This month we invite you to discover a rare Green Hōjicha, Aohōjicha (青ほうじ茶), from Kyoto (京都).

Green Hōjicha

Green Hōjicha is a tea that undergoes only a brief roast, so it keeps much of the color and freshness of green tea while gaining soft, toasty notes. Instead of being fired until the leaves turn deep brown and the liquor dark, as with standard hōjicha, the roast stops earlier, just when a delicate aroma appears.

In the cup it is light and refined. The first sip is soft and clean, with very little bitterness, a smooth texture, hints of toasted grain and gentle sweetness, and a fresh, leafy finish, and the liquor is often paler than usual hōjicha, sometimes with a clear greenish tint that shows how much of the original green character remains.

Cobbled street of Gion by Basile Morin, licensed under CC-BY-4.0 (cropped and edited from the original).

From Gion's Teahouses to the Table

Traditionally, maiko (舞妓) and geiko (芸妓) in Kyoto's Gion (祇園) district roasted this tea themselves for their guests, choosing it because it would not overpower Kyoto cuisine, which tends to be lightly seasoned and refined. The roast is done slowly in small batches, so production stays limited and the tea often appears only at special events.

In Gion, hospitality is built on nuance, with dishes and drinks arranged so that flavors support one another rather than compete. Green Hōjicha fits this approach, its gentle roast refreshing the palate between dishes or at the end of a course, and working both beside simple rice dishes and on its own as a calming evening tea.

Brewing Green Hōjicha

To bring out the best in this Green Hōjicha, we recommend the following preparation:

• Tea leaves: 10g
• Water: 200ml
• Temperature: 100°C
• Steeping time: 1 minute

This infusion highlights both the roasted aroma and the freshness of the leaf. For a lighter cup, shorten the steeping time a little or add some extra water, and you can make a second infusion with a shorter steep where the roasted notes soften and more green character appears.