Rumchata Genmaicha

Sipdown! Farewell my friend. I truly enjoyed our time together.

Backlog:

I was very sad to hear that 52Teas got in trouble for the name of this tea. sigh Especially since I suggested the flavor to him. I enjoyed the Rumchata honeybush a lot, so I thought that these flavors would work amazingly well with the genmaicha base, since horchata is a rice drink.

And I absolutely loved it. In my opinion, a brilliant tea. (Even if I do say so myself. Ha!) Sweet, creamy, nutty, warm with gentle spices, and I like the touch of almond along with the creamy rice notes. So yummy. Even better than the alcoholic beverage because I’m not one to actually drink much alcohol. Tea is my drink of choice.

I still think that Frank should offer this blend and instead rename it something like Politically Correct Drunken Latin Rice Drink.

Additional notes: I seem to be sipping this one more often than all other teas. So good! I’m also sipping down 52Teas – Ultimate Citrus spice today.

I’m short on money right now, but Zoomdweebies.com really needs some customers at the moment (see forum post), so I thought I’d mention it in a tasting note. ALSO, I see 74 mystery grabbags in stock right now! I REALLY want to try the Yunnan Eggnog … some other tasty sounding blends too!

From my impulse grab bag purchase! I’ve only ever had some sad, been-sitting-for-hours-on-end horchata before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect, let alone in a genmaicha. First of all, the brewed smell is… not great. My sibs were making gagging noises as I brought the cup (with no small amount of trepidation) to my lips. The first sip let me know that I had stepped it for too long, as it had some bitter notes. But to my surprise, it quickly mellowed to a softer, much sweeter taste. The mix of cinnamon and rice was compelling, and made for an almost creamy, aptly spiced flavor. It reminded me a great deal of what an eggnog tea should taste like, as I have been disappointed by branded “eggnog” teas in the past. I think the overt rum flavor played into this comparison a great deal as well. All the same, this is a tea you have to be in the mood for, much like eggnog itself.

I have to admit I’ve never had rumchata, but I love horchata and rum flavor. This tea is a delicious tribute to the two. The combination with the toasted rice flavor of the gemaicha is perfect. This time I had it plain, but next time I might add some soy milk/soy creamer.

well, once upon a time (only 2 months ago) 52teas still had this in their database. oh well. i even went back to their site to try and find the picture to upload, but no such luck. phooey.
just had a cup & i really enjoyed it. like a nice sweet cinnamon twist on a toasty rice genmaicha. the tea liquor is a nice yellow-ish green. i find i’m able to steep loose leaf genmaichas at least twice.

has plenty of brown rice & popped sorghum seed to give the green tea a warm, comforting feel reminiscent of something like wheat. i love green teas this way though i certainly have a number of green teas that i enjoy straight.

this tea followed 2 cups of my favorite ‘dessert’ teas of Nutcracker Sweet & Paris replete with the usual brown sugar & soymilk. this was perfect as is & somehow conveyed a sweetness without having any sugar! sometimes this genmaicha is wonderful, other times ordinary and a bit on the artificial side of things. at least the smell is. steeped, all this seems to dissipate & you actually have quite a nice bunch of flavors.

as for the smell of the dry leaf, it smells quite like the plain, powdery-sugar pink gum by Juicy Fruit (was never a fan). truly, one might expect to drink bubblegum if the smell is anything to go by! Luckily it isn’t, so don’t let the nose fool you.

Anyway, just thought i’d write about this since i just had it and it did exist once upon a time. i plan to resteep this right now!

PS- the rumchata honeybush was a disaster. i can’t think of any humane way to get rid of it. giving it away would be a cruel joke. the problem was clearly the honeybush. it tasted like medicinal woodchips. one would have a better fate steeping mulch!!