely its own. Uji was at the centre of that transformation, and it was here that the practice of shading tea plants was refined — covering the fields with reed screens to slow growth, deepen colour, and concentrate the amino acids that give gyokuro and matcha their characteristic sweetness and depth. It was here, too, that the charcoal-roasting techniques behind hojicha were developed, and where sencha cultivation was brought to its highest expression.