Houji Fruits

Tea: Houji Fruits - 8505
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $7.00 /50g
Vendor Description: Aromatic Houjicha is blended with Muscat and apple flavors. This simple and refreshing tasting tea is very popular. Enjoy as iced tea in summer.

Leaf: This leaf has a nice hoji brown color to it. There are bits of black leaf mixed in as well as small pieces of fruit. The leaf gives off a very nice and sweet fruity aroma.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5oz, 1min, 208F

1st Infusion: The produced tea is a very dark deep brown. It is dark even for a hojicha. The tea has a very sweet and fruity aroma though. The fruit aroma seems well paired with the hojicha aroma. The hojicha aroma is noticeable and identifiable, but blends well. The flavor of the tea is dominated by a smooth and subdued hojicha flavor with a light clean feeling. There is no astringency and a light sense of sweetness.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 3min, 5oz, 208F

2nd Infusion: This infusion was even darker brown than the first one. It still has hints of the fruity aroma of the first infusion, but it is weaker than before. The aroma of the hojicha is stronger than the first. It seems more like a roasted flavor. There is a sweetness up front in this one which leads into the richness of the hojicha flavor.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This tea makes for a wonderful hojicha. The price is it's downfall though. At $7/50g it's pricing well above many other hojichas, and the fruit flavoring isn't adding enough of an allure to the tea to warrant the price difference between this and a pure hojicha from another vendor. The tea itself is quite wonderful though.