On a tea shop shelf sits a bag marked “Fuji hojicha.” Open it, and the dry, toasty smell of stems rises at once. Yet the name itself does not hold one fixed way of roasting.
This piece keeps the place name and the single product apart, following first the work of choosing stems and then the work of applying heat.
One name, different bags
Set two bags bearing the Fuji name side by side, and the leaves differ a little in colour and shape. The name does not stand for a fixed roasting method.
Like fields scattered across the lower slopes, the leaves and the way heat is applied vary from maker to maker. The city’s own guide says farmers and merchants use different kinds of tea and different roasting methods. That is why so many kinds of hojicha appear on the shelf.
The sources take us this far: the same regional name does not mean the same material or finish. Choosing a region and choosing a product are linked, but they are separate steps. Next comes one bag born at the foot of the mountain.
Sorting the stems before the heat
A handful of dry stems in the palm makes a light, papery rustle. This tea puts care into the sorting that comes before roasting.
Rincha is a hojicha started by four tea farms working together at the foot of Mount Fuji. According to its seller, the usual sorting is repeated many times to bring out the aroma. Only the carefully chosen stems go on.
Reading about roasting, the eye tends to go straight to machines and temperatures. Still, one brand’s method cannot be read as standing for the whole region. After the stems are chosen, the question becomes how the heat goes in.
Slow heat that reaches the core
Cup a teacup in both hands, and the toasty scent of stem tea drifts up with the steam. How this tea turns out depends on both how heat is applied and how much is roasted at once.
Much as winter sun warms a stone right through, far-infrared heat is said to reach slowly into the core of each stem. The roasting is done in a special machine. Small amounts are roasted over time, for an even finish.
Far-infrared describes how heat is applied, small amounts describe the quantity, and neither alone is the whole method. The sources show only that several choices are layered together in the finished tea. Where each name comes from is gathered below.
