Browsing through the menu in a London cafe, Ana Costa wasn't sure what drink she was in the mood for. She didn't fancy a coffee and was considering a matcha latte, when hojicha caught her eye.
A Japanese drink made from green tea, hojicha is dry-roasted at high temperatures to produce a distinctive aroma and nutty flavour. It's less bitter than green tea, with a low caffeine content - and it's creeping onto café menus.
In its traditional form, hojicha tea has always been available at chef Shuko Oda's Koya restaurant in London.
"Traditionally, we don't put milk or any sugar or sweetenings in with hojicha," Oda says. "It's meant to be a brown, clear tea that is very much an every and any time of the day type of hot drink."
But Oda says she's seeing the drink pop up more and more across the UK, largely in milky hojicha lattes and desserts, and even added hojicha ice cream to her own restaurant's menu earlier this year.
