Kuromitsu Hojicha Latte

Hojicha, the much lesser known brother of matcha, is a roasted version of this bright green powder and, in my opinion, the superior brother. Hojicha has a much more roasty, toasty flavor when compared to matcha’s earthy, slightly vegetal flavor profile. It’s a pretty big shame that it’s so hard to find places that sell hojicha lattes or hojicha milk tea, but after trying out this recipe you’ll be able to enjoy it any time you’d like!

This recipe employs the use of kuromitsu syrup, which translates literally to “black honey,” to up the flavor profile of the hojicha. Kuromitsu is a dark, sweet syrup made from Okinawan black sugar and it has a similar flavor profile to that of molasses. This syrup recipe is incredibly rich and decadent and goes well as a sweetener to most other drinks too.

One important thing to note when making the syrup is that it can crystallize. Adding a tablespoon of corn syrup discourages the crystallization from happening, but you can also try to avoid this by keeping the agitation of the syrup to a minimum when it is boiling on the stove (squeezing some lemon juice into the syrup also helps discourage crystallization if there’s no corn syrup in your pantry).

Kuromitsu Hojicha Latte

ryanllee FacebookTweet Pin Hojicha, the much lesser known brother of matcha, is a roasted version of this bright green powder and, in my… Beverages Kuromitsu Hojicha Latte European Print This

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 15 miuntes 15 miuntes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

Kuromitsu Syrup

• 1 cup black sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (just to prevent the syrup from crystallizing)
• 1 cup water

Hojicha Latte

• 0.5 tablespoon hojicha powder
• 2.5 tablespoons warm water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon kuromitsu syrup (or more to taste)

Instructions

Kuromitsu Syrup

1. Place a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat.
2. Pour in the water, black sugar, brown sugar, and light corn syrup and bring to boil.
3. Once boiling, lower the heat to low and leave to thicken, about 10-15 minutes (Syrup will thicken even more as it cools). Stir gently only until the sugar is all dissolved.
4. Remove syrup from heat and place in a heat proof container to allow for it to cool.
5. The syrup can be transferred to a container with a lid and left in the fridge for other latte/drink occasions!

Hojicha Latte

1. Put the hojicha powder and hot water in a small container with a lid.
2. Shake vigorously until the entire mixture is well combined and there are no large, visible lumps in the container.
3. Take 1 tablespoon of the kuromitsu syrup and pour along the sides of the glass, swirling it around as you pour it in.
4. Then pour in the cup of cold milk.
5. Add ice to liking on top of the milk
6. Then pour the liquid hojicha mixture on top of the ice (hitting the ice with the hojicha mixture ensures that you'll achieve noticeable layers in your end drink!)