How to brew Hojicha
Roasted Japanese green.
Roasting removes the grassy, bitter-prone character, so hojicha wants boiling water to bring out its toasty sweetness, and only a short steep.
Starting recipe
| Setting | Teapot (kyusu) | Small pot or houhin, concentrated |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 194–212°F (90–100°C) | 194–212°F (90–100°C) |
| Leaf | 1.5–3 g per 100 ml | 4–7 g per 100 ml |
| Steepdial starts at | 207°F (97°C) · 5 g · 200 ml | 207°F (97°C) · 5 g · 100 ml |
| First steep | 0:20–1:00 | 0:05–0:30 |
| A whole session | 0:30 · 0:30 · 1:00 | 0:10 · 0:10 · 0:20 · 0:30 · 0:45 |
The details
Rinse
Not needed. Start with the first steep.
Drinking window
Keeps well: at its best for about 6 months once opened.
Caffeine
Contains caffeine. How much depends on the leaf, the water temperature and the steep time; the style alone is a poor guide.
Iced and cold brew
Cold brew: 1.2 g per 100 ml of cold water, in the fridge for about 6 hours. Keep it cold and drink it within a day or two. For iced tea now, brew a concentrated hot cup (the same leaf in half the water) and pour it over an equal weight of ice; Steepdial accounts for the ice in the total water.
How Steepdial adjusts
After a session you tap what you'd change: more flavor, less bitter, less drying. Steepdial changes one thing at a time, staying near the ranges above, and remembers what worked for that tea.
Short steeps and pour time
The first gongfu steep is 0:10. If your pot takes several seconds to empty, start pouring a little early, or turn on the pour cue in Steepdial.
More green
The whole guide →Gyokuro
Shaded Japanese green: Yame, Uji, Okabe
104–149°F (40–65°C) · 5–17 g per 100 ml→GreenKabusecha
Lightly shaded Japanese green
131–158°F (55–70°C) · 3–8 g per 100 ml→GreenSencha
Steamed Japanese green, including shincha
149–185°F (65–85°C) · 2.5–6 g per 100 ml→GreenFukamushi sencha
Deep-steamed sencha
149–176°F (65–80°C) · 2.5–6 g per 100 ml→GreenBancha
Later-harvest everyday Japanese green
185–212°F (85–100°C) · 1.5–3 g per 100 ml→GreenGenmaicha
Green tea with toasted rice
176–203°F (80–95°C) · 2–3.5 g per 100 ml→