Green Tea Forum

greenisgood · Black Belt Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 112

I just got some basic old houjicha from a local vendor and I was wondering how people brew it. I know you really can't go wrong with bancha and that I should just experiment but I was just wondering what the general norm is for houjicha. I've been reading brewing intructions from my usual internet haunts and I've found discrepencies from Rishi's 180 for 2-3 minutes to Den's boiling for 15 seconds (bah?). Houjicha's pretty good for a caffiene free night time tea and I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions to make it even yummier.

spacesamurai · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 204

I was surprised by Den's suggestion to use boiling water, too, but I tried it and it works. I boil and steep for 1.5 minutes, using 4-5 grams for 7 oz.

Chip · Posted: Feb 20, 2008 6:18 pm Post subject:

Does this roasting truly eliminate the caffeine or even really reduce it???

Sounds too good to be true, yet I hear references to this all over. I even hear that this is served to children, infirmed, elderly and anyone else who is caffeine sensitive in Japan.

greenisgood · Black Belt Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 112

Yeah I wouldn't know personally as cafiene really doesn't affect me at all, especially from tea...but I would imagine its similar to dark roast vs. light roast coffee. Light roast has more caffiene because something with the extra roasting gets rid of some of it.

Chip · Posted: Feb 21, 2008 6:52 am Post subject:

So does caffeine react to high heat and break down into other components? Syntheticpanda, where are you???

Ryan · Sensei Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 475

I once talked with a guy who formerly worked at Starbucks. He was telling me the same thing. He was telling me that some are under the flawed conclusion that the really "strong" (as in dark roasted) coffee's are packed with the most caffeine.

But, ironically, it is the smoother tasting coffee which has more caffeine as it hasn't been put through as much of a roasting process and thus contains more caffeine than the "stronger" coffee does.

syntheticpanda · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 198

Interesting question... I have heard that the roasting breaks it down (just like in coffee, afaik), but I'm not sure about hot water. I imagine it doesn't break much down, as coffees and teas both seem to have substantial amounts of caffeine despite being treated with hot water.

Dreamer · Posted: May 15, 2008 11:00 am Post subject:

I specifically ordered Houjicha because I wanted to be able
to drink a nice warm cup of tea in that mellow late
part of the day.

If I have iced tea with a late dinner I'll be awake all night.

I drank my first cups last evening.
The Houjicha did not keep me awake at all (yeah!).

I really like it too...the aroma is so toasty warm..like
toasted sesame or like a far-away campfire. Nice warm
color and a good flavor with no bitterness.

Who knows about the caffeine...but I've found a tea I can
mellow out with late in the day!!!

Happy Sipping,
Dreamer
Houjicha

trent · Posted: Jun 24, 2008 12:30 pm Post subject:

I've found that unless I brew houjicha for a ridiculous amount of time (like over 15 min) it just doesn't get bitter.

Does houjicha act this way for anyone else?

sleepyredmoo · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 26 Mar 2008 Posts: 164

never tried

britt · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 175