The high-quality oolong leaves swell and uncurl while steeping–something I always find fascinating (in addition to comforting because I know it means I’m about to drink some excellent tea!)
Once the steeping gets going it smells strongly of chocolate and cherry, which I take as a good sign! Actually it smells almost overwhelmingly of cherry while steeping, but after steeping that abates somewhat. The cherry flavor still hits your nose first but as you keep inhaling you can dig down and find the grounding, comforting chocolate smell too. It’s rounder and creamier. and the oolong lends butteriness and a floral note to the scent.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Roasty enough to appease the coffee lover in you! The blend of hojicha and oolong makes a robust, coffee like base without the jitters. Mellowed out with chicory, chocolate, and cherries.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Toasted Marshmallow from 52Teas. . . .
Flavored Houjicha? YES, please! Toasted Marshmallow that happens to be VEGAN, YES, indeed! A roasty and toasty green tea that shares its blended base with white tea, too? I’m TOTALLY interested! It’s Toasted Marshmallow from 52 Teas!
Anne at 52 Teas really has some amazing VEGAN marshmallow flavored teas! Usually made with Marshmallow Root – such is the case with this specific tea – that is.
Organic ingredients in this tea include roasted green tea, white tea, marshmallow root, vanilla beans, and natural flavors. It’s sweet, creamy, a tad toasted and roasted and woodsy. It’s NOT bitter. It’s VERY well rounded and everything comes full circle here!
The green tea used is Houjicha and the white tea used is Shou Mei. They pair PERFECTLY here. It spurs the question – why don’t other companies pair these two teas more often!? They should! I’m glad 52 Teas jumped on it before others discovered the amazing natural flavor of the two paired together!
YUM! I think I will have another cup…of 5!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for the blends that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sophia Takes On Watermelon Houjicha from 52Teas. . . .
I love watermelon, especially watermelon slush and especially in the summertime! So, when I saw Watermelon Houjicha by 52 Teas in my sample box I was psyched. I have never had a watermelon flavored tea before. I have, however, had houjicha before and I love it. Houjicha generally has a very warm and toasty flavor to it. It is a very comforting green tea. I was curious to see how that would work with watermelon flavor.
I’m not sure if I would say that the smell of the dry leaf or steeped liquid was “watermelon”. I think that what I could smell most was the houjicha, that toasty and comforting scent. When it comes to taste, though, wow on watermelon! I was actually wondering how the watermelon flavor would translate and if it would taste similar to a jolly rancher or lollipop. Actually, it wasn’t tart like candy at all! In fact, I would say that it was pretty realistic! I swear it tastes like I just took a bite out of a watermelon slice, seeds and all!
As if someone squeeze a watermelon over my teacup. . . . . . .
While the flavor was spot on and completely realistic, I don’t know if I would say that houjicha was a good base. I think I would prefer this tea if it was a nice sencha green tea as the base instead of houjicha. Either way, I will finish my sample in hopeful wait of hot summer days when I can sit outside by the pool and eat some watermelon slush! Until then, watermelon houjicha from 52 teas will be in my cup!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
Tea Description: I’m not sure exactly what inspired me to combine the distinctive flavor of of Houjicha with the essence of watermelon except for, perhaps, hearing from customers that a) I don’t make enough flavored Houjichas and b) I don’t make enough watermelon flavored teas. So I guess I thought – why not combine them?
And really, why not? The warm, toasty flavor of the Houjicha may not seem like a natural pairing with the sweet, luscious notes of watermelon but I’m enjoying the flavor combination. It’s definitely toasty but the watermelon is there too and it has adds a light, refreshing sweet taste to the warmth of the Houjicha.
Definitely interesting and tasty!
organic ingredients: roasted green tea, amaranth petals and natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
#FanaticFriday: Roasted Pumpkin Carrot Cake Houjicha from A Quarter To Tea
We at SororiTea Sisters love all things fall! So today we are fanatic about fall!
Tis the season for all things pumpkin to start coming out. And I love it. I’ve always been a pumpkin fiend to the point where my mom would have to make me pumpkins pies for my birthday cakes back in the day. . .and my birthday is in March! So this tea was a no brainer for me to order.
