QUIET THE MIND
We are not sure when or if we will be able to get more Hoji-Cha tea in stock, & so we are having to discontinue offering it at this time.
Hoji-Cha is a traditional Japanese tea that is made by roasting late harvest sencha tea. The last harvest of any remaining sencha leaves & twigs of the season are picked usually in late August and September or even October, depending on the weather that season. This last harvest of sencha for making Hoji-cha also has a secondary function in that it prunes tea bushes back before the winter season. After picking, the tea is turned into sencha & immediately after that the leaves are then roasted to transform the tea into Hoji-cha. Leaves harvested late in the season tend to be less aromatic, & more bitter & higher in caffeine and so they do not produce a good tasting sencha tea. However, roasting has a unique effect. It reduces the caffeine content, & counteracts the bitterness, making the tea more smooth. The roasting also introduces a delicious toasty flavour, making bland tasting sencha more aromatic & complex.
In recent years climate change has been putting a lot of stress on tea bushes. In the case of Hoji-Cha production, by the end of the summer, there is very little actual leaf material remaining on the tea bushes because it is impacted by harsher, hotter, sunnier conditions. Therefore, when they are pruning back tea the tea bushes, instead of a mix of leaves & twigs, all that remains is twigs. While pruning back the bushes at the end of summer used to be a good practice that was healthy for the tea bushes, the increasingly difficult weather conditions mean that pruning back the plants too much may weaken the tea bushes. While farmers grapple with this problem, it is not possible to make Hoji-Cha tea.
Brewing Instructions
Pour 2 cups of water over 1 tsp. of SILK ROAD premium quality, organic loose tea. This may not seem like a lot of tea but SILK ROAD teas are incredibly fresh & flavourful, which means that you don’t need very much in order to produce a delicious cup of tea. Using any more tea leaves can result in a cup of tea that is too strong.
- herbal tea bring water to a full, rolling boil | steep 7-10 minutes
- wellness tea bring water to a full, rolling boil | cover & steep 7-10 minutes
- green tea bring water to just before the boil begins | steep 1-3 minutes
- black tea bring water to a full, rolling boil | steep 2-5 minutes
- white tea bring water to just before the boil begins | steep 3-5 minutes
- oolong tea bring water to the boil | steep 5-7 minutes
Sizing Information
Loose teas are sold in refillable tins to preserve the tea’s superb flavour, freshness and nutrients. Normally, we encourage you to bring your empty tins into our shops to refill. However, this is currently on pause due to COVID-19. We’re delighted to offer another eco-friendly, low-waste way to re-use your tins!
Brown bag refills are available when you purchase tea in-store and online. Simply select “refill” to receive your tea in a brown bag refill. Immediately transfer the tea to the original tin it came in, once the brown bag refill is home or has arrived in the mail. Brown bags are 100% recyclable, compostable, biodegradable and made of post-consumer recycled paper.
CAN I STORE TEA IN THE BROWN BAG REFILL? No, it is a short term method for transport only and is not suitable for storing. It will not maintain tea’s freshness, nutrients and flavour. It does not protect against exposure to air, liquid or moisture. Air exposure causes nutrient & flavour loss; liquid/moisture causes tea to mildew. As soon as you get home from the shop, or when it arrives in the mail, transfer tea immediately into Silk Road tins - they are designed to preserve the tea.
ABOUT TEA SIZES Refer to the above chart - our loose teas are sold by volume, not weight.
