Hojicha Roasted Green Tea Milk Jam Spread

On our trip to Hawaii, I came across the Japanese grocery store Mitsuwa Marketplace and discovered a green tea, hojicha. I bought a box of it to try in our hotel and needless to say, I was hooked.

WHAT IS HOJICHA? 

Hojicha is actually a roasted green tea. It gets its distinctive reddish brown colour which differs from other green teas such matcha, since the tea leaves are roasted over charcoal.

Because of the high temperatures during roasting, hojicha loses much of its caffeine content, and makes it a suitable tea for the elderly and children to consume. That being said, it also loses much of its antioxidants and doesn’t contain as much polyphenols as matcha green tea.

I loved the deep, slightly smoky, caramel-like flavour that was from the hojicha that I purchased, so I returned the next day to grab a few more boxes to bring back home.

HOW I MAKE MY HOJICHA MILK JAM 

I knew I wanted to make a concentrated, roasted hojicha milk jam that’s smoky and strong, similar to my Matcha Milk Jam and Earl Grey Milk Jam.

After a few tries, I think I’ve nailed it. Patience is the key since you’ll need to keep whisking the mixture over low/medium heat. 

As always, different tea brands will carry different strengths and flavours of the tea. I found that 4 tea bags brought out the most intensity of the hojicha flavour, but you can play around with how many bags to use. 

HOJICHA POWDER 

UPDATED: I’ve recently gotten my hands on hojicha tea powder, and wanted to give an alternative version of this recipe.

Hojicha powder is concentrated and delivers that deep, roasted flavour much more easily without having to extract the tea via tea leaves. It’s convenient to use and a little bit goes a long way.

As you can see in the photos, it does produce a very rich dark brown and intensely flavoured milk jam. So if you can get hojicha powder, I would strongly recommend it. 🙂

HOW TO USE HOJICHA MILK JAM

It’s great as a base in a mousse, such as my Hojicha Mousse cake, as well as Hojicha ice cream, or even just on top of toast. Creamy, smooth, and flavourful, it’s the perfect spread that’s neither peanut butter nor fruit jam.

Let me know if you try out my recipe! I’d love to see your creations — tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment below!

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Hojicha Roasted Green Tea Milk Jam Spread

Hojicha Roasted Milk Jam Spread is a creamy and delicious condiment full of tea flavour, great for spreading on toast or pancakes.

Course Breakfast, Condiment

Cuisine Asian, Japanese

Keyword cream, green tea, hojicha, jam, milk, spread

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 1 jar

Author Michelle | Sift & Simmer

Ingredients

• 4 hojicha tea bags or 1 Tbsp hojicha powder
• 3 tsp granulated sugar
• ½ C whole milk
• ½ C heavy cream
• 1 tsp dry milk powder

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, over low-medium heat, add the 4 hojicha tea bags or hojicha powder, granulated sugar, whole milk, heavy cream, and milk powder.
• Whisk periodically until mixture has thickened and reduced by half, about 20 minutes over low-medium heat.
• It should be smooth and creamy. A way to tell if it’s ready is when you scrape the mixture in the pot with a spoon or whisk, there should be a line that is visible, meaning it has thickened enough. If you scrape the pot and can’t see a line, continue whisking over heat.
• Once it has thickened enough, remove from heat. Let cool.
• Pour into a clean jar and refrigerate. The spread will be a little more thicker once it has cooled. Hojicha roasted green tea milk jam spread is best consumed in 1 week.