Up until now the only straight green teas I’ve had have been the sort of ‘generic’ type of bagged teas (Lipton’s straight green tea comes to mind; I currently have a box of it sitting on my dishwasher for when I have guests or family over). This is my first real loose leaf, unflavoured green tea. I bought it today at McQuarries on a whim. Somehow I’m going to find a way to enjoy green tea! However, I’ll be honest – I have very low expectations that I’ll actually like this tea.
Regardless, this is another tea that I had to look up (on their website) recommended steep times/portions and what not for since it’s not listed on the little baggy that it came in. For a cup, 1 tsp. steeped for 1 minute. Again, this is my first time making Genmaicha teas, so I’m doing this exactly like how they recommend to. And, it’s worth noting that since I’ve never tried another Genmaicha I’ll have nothing to compare it to directly.
The dry leaf smells like seaweed. I don’t smell anything I can qualify as rice. I should note that I hate seaweed. I hate sushi, and seafood in general. Bleck. This cup smells really gross…
Although, the smell of it steeping was enough to wake Tre up. I think that’s good?
Liquor is a pale to medium yellow colour. Now that it’s steeped, the seaweed smell isn’t as strong. Looking at it, it reminds me of melted butter. On that note I’m going to take my first few sips. Actually, it’s not as bad as I expected. I do taste seaweed, and I can taste green tea. But, there’s also a sort of sweetness to it that I wasn’t expecting. I can also see the “roasty” sort of taste comparison that’s been mentioned on other Genmaicha tea reviews. As I get closer to finishing off the cup I’m tasting more of a nuttyness, and less seaweed.
I think I’d be willing to play around with other Genmaicha teas if I could get my hands on smaller amounts; there’s no way I’d buy another 50g of this. And, I will play around with what I do have to see if I can find a way to better enjoy it. Perhaps it’s because my expectations were so low, but I’m pleasantly surprised right now! If I could find another version of Genmaicha with a less pronounced seaweed taste then I’d probably like this a lot more.
As my first straight, loose leaf green tea I’ll consider this a success.
I hear you on not liking seafood, seaweed, etc. And I, too, sort of struggled with my first genmaicha. I ultimately decided that I may try it again, but it certainly won’t make it into my regular rotation.