Probably you have heard of the Japanese green tea powder, Matcha. Likewise, Hojicha can be also made into the form of powder. This is called Hojicha powder. While Matcha has umani flavor, Hojicha powder has a roasty flavor which you may think is similar to that of coffee.
You can purchase ready-made Hojicha powder, which is prepared with a ball mill. The ball mill is a machine suitable to make a large amount of Hojicha powder.
In appearance, Hojicha powder is different to Hojicha tea leaves, but its natural elements are basically the same. Namely, Hojicha powder contains about the same amounts of catechin and caffeine just like Hojicha tea leaves do. Please note that the amounts of these natural elements are much less than the other Japanese teas such as Match, Sencha (high grade Japanese tea) and Gyokuro (the finest Japanese tea).
Hojicha powder is easily dissolved into liquid like warm water and milk and thus you do not have to use a tea pot, which may save your time. Therefore, using Hojicha powder is quite convenient when you want to make quick drink like Hojicha tea and Hojicha latte. The powdery form and the distinctive roasty flavor of Hojicha powder are also suitable to make sweets such as cakes, cookies and puddings.
The following are brief instructions for Hojicha latte and Hojicha shortbread cookies.
Hojicha latte
Add a teaspoon of Hojicha powder to 60ml of warm water and whisk the mixture. If you like, add sugar or other type of sweetener. Heat 180ml of milk and froth it. Then add the milk to the Hojicha powder mixture.
Hojicha shortbread cookies
Mix 1.5 tablespoons of Hojicha powder, ½ cup butter, 6 tablespoons sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla essence and 1 cup flour until all ingredients are mixed well forming smooth dough. Wrap the dough with plastic film and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Take out the dough, roll it out to about ¼ inch thick and cut into desired shapes. Bake them in the oven pre-heated at 315°F / 155°C for 20 minutes.