Golden Mulberry Genmaicha

TTB #15

I love discovering new favorite teas in traveling tea boxes, but I also love the opportunity to sample blends that I never would have found or purchased on my own. Even if I don’t love everything I try, it’s super fun to experience new flavor combinations! On that note…I grew up eating fresh mulberries every summer off the mulberry tree in my best friend’s backyard, but I’m not sure I’ve ever tried a mulberry tea. I was also intrigued by the fact that this one was a genmaicha…not a combination I ever would have thought of. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get much mulberry flavor from this blend, but it was a nice sweet, nutty genmaicha!

I got to try this blend out of the kindness of a traveling tea box! I love 52Teas flavored genmaicha blends, and this one sounded so unique. This is a tasty brew, with warm, bready rice and sweet and toasty green tea. The mullberries add a distinct sweet-earthiness, a bit like golden raisins that went well with the green tea. Not my favorite genmiacha of all time, but who wouldn’t want to try a blend with mullberries?

I wasn’t able to detect any mulberry in this, unfortunately, but the marshmallow root sweetens up the base a little. I’m not really complaining since I looooooove genmaicha and this one is all roasty and toasty, not bitter. Good stuff.

With that said, while I’d rate this much higher since it’s a fantastic genmaicha in and of itself, I was expecting more mulberry in this. I think the issue is that my taster size didn’t have any mulberries in it, so that’s likely the problem here.

I’m brewing up the last of it to take to work with me in my insulated bottle and there aren’t any mulberries in sight, but can smell a gentle waft of marshmallow root still.

Oh my, this is quite delicious. I needed a tea I don’t add milk to (as in, not a black tea, my favourite type) since the cafeteria that sells milk doesn’t open for another 1.3 hours or so. Voila, 52teas Golden Mulberry Genmaicha to the rescue! And oh, it is a rescue.

The first impression is that it is definitely a nice genmaicha. The roasty toasty rice flavour is definitely present and pleasant and then there is a subtle sweetness that hits at the back of my throat first and then spreads forward, I think it must be the mulberry? I don’t actually know what a mulberry tastes like, so I assume so.

I wonder if I can get a resteep out of this since I’m already more than half way through my mug in the minute I’ve spent writing this note. Let’s find out!

finished the last of this one today. A really nice cup to send it off. I won’t miss having this one in my cupboard but i did enjoy the visit with it if that makes sense. There are other 52 teas genmaichas i prefer but this one was a pleasant surprise.

So, original plan was to have this tea hot – but literally just after I had measured the tea out into the cup the power went out and I was unable to heat up the water to make it…

So instead I made some weird as fuck “sun tea” using the leaf I had already measured out so as to not waste it. It wasn’t gross – but it wasn’t good either. Just very roasty, and that’s not a flavour profile that I think works for room temperature tea. The little bit of sweetness was from the mulberry, I’m sure, and I appreciated that – but it wasn’t enough to stop the whole cup from just feeling… weird.

I have absolutely no idea how mulberry should taste. And there are so many in this blend! They look a little like tiny yellow raspberries. Somehow I’ve never ran into a mulberry tea in all my tea drinking years. However, I’m always willing to sip a marshmallow root tea and this has plenty of that too. It seems there is more of the marshmallow and mulberry than there is of the genmaicha. But the result, whatever it is, is a nicely balanced sweet cup. Mostly I’m tasting marshmallow root (awesome) with a bit of toastiness from the genmaicha. Not sure if I can taste mulberries because I’m not sure what I’m looking for! Marshmallow naturally ups a rating for me. I can never get tired of any marshmallow root blends from 52Teas. (Peachy Keen. Peachy Keen. Peachy Keen.)
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug// 25 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

Sipdown (288)

I went through my tea drawers the other day which called to my attention some older teas with just a serving or so left. This is one of those easy sipdowns that I figured was worth just finishing off. I have enjoyed this tea well enough but never loved it. It never stood out to me so I think it is time to say goodbye.

It’s been four months since I’ve practised yoga and, omg, it felt like taking the nicest hot bath in the universe. That’s probably a weird thing to say, but if you understood how stiff and dormant my muscles had become you’d understand. I need this in my life as a regular thing. Never going without it again.

Anyways, I thought I’d celebrate the occasion by drinking a new tea and writing a note, which is something else I was starting to neglect. I’m up to 92 teas, so the need to drink them up and send out some parcels is apparent.

Mulberry is an interesting combination with Genmaicha. It’s not my favourite 52teas genmaicha blend, and the flavouring is in a super subtle way. The mulberries add a hint of golden sweetness and emphasize the nutty rice notes in a low-key but rich fashion. I just wish there was a bit more to it (maybe coconut, idk- I miss DT’s Gold Rush).

This is last week’s Tea of the Week. Last night, I brewed up a pitcher of this tea to enjoy as an iced tea today.

This makes a yummy iced tea. I find that as a cold beverage, the toasted rice AND marshmallow notes emerge a bit more than I picked up on with the hot drink. The mulberry is there too – I get a tangy tart note and a lovely berry flavor along with that roasty-toasty flavor and the marshmallow.

I’m not sure if I prefer this as an iced tea or as a hot tea – it’s two different drinks depending upon how you decide to serve it.