Golden Mulberry Genmaicha

One of my oldest 52Teas blends, from 2017 and still sealed. This weekend is a bit cooler before the heat will crank back up again (you really have to strong arm summers to quit here, which is a shame, since autumn weather is my favorite!) and somehow a warm, fruity genmaicha just felt right this afternoon.

I have never had a mulberry (that I can recall) but considering what a fiend I am for berries in general, I’m sure I’d love them, and their aroma in the package was very sweet and pleasant. I dumped all the contents out into my tea weighing dish just to make sure I got a good teaspoon mix of leaf and fruit before steeping. The mulberry aroma isn’t nearly as present in the steeped cup as it was in the dry leaf, but I do smell it, competing against the strong, toasty aroma of the genmai. Mmm. I haven’t had a genmaicha in a long time, and it’s one of my favorite comfort teas…

Oh! The berries have just a bit of tang/sharpness to them, which I really love. There is also a more subtle berry sweetness and a touch of creaminess that I assume is from the marshmallow root. The base is warm and grassy with a lot of genmai toastiness; I’d say that the toasted rice fills out in the mouth and then a sharp berry tang flavor settles over the tongue afterwards and continues to linger after the sip.

It’s really tasty! I’m debating if I finish my sipdown over the weekend on these satisfying warm cups, or use the rest of the leaf to do a cold brew to drink once the temperature turns again, since I really like fruity greens iced as well. Decisions, decisions…

I was excited to see this tea in the tea box because it’s one I had wanted to try but hadn’t ordered. The main flavor is the classic 52teas genmaicha. I’m not sure I love the way the berry flavor meshes with it. It feels like a bit of an odd combination, though the berry is quite tasty as well. As it cools, I do start to find it more enjoyable, but the berry flavor also seems to fade to the background. In summary, this tea isn’t bad, but it isn’t super cohesive either, and 52teas has much better genmaicha flavors.

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.