Iced Hojicha Latte au Via Gelato — Avis de bandita (28 juin 2025)

Via Gelato sends me emails about their specials, and they’re always a tease because everything is so unique and decadent-looking, but never vegan. However, they do have a good variety of standard vegan options, so I still like this place.

One such special was a Hojicha Gelato, and although it’s not vegan, I was intrigued to read up on what Hojicha is because I had never heard of that, and their photos looked so yummy. It’s a green tea (but the color is light brown/tan like a chocolate mocha), and they researched the best place in Japan to get it.

On this visit, I went there to pick up a free gelato that they offered me. So when I saw Hojicha Latte on their menu and told that it can be made vegan with oat milk, this was my opportunity to give it a try. It’s a very unique flavor that I’ve never had before, so I can’t really compare it to anything. However, sometimes I imagine what certain things would taste like, and this is one of those instances where I feel that burnt wood would taste like this (even though I’ve never tasted wood before, let alone a burnt one, lol).

The real flavor that really impressed me was the sweetener. They have different options, and I selected the black sugar syrup. It tastes like the good part of molasses, without the unpleasant aftertaste. I occasionally use molasses as a sweetener, but never a full substitute because I can only handle a little bit before it doesn’t taste good, but I can imagine this black sugar syrup as a complete sweetener.

Overall, this wasn’t bad, and I finished it all by the time I got home, Usually when I don’t care for something, I save the rest of it to make smoothies, but that wasn’t necessary for this. That said though, I don’t think I would get this again. However, I’m really intrigued with making Hojicha flavored ice cream or smoothie because I can imagine a hint of this flavor tasting really good with something extra creamy, like maybe vanilla coconut. 

Supposedly, Hojicha is very healthy, just as any other green tea, but not as healthy as Matcha, because of the extra processing. However, it also has much less caffeine, which I always appreciate, because it takes effort for me to get enough iron, which caffeine impedes the absorption, so in that aspect, this is better than Matcha.  

#greentea #veganoahu #hojicha #hojichalatte #latte