Stay Warm with Traditional Japanese Hot Drinks

What could be more delightful than savoring a delicious hot drink in the comfort of your home instead of braving the cold for your usual latte to go? Japan offers a wide variety of warming beverages, many of which come with appealing health benefits as an added bonus.

Cozy up with these five steamy sips, served in authentic Japanese drinkware that will hit the spot on a cold winter day.

❄️ : For chilly days
❄️❄️ : For cold days
❄️❄️❄️ : For very cold days

Japanese green tea is celebrated for its delicious taste and vibrant color—but did you know it also offers impressive health benefits, especially during the cold season?

Feeling the onset of a cold in your throat? Catechin—the key compound responsible for green tea’s signature sharp flavor—has natural antibacterial and antiviral properties that can help. And if the cold weather has you feeling a bit stressed, the elegant sweetness and umami of green tea, thanks to its amino acids, offer a soothing way to relax.

For the perfect brew of sencha green tea, heat your water to around 80°C (176°F). This temperature helps unlock green tea’s rich flavors and healthful benefits. Keep in mind that green tea does contain caffeine—though less than coffee—so enjoy it mindfully and in moderation.

Warm up with a comforting cup of sencha, savoring its delightful flavor and eye-soothing green hue with some wagashi, Japanese sweets. For an authentic touch, serve it in the softly colored Heian Sakura teacup.

Hojicha is a roasted Japanese green tea known for its distinct, toasty flavor that sets it apart from other green teas. Its savory aroma comes from pyridine, a compound produced during the roasting process, which is believed to have a calming effect. The rich, roasted scent of hojicha is deeply comforting—like cozying up by a warm fire.

Commonly served very hot, we recommend using a thick stoneware cup like this Kousai Kiln Red Grape Hasami Yunomi Japanese Teacup. 

And our recommended snack for Hojicha? Soy sauce-flavored senbei, Japanese rice crackers!

Or enjoy your hojicha in this handcrafted teacup from Musashi Kiln, with its earthy tones and green glaze that pair beautifully with the tea’s rich flavor.

It may be surprising to know that winter is the best season to enjoy highly aromatic matcha green tea.

The first tea harvest for matcha takes place from late April to May. These young, umami-rich leaves are aged for about five months before being finely ground into matcha powder. This makes November the perfect time to enjoy matcha made from the year’s first harvest. There’s no better season than winter to savor a warm, delicious bowl of matcha.

Every November, the kuchikiri no chaji tea ceremony is held, where participants savor thick matcha made from that year’s freshly ground powder. This tradition is often considered the “New Year’s Day” for tea masters, celebrating the joy of sharing matcha crafted from the first harvest.

Feel the comforting warmth of freshly whisked matcha in an authentic matcha bowl like this Bamboo and Peeking Panda Matcha Bowl from Tanaka Toubou.

Have you ever heard of amazake? This creamy, sweet Japanese drink has a rich history dating back over 1,300 years. In recent years, its mellow flavor and health benefits have been rediscovered, making amazake increasingly popular.

Although served cold and hot, Amazake is traditionally a hot beverage that is prepared with either sake lee, a by-product of sake production, or Koji rice, an ingredient that starts up the fermentation process in Japanese food products such as sake, soy sauce and miso. The latter type is the non-alcoholic style of Amazake and can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

With its high nutritional value, Amazake has been dubbed as "drinkable IV fluid." It can help boost your skin condition, improve digestion, and help you fight fatigue.

Though it can be enjoyed both hot and cold, amazake is traditionally served warm. It’s made using either sake lees—a by-product of sake production—or koji rice, which is also used to kickstart the fermentation process in Japanese staples like sake, soy sauce, and miso. The version prepared with koji rice is especially popular for its natural sweetness and alcohol-free content.

Thanks to its high nutritional value, amazake is often dubbed a “drinkable IV fluid.” It’s known to boost skin health and aid digestion.

This rich and creamy drink has a gentle sweetness, and its thick texture lets the warmth slowly spread through your body. Served in a Hasami ware cup adorned with two rabbits, the pearly white color of amazake feels even more comforting.

If you are a big fan of anko, red bean paste, you will love warming up with a bowl of oshiruko.

Oshiruko is a traditional Japanese treat made by warming sweet azuki bean soup and adding grilled mochi. It’s typically served in small lacquerware bowls with lids to keep it warm.

With roots in the Edo period (1603–1868 CE), oshiruko boasts over 300 years of history. Its original form, called susuri-dango, was a savory soup made from powdered azuki beans and sticky rice cakes, lightly dusted with sugar—a rare luxury at the time. Surprisingly, this dish was enjoyed as a side dish with sake rather than as a dessert. Although the shift from savory to sweet remains unclear, today oshiruko is often paired with salty dried kombu seaweed to balance its rich sweetness.

Unwind with a delicious hot Japanese drink and let it warm you from the inside out. Discover new ways to enjoy beautiful Japanese drinkware and lacquerware. Stay snug and sip your way through winter with the comforting warmth of traditional Japanese beverages.

Unwind with a delicious hot Japanese drink and warm up your cold body from the inside. And discover some new ways to enjoy Japanese drinkware and lacquerware.
Stay warm and toasty, and get through the cold winter with traditional Japanese hot beverages.