Ottogi

Yum. This tea is totally comfort. It reminds me of tosted coconut. I put 4 tea bags in small pan and brought water to near boil. Dunked bags about a minute until water was golden. Put in sweetener and POW! YUM.

I saw this tea at H-Mart today and I couldn’t resist, in fact I bought a bunch of strange sounding grain teas, but I was insanely excited about this one. I love burnt rice, burnt anything really. Not SUPER burnt, but a little burnt (roasty) flavor goes a long way with me. So once I saw the name of this tea I couldn’t not buy it.

I didn’t even know what to expect, an extra roasty genmaicha? I got home and threw a bag in a mug and poured my water in. I smelled toast coming from my cup. After a few minutes (I had no idea what the parameters are as it’s in Korean), I pulled the bag out and had a sip. I knew I loved it immediately but I couldn’t place the flavors. After a few sips I realized what it tastes like.

Slightly burnt cheese toast. I know that sounds really strange for a tea, but holy snikeys, that’s what it tastes like and it’s sooooo good. I can totally imagine using this in a broth too. I love finding good savory teas that can try and fill my snack cravings. This one is probably the best find yet. I can’t wait to try the rest. But only after I make another cup of this.

Haha, this is delicious! (Also it’s a sipdown, 822). Thanks to Sil and whoever sent this to her for letting me try it! It reminds me a lot of the Black Buckwheat tea that Sil brought back from China, all toasty and delicious (I see that it’s also buckwheat… so this shouldn’t be surprising!). I’m not getting burnt cheese toast from it, as some others were, just toasty roasty sweet deliciousness. I’d totally drink this again. In fact, if I found it in a local asian grocery, I’d totally buy it. So tasty. I’m hoping it lasts for the 3+ infusions that the other tea did.

ETA: Well… I infused it twice more, and both were tasty, but if I had to pick, I think I’d go with the black buckwheat tea. It just seems to retain a bit more flavour (dry tea:water ratio is a possible factor too). However, I’d happily take either if I found them!

sipdown! heh thanks tastybrew for sharing this one with me. My other bag went to kittenna to try :) I actually didn’t mind this one so much. Maybe i’m crazy but it was just kind of a light baked kinda tea.

I was considering leaving this one to mope somewhere in the darkest corners of my pantry, but after reading the reviews, curiosity (not enthusiasm, mind you) got the best of me.

When I saw this in my swap box from TastyBrew I though “what sort of tea abomination is this? ‘crust of overcooked rice’? that’s gotta be a joke” Then I considered the amusing ways that Asian English sometimes comes across on packaging and decided that it must be some sort of genmaicha-like tea. Well, I’m really not a fan of genmaicha. I mean, I can drink it without gagging and all, but I’d rather not have to.

I agree with Shmiracles and TastyBrew about the burnt cheese toast flavor. Unfortunately, for me, this is not a good thing. But for anyone looking for the flavor of genmaicha without the caffeine and with a touch of burnt cheese, this is the tea for you!

I think my issue is that I don’t much like crusty cheese bread and I don’t much like pizza either (yes, I am that unusual). And while I’m on the subject, I don’t like bacon either.

Now that my curosity has been satisfied, I’m going to brew me up a different tea and save the extra packet of this for someone else.

UPDATE 5/23: I took the extra bag of this to my father a few days ago because he seems to like a lot of the teas that I don’t like and vice versa. He just brewed it up today and when I saw him this evening he was quick to let me know that it was the worst tea he’s had yet. This is coming from the be-tough and build-character type of father who used to eat the most god-awful stuff all in the name of being healthy and pretend to like it all the while. He must be getting soft these days. haha. He said this tea tasted like boiled cheetos. Usually he happily drinks any cup of tea and speaks a preference for or against, but never flat-out says that it was nasty.

burnt cheese toast tea!
score. that is TOTALLY the scent. you nailed it TastyBrew haha (and thanks for the sample!)

brews bright golden yellow. and has a kinda oily texture to it also. which is probably why it lends itself to the baked cheese description so well. but don’t misunderstand, this is slight, and it’s not unappealing.
unique!! and nice as an herbal alternative. i’d drink this over rooibos anyday!