Buckwheat tea

Thé de sarrasin (soba-cha)

What it is

Most soba-cha sold in Japan is now made from dattan, tartary buckwheat, a bitter highland species carrying on the order of a hundred times the rutin of the common sort. Buckwheat is not a cereal but a knotweed, cousin to rhubarb and sorrel, which is why the liquor reads as cocoa and toasted hazelnut rather than bread.

In the kitchen

Do not throw the wet groats away: drain them, spread them on a tray, and they crisp back into a garnish for salad or ice cream. Brew at 90 °C for three minutes — a rolling boil turns the liquor gluey and flat.

Goes with

Buckwheat groats Soba noodles Dark chocolate Honey Sesame Kinako Hojicha

Same species

Buckwheat groats Buckwheat flour Buckwheat honey Soba noodles

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