Watermelon Houjicha

If you know me, you know I am a sucker for a hojicha. ESPECIALLY when it’s a flavored one. cannot remember when I got this one, so I was ready for it to be bland. To my pleasant surprise, the watermelon still slaps! I’m sure it was much louder when I purchased this tea, but it’s still very agreeable. The hojicha base is bright and nutty too, with a wisp of smoke that gives way to the juicy watermelon. I think it’s a wonderful combo, reminds me of some fruit flavored mugicha I savored from Lupicia in the past. Yet another winner from 52Teas, shocker!

An Ode to Tea challenge #2– W

Not a sipdown, but a new note for a five year old tea.  Poor tea.  It reminds me of a Butiki tea, probably Dark Side of the Melon.   That dark base profile with a fruity flavor.  (And probably those amaranth flowers that Butiki would use!) I think I steeped this perfectly for its age.  A short first steep doesn’t let the base overwhelm whatever is left of this five year old flavor.  And its still there! Not a TON of watermelon, but just enough for both steeps.  I really like the idea of a bright fruit flavor on a houjicha base.  A simple yet somehow underused combination. 
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 25 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling  //  3-4 min

Sadly i can’t remember who shared this with me, but i THINK it was kitenna this is a really pleasant watermelon flavour, though the nutty/toasted notes from the hojicha are overwhelming the watermelon a bit. I enjoyed it though :)

So, for the first time I brewed a cup of this that I was really happy with!

I was trying to think of ways to improve this one, and I decided that I was going to try and put together a food pairing that would highlight the things in the tea that I enjoy and sort of mask what I don’t. I really wanted the feel of a nice Spring/Summer time picnic so I went with a beer sausage vegetarian, of course with honey chevre, arugula and a strawberry balsamic and then a small bowl of cranberry pear gelato on the side.

The hotdog was a brilliant choice because the roastiness of the Houjicha seemed to fade into the savory, meaty quality of the sausage and the whole wheat bun but the acidity of the balsamic, and cool fruity notes of the gelato drew out the bright, sweet watermelon notes so for once it didn’t feel like the roastiness and the melon were clashing but instead delicious parts of one really solid, upbeat and fun Spring time meal!

It was a WONDERFUL way to kick off today’s tea drinking!

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 202)

W is for… Watermelon Houjicha!

Tasty toasty melon. I like this tea, but in moderation, probably because of the melon flavouring.

So I just got finished packaging up a batch of tea so I decided I needed a tea break. One great thing about my job is that I can take tea breaks frequently and still say “I’m working.”

This tea is this week’s tea of the week. I really wasn’t sure if this tea would work out or not. When I first decided to blend it, I was really excited about it but then after I finished blending it and waited for it to cure, I got to thinking “What was I thinking?” Because the idea of a toasty, nutty tea like houjicha and a sweet, refreshing, juicy flavor of watermelon don’t seem like a likely pair. They don’t seem like they’d go together.

So I was very anxious during the curing process of this tea and I started thinking about what I’d do if the tea didn’t work out (because if I’m not happy with the tea, I’m not going to sell it.)

Fortunately, it did work out – quite beautifully actually! This is one of the better Houjicha blends I’ve tasted (I’m still quite fond of the Lemon Cheesecake Bar and the Gingerbread Houjichas too). The watermelon comes through really strongly but that warm, nutty flavor of the houjicha isn’t lost either. These two flavors seem to work very nicely together.

Moral of story: have more confidence in myself.