Cherry Cheesecake Genmaicha

Our neighbor came over today with a package of mine that was misplaced in her mailbox. It was teas from Alphakitty, so thank goodness for nice neighbors! I’ve had a headache all day that won’t go away. I just got home from running errands and decided to have another cup of tea before dinner and this one jumped out at me. I’m picky about cherry flavored things, I like maraschino cherries, but I really dislike cherry flavored candy or popsicles. This tea was really light at first, and I didn’t really get many of the flavors. I added a little more tea from my pot that had steeped longer and suddenly there was the toastiness! I can taste a little of the cheesecake flavor in there with the green tea and there is a nice, light maraschino cherry aftertaste that’s not too sweet. Thanks Alphakitty for your wonderful package of teas that came just at the right time! :)

-Dry blend has large flat green tea leaves and toasted rice.
-Dry leaves smell like vegetal green tea. Tea liquor aroma is of green tea with a hint of cherry.
-Tea liquor is a clear bright yellow color.
-Toasty green tea and cheesecake flavor and finish. Faint maraschino cherry aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Good tea. Toasty flavor with a not-too-sweet finish.

This is one of the last few samples I received from Momo months ago that I have yet to write tasting notes for. Thanks, Momo! I waited for the water to cool a while. I’m going to start doing flavor checks on all my 52s after about 35 seconds, since I learned that lesson with Boo-berry cotton candy! If it still doesn’t have flavor, I’ll try it at 45 seconds, etc. The flavor in this one was mild after 35 seconds, so I went up to a minute, when I could taste more of the genmaicha but even less of the flavor. I wouldn’t call this cherry OR cheesecake, but there is a lovely sweet flavor that makes this cup addicting. There is only a tiny hint of cherry or the sweetness that would indicate cheesecake. The second cup I steeped for another minute, and there was still only that hint of sweet.

again. the tea smells great. but the flavor just ends up tasting like genmaicha to me.
i don’t get any of the more delicate flavors.
i think my tastebuds just aren’t sensitive enough. i’m just not that kind of tea drinker is all.
Thanks to KallieBoo! for the masterful variety of samples! i’ve had a blast!

NOW, let me ask does anyone happen to have these two teas so I can try them?!?! i really really want to try them!!
i emailed the company to see if they have any leftovers. i would swap or trade or pay or whatevs if anyone has a tin rattling around the back of their cupboard.
(my cupboard isn’t up to date but i’ll update it if this is a thing that might happen.)
so. yea. ok.

Douglas Fir Tip Tea
http://steepster.com/teas/juniper-ridge/14722-douglas-fir-tip-tea

White Sage and Wild Mint Tea
http://steepster.com/teas/juniper-ridge/17115-white-sage-and-wild-mint-tea

We got our 52teas order today! I really have to give them points for adding allure to tea buying. Getting your tea is pretty exciting too. I have high expectations for their teas and so far they’ve met them every time. On to the tea.

Love this tea. I’m not a big fan of cherry flavoring since it’s typically very artificial tasting. In this tea it is perfect! I think the gen mai cha adds to the cheesecake flavor. It almost sounds like I’m getting separate flavors here. That isn’t accurate. I feel like I have accidentally dropped some cherry cheesecake into my gen mai cha. Best oops ever. At the tag end of my sip I taste the green tea, but then my cherry cheesecake comes back to play. Lovely tea again 52teas!

Sipdown! Though, I drank this before it actually made it into my cupboard, so there’s no number attached to it…

Thanks VariaTEA for the sample. I was really curious about it and with the recent reblend not knowing whether I’d want a full pouch or not was killing me – so getting to taste a small amount was most welcome.

Overall, I would say this is a good Genmaicha and it did have a sort of creamy sweetness to it that made it different from a regular Genmaicha, enough so that had I been trying this blindly I would have known it was flavoured with something – I just doubt I could have placed what. There definitely wasn’t cherry, or really any fruit, flavour though. So that was disappointing.

All in all, a good and enjoyable cup but not something I’d want more of based on that cup alone. I guess I kinda got Cheesecake from it though?

I WAY, WAY oversteeped this tea. However, after adding a tiny bit of sugar and a small splash of cream I have the most delicious, rich cup of Cherry Cheesecake goodness sitting beside me! No bitter tastes to be found, just a tea that seriously feels like it should be a million, zillion calories (but its not!)

I need to start making some headway again on my 52teas samples and this was the first one I pulled out. I’m always leary of cherry flavored teas because so many of them wind up tasting like cough syrup. The cherry in this blend is so subtle it is easy to overlook, as is the cheesecake flavor. I expected the flavors to be much stronger, but I find that I like the fact the genmaicha is the main flavor I’m tasting. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if the flavors were stronger.

I’ve made several cups of this today and find that I prefer it just slightly sweetened, which is unusual for me.

BACKLOGGING:
I received this in a swap, sorry I don’t remember from who. The dry notes smell sweet & tangy almost like cheesecake & I definetly get the cherry scent. As it steeps it smells like puffed wheat, I guess that’s from the rice. Once it has steeped it smells only of green tea.
So far I’m not getting any cheesecake flavours, hopefully as it cools & I’m actually able to drink it, the flavours come through. I’m not getting any cheesecake flavours still. This is a nicely flavoured green tea, but not a cheesecake one. I feel that I can taste a toasty rice flavour near the end of the sip, followed by a green tea taste.
As it comes to room temperature I get a bit of that tang that hits the back of your tongue, like cheesecake does. I am now getting more of the toasted rice flavour.
This is a nice green tea, but probably not one I would purchase, but I will definetly enjoy the rest.

Backlog! I had this last night while watching Wilfred. The flavors are very light. The genmaicha overpowers the cherry cheesecake but I kind of like it that way.

I like genmaicha but I’m not sure about this tea. The first time I tried steeping it it was all cheesecake flavor and I didn’t like it at all but I don’t think I used water that was hot enough.

Tonight I steeped it in a gaiwan and I like it better this way, the cherry flavor is coming up and mixing well with the nuttiness of the rice but now I am not getting any cheesecake. Weird. I feel like if I can find the perfect method to brew this it might be ultimately more enjoyable for me but for now it’s just kind of elusive.