Hojicha

Sweet bean against a roast rather than a bitterness. Softer than the matcha version.

Roasted stem and steamed grain; the toast note bridges them without any seasoning.

Almost no tannin left after roasting, so the milk sweetens instead of blunting.

The roast already reads caramel. Sugar just finishes a sentence it started.

Starchy sweet nut and roasted twig share the same brown, dry register.

Same reaction, different substrate. The tea is a leaf that got caramelised.

Two roasted things ground fine; the seed oil gives the tea a body it lacks.

Maltose from slow roasting meets the same note in the leaf. Autumn arithmetic.

Low tannin means the cocoa never doubles up. It just adds fat to the roast.

Roasted tea and roasted root share the same scorched-earth register.

Roasted leaf over roasted skin. Two chars that read as one flavour.

Grilled oily fish and roasted stem; the smoke sits on the fat and cuts the iron.

Roasted tea and roasted squash share pyrazines; brew it into the braise.

Roasted stem tea and browned mushroom share pyrazines almost exactly.

Roasted stem tea, roasted fungus, same pyrazines. Brew it into the stock.

Roasted stem tea and raw amber crystal. Two toasts, one cup, no milk.

Toasted wood on both sides. Steep the leaf in it and it reads as extra cask.

Roast pyrazines plus guanylate. Brew them together and you have a very odd dashi.