Houji-Kukicha (Roasted Kukicha)

I love this tea, and I love Den’s.

This is like sweet, roasted nuts. It is making my head and stomach feel better. It’s so comforting. And, completely obscenely well-priced.

Got my order from Den’s tea today! And now begins my neverending search for the brown-colored green tea my host mother in japan made every day.

I apparently have no sense of smell right now, so I smelled nothing after pretty much sticking my nose in the actual bag and taking a huge whiff. My roommate and her friend both described it as smelling “fishy” and like “fish food”… not really pleasant apparently. (I think they are too used to smelling my fruity teavana blend teas!)

The color is very very brown, almost like dirt. I looks very dark in the cup I’m using, along with the bad lighting in the room but it’s still fairly dark, especially for a green tea. It seems its cooled off a bit, Here goes. Hmmm…..

I’m not really tasting much of anything. Maybe it’s because it’s too hot, or possibly because i have no sense of smell right now. As it cools down I’m picking up more flavors but I’m not quite sure how to describe it. First thing that came to mind was metal in my mouth, I’m getting that weird tingling sensation your teeth get. Definitely not pleasant. The more I sip, the more this weird metal taste seems to be coming out. I hope that’s just from the packaging and not from the tea. It’s really awful.

I’ll hold off rating this one till I make it again when I don’t possibly have a sinus infection

Den’s says in their description that this tea provides a good alternative to cider or cocoa. I don’t really know where they got that idea… it does not remind me of cocoa or cider at ALL. However, it is one of my staples. It is similar to the flavor of a houjicha, but a little more earthy / twiggy. I’m a big fan of that flavor profile- the roasted, toasted, earthy, smoky flavors (houjicha, genmai cha, gunpowder, etc). If you like that sort of thing, I would definitely recommend this. And I’m thinking some of that sweetness that they describe might come out at cooler temps. But mine never has a chance to cool, as I always drink it promptly.