If you haven’t checked out A Quarter To Tea yet and enjoy fun and unique flavored teas, I highly recommend you take a moment and see if anything trips your trigger. Their teas are unique and flavorful. And this tea is a perfect example of the teas they offer.
Roasted Pumpkin Carrot Cake Houjicha is as fall as you can get. The tea itself pops with dark browns and bleeps of orange and yellow. I wanted to try this tea as a hot brew and cold brew so I had myself a little experiment today.
But first, let’s chat about the smell of the dry leaf. This tea screams fall and is one of those teas I want to bottle up into a candle.
For the hot brew, I was really expecting myself to die over this tea and be completely in love and I have to say. I did! This tea tastes just like the title. You have your baked good flavor, the roasted pumpkin notes, and even the carrot cake familiarity. The spices were a bit stronger than I had hoped for and the more I drank the tea and it cooled, I feel like the tea would have benefited from a dab of honey because those spiced notes just kept growing. For me-I needed that added sweetness to calm the spices down, but regardless- this tea is still incredibly delicious.
For the cold brew, now I was expecting to really not enjoy this tea as a cold brew. With the flavors, I really thought this tea would be better hot. But that isn’t the case. I did really enjoy the tea prepped traditionally but where this tea becomes the “bee’s knees” is a sturdy cold brew. Before I left for work this morning I took my trusty tumbler and filled it with ice, water, and an infuser full of this tea. I allowed the tea to brew all day and just took my first sip. Here is where this tea shines.
As a cold brew, the pumpkin flavor is incredibly rich and present with the carrot cake baked good flavor right along side. here is also a sweetness that is starting to pop that is adding in that sweetness I was craving earlier. While the heavier spices are still there and noticeable, I’m not as bothered by them because of that rich pumpkin carrot cake baked goodness that is incredible.
With all of this being said, I do believe I forgot to mention. . .this tea has sprinkles in it! (though not an overwhelming amount)
One of the better pumpkin teas I’ve had in a long time. So glad I picked up a good amount of this tea because I’m going to be devouring it over the next few weeks.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Roasted Pumpkin Carrot Cake Houjicha
Limited Tea for September 2016
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Roasted houjicha tea with autumn spices and the creaminess of pumpkin blended together with hints of vanilla cream, extra ginger and carrot for a pumpkin carrot cake experience sure to delight.
This tea is limited run once again, so once it is gone, it’s gone for the season. It is sold only in 0.5oz quantities.
All orders come in resealable packaging and include a reusable muslin cotton tea bag.
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Ingredients:
roasted green tea, dried carrot, ceylon cinnamon, mini sprinkles, natural flavors
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Houji-Genmaicha Green Tea from Den’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Tea Description:
Houji-Genmaicha consists of the two harmonious yet slightly contrasting taste components. It is a good alternative to sweetened coffee. It offers a comfortable toasty aroma both from roasted leaf and brown rice. The Genmai (roasted brown rice) sweetens the roasted Bancha leaves.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Sometimes, it’s hard to get what you want in this world. Sometimes, I want genmaicha at 10 o’clock at night, but I also want a good roasty, toasty, houjicha. Thank goodness for Den’s Tea. They truly have thought of everything. Now I can have my tea and drink it too.
I used my 12oz tokoname kyusu for this one. Probably overleafing it, I intitally used my typical green tea temperature at 175, but at 3 minutes, the flavor was a bit muted. I punched up the temperature to about 190, taking care to not scorch the leaves by leaving the lid uncovered. Three minutes later – I was in tea bliss. The usual clover honey sweetness and toasted barley notes of the houjicha blended so well with the rice, I couldn’t tell where it ends and I begin. There was a touch of cinnamon spice warmth to round out the cup. I should have known that a little hotter water could coax out the houji from the cha.
This tea is really the best or both worlds. It’s got the fresh-toasted rice flavor from the genmai, and it’s got the roasty flavor of houjicha. To be honest, the bancha used is not the best houjicha base I have ever tasted, but paired with the toasted rice, it makes for an amazing pairing to almost any meal, and as a great bedtime sipper.
