The smell hits you before the cup reaches the table. Warm, roasted, like toasted hazelnuts and brown bread pulled straight from the oven. This is hojicha, and it is quietly winning over UK café-goers who want something different from the usual flat white or matcha latte.
Unlike most Japanese teas, which are steamed to preserve their green colour and grassy freshness, hojicha undergoes a transformation in a porcelain pot roasted over charcoal at temperatures around 150 degrees Celsius [1]. The heat draws out a light golden, almost reddish-brown hue in the brewed cup, and produces a flavour profile that stands apart from anything else in the tea world. Nutty, toasty, faintly sweet, with almost no bitterness to speak of.
A Happy Accident From Kyoto
The story of hojicha is a reminder that some of the best discoveries happen by accident. In 1920, a Kyoto merchant found himself sitting on a batch of bancha tea that had become unsaleable. Rather than accept the loss, he decided to roast it. The result was something entirely new: a tea with a warm, comforting character that bore no resemblance to the original leaf [1].
What made this discovery particularly fortunate was timing. The roasting process does something remarkable to the chemistry of the tea. Because the leaves are roasted rather than steamed, oxidation is prevented, and the catechins that cause astringency in other teas are largely lost to the heat [1]. The result is a cup that goes down smoothly, even for people who find green tea too bracing.
The base leaves matter too. Traditionally, hojicha is made from bancha, the common tea harvested at the end of the growing season, though sencha and kukicha (tea made from stems and twigs) also find their way into blends [1]. Once processed, the dry leaves take on a distinctive brown, wedge-shaped appearance, like tiny wooden needles waiting to release their warmth into hot water.
Why Low Caffeine Changes the Game
Ask anyone who has swapped their evening coffee for a cup of hojicha and you will hear the same thing: finally, something that feels like a proper ritual without the overnight consequences. The roasting process significantly lowers the caffeine content, making hojicha safe to drink during the evening meal and even before bed [1].
This is not a minor detail in a culture that has grown accustomed to caffeine in almost everything. Matcha, for all its popularity, carries a considerable caffeine punch because you are consuming the entire ground leaf. Hojicha offers a gentler path, which is partly why it has long been preferred in Japan for children and elderly family members [1].
For the UK market, this positions hojicha as something of a counter-cultural option. While specialty coffee continues its relentless march, there is a growing contingent of drinkers who want warmth and comfort without the wired aftermath. Cafés are beginning to notice.
Hojicha and the Matcha Playbook
The trajectory feels familiar to anyone who watched matcha explode onto UK menus over the past decade. Matcha arrived with its vivid green intensity, its umami depth, and its associations with Japanese culture and craft [2]. It took a few years for mainstream cafés to catch on, but once they did, the green latte became inescapable.
Hojicha appears to be following a similar path, albeit more quietly. Powdered hojicha is already appearing on menus, blended into steamed milk drinks that echo the matcha latte format [1]. The difference is taste: where matcha delivers vegetal brightness and a slight bitterness that some find an acquired taste, hojicha is immediately approachable. Its sweetness does not require sugar. Its warmth does not require cream.
There is also a visual dimension that cafés are beginning to exploit. A hojicha latte has a caramel-brown gradient that photographs beautifully, quite unlike the pale green of its matcha counterpart. For cafés that trade on Instagram appeal, this matters.
The UK Café Scene
While specific sales data for the UK market remains difficult to pin down, the signs are scattered across menus from London to Edinburgh. Specialist tea shops were the early adopters, sourcing quality hojicha from Japanese suppliers and serving it in traditional kyusu teapots. Now the drink is spreading into independent cafés and, increasingly, into larger chains looking for something different to offer.
The powdered format has accelerated things considerably. Just as instant matcha powders made the drink accessible to home brewers, pre-ground hojicha allows baristas to prepare consistent lattes and hot drinks without specialised equipment. The flavour holds up beautifully against milk, developing a creamy, malty quality that feels indulgent without being heavy.
What is striking is how naturally hojicha fits into the British tea-drinking psyche. We have always had a soft spot for roasted flavours, whether in malted tea breads, toasted oats, or the simple pleasure of a well-brewed pot of Assam. Hojicha feels like it belongs here, a Japanese import that does not require you to adjust your expectations too far.
The evening slot may prove to be hojicha's real territory. As more people seek out caffeine-free or low-caffeine options for after dinner, a tea that tastes satisfying and complex without keeping you awake until midnight has obvious appeal. Some cafés are already positioning it as an alternative to the nightcap, served in a small pot with a few moments of quiet contemplation attached.