HOJICHA CLOUD RECIPE: ICED HOJICHA WITH CREAM
Hojicha Cloud is a layered iced drink made from roasted Japanese tea, whipped into cream and poured slowly over coconut water and ice.
What Is Hojicha
Hojicha is a roasted Japanese green tea. Unlike matcha — grown in shade, stone-milled from tender first-flush leaves — hojicha is made by roasting bancha or kukicha stems and leaves over charcoal.
The roasting changes everything. The colour shifts from green to reddish-brown. The flavour becomes warm and roasted, with notes of caramel.
Caffeine reduces in roasting — which is why hojicha is often the tea people reach for later in the day.
Recipe:
Ingredients
- 2 g hojicha powder
- 10 ml warm water (80°C)
- 60 ml whipping cream
- 150–200 ml coconut water
- Ice cubes
Preparation
- Whisk the hojicha powder with a few drops of warm water into a smooth paste. Keep it thick — the cream carries it from here.
- Add the whipping cream to the paste and whip with a hand mixer until creamy but still pourable. The right consistency moves like a slow ribbon — thick enough to float, thin enough to pour without breaking the surface.
- Fill a tall glass with ice.
- Pour in the coconut water.
- Slowly pour the hojicha cream on top, tilting the glass slightly to keep the layers visible.
On Technique
The pour is what makes this drink.
If the cream is too thin, it dissolves on contact. If it is too thick, it sits separately rather than gradually moving through the glass. One or two attempts is usually enough to find the right consistency.
Cold cream whips faster. If the cream has been out of the refrigerator, return it briefly before starting.
The paste should be completely smooth before the cream is added. Any lumps carry through to the final drink.
