Nara, the former capital of Japan, is home to a small family tea garden, and it is in this family's workshop that the sencha leaves and young stems that make up this Hojicha are roasted by hand. Roasting was originally a way of preserving the tea; today it is valued for the flavourful liquor it produces, ideal alongside a dish or a dessert. Japanese flavours, says Mariage Frères.

Hojicha is a roasted green tea: the heat transforms the leaf, removes almost all of its bitterness and much of its caffeine, and gives it toasted notes. It is a plain tea, without flavouring, and contains none of the allergens subject to mandatory declaration.

The leaves, the colour of elm burl, release a note of chocolatey carob and nutmeg when dry. Once infused, they take on reflections of grey ebony and evoke a praline syrup. The liquor, amber with garnet reflections, caresses the palate with a veil of woodiness, then fills with a vanilla fragrance mingled with palm sugar with a caramel taste. A soft, roasted cup, almost free of astringency.

It is drunk plain, at any hour, and especially in the evening, when its low caffeine and gentleness make it the tea for the end of Japanese meals. It accompanies a plate of rice, grilled fish, a red bean pastry, or a caramel dessert. Brewed and then cooled, it makes a surprising roasted iced tea.

Allow 3.5 g for 200 ml of water at 95 °C and three minutes of steeping. Hojicha is weighed and packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, and should be kept in an airtight container, away from light and humidity.