Roasting can give teas additional aroma and change in flavor.

We can roast loose leaf tea very easily by using toaster oven as follows.

(1) spread loose leaf tea thinly on an aluminum foil.

(2) Roast by using a toaster oven.

After roasting, the color of tea leaves changed.

(3) Just blew.

Conditions of roasting depend on types of teas and our preference.

In my favorite roasting conditions are as follows.

(A) 30 seconds at 500W for every type of Sencha (Japanese green tea)
This way can bring out roasty sweet aroma and green fresh aroma of every type of sencha.

(B) 30 seconds at 500W and then 30 seconds at 250W for deep steamed tea.
Strong heating results in overheating of small fractions of tea leaves of deep steamed tea because of its large distribution of size fraction. Tea merchants often say “Excellent aracha of deep steamed tea have higher tolerance to firing, due to the higher vigor of ingredient tea leaves.” Indeed, prominent aracha of deep steamed tea can be tolerant for long heating and sequential nice taste with roasty flavor.

Color change of deep steamed tea by roasting.

(C) 30 seconds at 1,000W for light steamed tea.
Higher grade of light steamed green tea has a narrow size distribution of its leaf, thus light steamed tea can merely be burned under relatively strong heating. Especially light steamed tea produced on a mountainside often has original spicy aroma. Roasting can add the other aroma.

Color change of light steamed tea by roasting.

It is recommended to try to find your preference degree of roasting.

Color change of tea leaves during roasting at 500W with elapsed time.

In my preference, excellent tea can be suited for drinking straight or drinking with Japanese confections. On the other hand, I’d like to drink roasted teas with meals due to its flinty taste.

As posted previously, roasting can provide beneficial constituents for our health such as 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine. In addition, the luscious aroma derived from brewing makes us warm and provides relief time.

Aroma compounds derived from firing of green tea.

In cold days in winter time, roasted tea is very beneficial for our body and mind!