What roasters watch for when they stop the fire

“High heat” and “deep roast” do not mean the same thing in hojicha

“Roasted over high heat” describes how heat is applied; “deep roast” describes the outcome of roasting. They are separate pieces of information, and a stated heat intensity does not settle the material or the course of the heating. Taking them separately means fewer misreadings of a product description.

Three things help tell them apart. High heat is the operation, deep roast is the finish, and karigane is the material: the words on a bag fall into those three layers. Kyoto’s Maiko no Chahonpo takes the same karigane in two directions, one dark-coloured with a strong roasted aroma, the other lightly roasted over gentler heat. And moving from light to deep is not a ladder of progress; you can choose the direction you want to drink.

“High heat” describes how heat is applied, while “deep roast” describes the roasting outcome. Even if heat intensity is stated, the material and course of heating are not necessarily the same. Treating these as separate pieces of information helps avoid misreading tea descriptions.

Yanoen describes hojicha as tea roasted over strong heat and highlights its distinctive roasted aroma. It also says high-temperature roasting requires considerable skill. This is an account of the judgment needed to handle that heat, rather than a claim that anyone using high heat will create the same aroma.

Two Kyoto merchants take the same karigane in two directions

What we read here are the product descriptions published by Yanoen and Maiko no Chahonpo. Both set out, for their own products, the heat used and the finish they are after. Neither account stands for how Kyoto as a whole roasts tea.

At Maiko no Chahonpo, karigane is stem tea separated out during the production of gyokuro or sencha. The shop describes its Hojicha Kaori Fumi as karigane roasted thoroughly to develop a dark colour and a strong roasted aroma.

Its Asairi Hojicha, by contrast, is described as slowly and lightly roasted over gentler heat than Kaori Fumi, offering both hojicha aroma and karigane aroma. Both use karigane, but they differ in how they present aromas from the material and from roasting.

What hojicha specialists actually do: small batches, cooling and packing

Read the specialists’ own accounts and the work does not end at the roast. Hinosabo writes that it roasts in small batches, lets the initial heat go from the finished tea, then seals it while still warm in a highly airtight bag. The process that creates the aroma runs on into the process that delivers it.

Three things stand out in the accounts. In Nippon Chachacha’s description of Rincha, “small batches” is a quantity chosen so the heat reaches the centre of the stems evenly. Hinosabo writes that it moves freshly roasted tea straight to a refrigerator to take off the initial heat, then seals it in special bags while still warm. And Kobayashi Shoten says it roasts by hand, which does not by itself establish superiority to machine roasting.

Hinosabo says it carefully roasts small batches. Nippon Chachacha also describes Rincha as roasted in small quantities with far-infrared heat. Both discuss quantity, but that alone does not establish that their methods are the same.

Rincha’s explanation says a special machine heats the stems slowly through to their centres, taking time over small batches to achieve a uniform finish. Rather than stopping at the appealing phrase “small batches,” reading what that quantity is intended to achieve makes the process more concrete.

Cooling and packaging follow the roast

What we compare here are the accounts published by Hinosabo, Nippon Chachacha and Kobayashi Shoten. What the three describe — small-batch roasting, cooling, packing, hand roasting — overlaps only in part, so a stage left undescribed cannot be read as a stage left undone.

Hinosabo says it immediately moves freshly roasted tea to a refrigerator to remove the initial heat, then seals it while still warm in special bags with high airtightness. After roasting come further choices: where to cool the tea, when to pack it, and which bag to use.

If you see only the tea being taken off the heat, the work might appear finished. Reading the product description in order, however, reveals a continuous sequence: roast, remove the initial heat, and seal. The work includes delivering the aroma to the person who opens the bag, as well as creating it.