This tea is so beautifully green! The aroma is peppery and mostly exhibits roasted nutty tones above all.
The dominant flavors are of algae and seaweed, with obvious toasty notes from the toasted rice. At first this tea tastes very briney, oceany, even fishy almost, but as I drink more of it and become more familiar with the taste, this effect diminishes and it is mostly just vegetal. The aftertaste is a little astringent, but not very noticeable.
This tea is a little on the uninteresting side for me. I brewed it in a 10 oz porcelain mug with a built-in porcelain infuser basket. I almost always brew gongfu method with a gaiwan but thought this would be more appropriate for this tea because of the matcha and because the packet just recommends to use 10 oz of water.
All that considered, I feel the taste is rather forward and not very deep or complex. I feel sort of unmoved.
Flavors: Fish Broth, Grass, Ocean Breeze, Seaweed
I wonder if I would like it since I love seaweed heavy teas, but usually I like my genmai-matcha on the sweeter side. Who knows?