Kyōto Premium Hōjicha ($8.70 for a regular, +$2.00 for upsize)

This drink featured warabi mochi in a hōjicha latte, topped with whipped cream and hōjicha powder. After stirring, the thick, jelly-like warabi mochi was easy to sip through the wide straw, delivering a distinct sugar-based sweetness, though it lacked the deeper kuromitsu flavour often found in Japanese desserts. However, the cup, which wasn’t heat-sealed, combined with the large amount of ice (about half the cup), made it difficult to evenly mix the mochi, concentrating the sweetness at the bottom. While the hōjicha offered an enjoyable roasted tea flavour, it was overall weak. By the second half of the drink, the sweetness balanced out but became diluted by the whipped cream, leading to a watered-down, milky taste.

This Kyōto Premium Hōjicha was purchased from Torori Warabimochi in Sydney, Australia in September 2024.