Hijiri Hojicha
Hijiri Hojicha is a dark roasted Japanese tea with a sweet tobacco taste from the Obayashi family who have been producing award-winning teas completely naturally for over 30 years. On their small farm of about 8 acres in Okumikawa, Aichi they have maintained many of their 100 year old Yabukita trees just like the locals in these mountains who often keep a row of old tea bushes or yamacha ("mountain tea') as they call them. These simple country teas are either produced by hand or taken after picking to a small factory like the Obayashi's one which helps make many of the local people's tea.
Brew with boiled water that has been allowed to cool a little to about 90°C and a teaspoon per cup.
Note: Obayashi-san's farm's tea has passed Radiation tests this year and is free from radiation traces.
More About Hijiri Hojicha
Japan's roasted teas are not as revered as her green teas but we love their aromatic qualities. This excellent dark roasted tea comes from Aichi.
The image below shows Obayashi San standing in front of his field. A local activist, he has been responsible for running and preserving an ancient festival held just after New Year called Hana Matsuri which we visited in 2008. This area's sacred and spiritual connection especially with Ise Jingu, the most revered shrine in Japan, as well as the quality of the tea is the reason why Obayahshi's tea has often been selected as a tea for the Emperor of Japan. When he was first selected to make tea for the Imperial family over 30 years ago, he decided to stop using any pesticide on his ancient tea trees.
