At an elegant tea party last week at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, I had one of those “aha!” moments regarding green tea. Green tea tends to be grassy and herbal — fresh but not always what my tongue wants. But toasted green tea, especially hojicha, now that’s my kind of tea.

The reason I love this tea, I figured out, is that I love all things toasted — the crust of bread (I called it before it even hit the table,) roasty brown onions and garlic, dark brown potato chips (you can have all of the light-colored ones!) In case you’ve never tried it, toasted brown tea known as hojicha tastes like a piece of unbuttered, unadulterated toasted bread.

Just in case you’re wondering, toasted green tea (brewed perfectly like they do at Iyemon Cha) tastes great with cheese, meats, rice and lots of other savory foods.