Matcha vs hojicha
Two Japanese green teas at opposite ends of everything: one shaded and milled, the other roasted from the coarsest leaf. They are the strongest and gentlest things in the Japanese range.
tea
What is being compared
Why these get confused
Hojicha’s brown colour leads people to assume it is a black tea. It is green tea that was roasted after processing.
Point by point
| Aspect | Matcha | Hojicha |
|---|---|---|
| What it is made from | Shaded first-harvest leaf, de-stemmed and stone-milled. | Later-harvest bancha or stems, roasted brown. |
| Colour | Vivid jade green. | Reddish brown, in both leaf and liquor. |
| Flavour | Intense, savoury and vegetal. | Toasted caramel and warm wood, with no vegetal note at all. |
| Caffeine | The highest in the Japanese range, because the leaf is consumed whole. | Among the lowest — roasting degrades some, and the leaf is mature. |
| When it is drunk | Morning and ceremonially. | Evening, and commonly given to children in Japan. |
| Difficulty | Easy to buy badly and easy to whisk badly. | Almost impossible to brew wrong at any temperature. |
The short answer
If matcha has been too intense, hojicha is the other end of the same tradition. They share a country and a plant and nothing else in the cup.
Not a ranking. TeaHQ publishes no ratings and does not know your occasion.