Move over, Ti Kuan Yin, I've found a tea that is your equal in flavor. Juan introduced me to Hoji Cha in Kyoto, pointing it out in the Nishiki Market as a tea that I had to try. It is a roasted green tea and the flavors are very similar to the semi-fermented oolong tea, Ti Kuan Yin, name after the Iron Goddess of Mercy, I think for its brown color although there are legends about its origin. Ti Kuan Yin is also roasted so maybe it is the roasting that gives it the fragrance I like.
In any case, I bought a box of tea bags of Hoji Cha at the supermarket in Kyoto, and liking it, when we went to the monthly craft market at the Kamigamo Shrine, I picked up half a pound of it from a couple that runs the independent
Morii Farm. It should last me for some time, although I find myself drinking a lot more tea than I used to, almost once a day. When I run out, I can pick up some tea bags of Hoji Cha at the little Japanese supermarket in Shadyside.
