This has been one of my daily cups for awhile now, and it has always been a solid choice. I order by the pound, and get usually work my way through it quite quickly, but not this last batch. The last batch has a strong, almost artificial liquid smoke flavor. The smokiness doesn't seem evenly distributed, and some of the tea is visibly charred. That alone isn't an issue, but the strong smoke doesn't seem entirely natural to me. I've had several slightly unpleasant cups out of my current bag, and I've been turning more towards my other teas as a daily drink because of it. Maybe it was just this batch, but sure I'll buy this again for awhile.

Chris S. 4/5 August 16, 2026

This is a great tea with milk, but required almost double the amount of tea for it to taste amazing. I feel that if I use a standard 3-4 grams for 16oz it doesn't really taste all that good. 6-8 grams is perfect and brings out the taste that pops. bit of milk and its perfect.

Gabriel 5/5 May 10, 2026

Truly my new daily driver, whatever size you are thinking of buying buy the larger one because you will just want to keep drinking this tea! The roasty toasty and a little charcoal, and they're having a malty party with a subtly sweet and nutty green tea

Quinn H. 5/5 January 27, 2026

Good tea, if you don't follow the steeping instructions here. Boiling this one makes it, to me, undrinkably bitter. Steeping at 175 degrees for 3 min brings out a gentle nutty quality.

Peregrine 5/5 October 8, 2024

Love the tea

Nancy 5/5 Verified February 9, 2024

My favorite!

Nancy 5/5 Verified December 6, 2023

My favorite green tea! Lovely

Nancy 5/5 Verified August 30, 2023

This is probably our most drunk tea at out house. It has a fantastic smooth roasty toasty nuttiness and is amazing with a little cream in it. Being so low in caffeine it's a fantastic tea to drink all afternoon and evening on those cozy cool days.

Sarah 5/5 Verified October 7, 2022

Some of the best tea I've gotten in a long time. Hit's all the notes for me since I can't drink coffee anymore and some of the best tea I've fixed iced.

Benjamin 5/5 Verified July 16, 2022

This is one of my favorite iced teas!

Christina 5/5 Verified April 20, 2020

Around October every year you start to see hot houjicha appearing in the vending machines around Japan. When fall arrives, I always break out the houjicha! It's so warming and toasty. Since its low in caffeine, I love drinking it in the evenings. When I crave it in the summer, I drink it iced, which is surprisingly refreshing! If you're hesitating to try it because you don't like classic green tea, just give it a shot! It's very different than most green teas.

Josie 5/5 Verified November 13, 2019

If you like Genmaicha, you'll love this tea. I'm madly in love with it. The hint of toastiness is wonderful. Nuttiness to one person is toastiness to me, but I've had others use this to describe it, too.

Tiffany L. 5/5 Verified November 22, 2018

I have always thought I should switch from black to green tea for health reasons but couldn't find a green tea that satisfied my craving for the black tea taste until this one! The aroma is so satisfying and fragrant and the taste is not as thin to me as most green teas. Wonderful discovery. Thanks for carrying this one!

Barbara S. 5/5 Verified May 19, 2018