Genmaicha

One of if not the best genmaicha teas on the Planet. It tasted like roasted sesame seeds.

The first time i tasted it was during three days of a Japan Festival last year; I bought it because I didn’t know if I loved it or not, and now Genmaicha is one of my favourite flavours ever! It gives me energy and concentration every time I taste it.

I should start out by saying that the Rishi Tea Genmaicha I have is very old and probably stale. Sometime in 2004, a friend gave this to me as a gift after overhearing me rave about how much I like genmaicha. It was a wonderful, delicious gift, and I managed to use up about half of it before I had to move. Eight moves and later, I finally unpacked it and have been drinking it again.

Even when stale, this tea is amazing. It’s the only genmaicha I’ve seen where some of the rice has been popped. (You can see what look like miniature pieces of popcorn in the blend.) The scent out of the bag is grassy and nutty. The first few seconds of brewing it bring out an intensely nutty scent (yes, like sesame or peanut). After that, the toasted rice and green tea even out, and you’re left with an intensely flavorful and balanced cup of genmaicha.

I’m especially happy with this tea because it is so forgiving of brewing mistakes or bad brewing practice. If I accidentally over-steep this tea, which sometimes happens, it develops the taste similar to green tea blended with mugicha (roasted barley tea). It’s also pretty forgiving of steeping with water that’s too hot.

Steeped it a little longer and a little hotter this evening without the addition of matcha. Smooth, balanced, and toasty, but the surprise is the dry finish. The fullness of the matcha masked this aspect this morning. I’m sure the longer and hotter steep has something to do with it too.

This is a very good everyday drinking tea. Make this for people who aren’t fond of the grassy notes of green tea because the roasted rice gives the tea a very nutty flavor instead. I do agree with the previous comment about Rishi having good tea, but there are better versions of this. I think http://www.teatrekker.com has a better tasting genmaicha.

Gongfu!

Today, I’m sipping on some Genmaicha while keeping cozy indoors. It’s Thanksgiving (in Canada) today, but also really grey and drizzly outdoors so something toasty and warm seemed appropriate as an interlude to some of the more decadent, spiced and otherwise Autumnal feeling teas I’ve been drinking the rest of this long weekend. I’m brewing with water just off a rolling boil and very, very flash steeps for more of the nutty and roasted brown rice notes and less of the green tea, my personal preference when it comes to a standard Genmaicha such as this one. Hope everyone else celebrating today is staying warm and drinking good tea!

(A quick note that this is a backlogged tasting note – so a belated Thanksgiving post.)

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBHR3UhSDTI/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl18B1E09h0

Hefty sample from Rishi helping get me through food poisoning. The rice, when brewed, provides that smell that I can’t quite place. Acrylic paint? Did I see ashmanra mention a houjicha smelling like paint? Sobacha can have it, too. Chemical-ish.

Still a good genmaicha. Maybe it needs aired out. Could be a touch more savory as the amount of rice leads this to being a little too sweet. I’ll give it some more attention soon.

This is my first genmaicha, so I don’t have a frame of reference, but I love drinking this. It has a nice creamy texture and the aroma between the rice and green tea reminds me a bit of furikake. A second steep with half as much water yields a tasty second cup.

Extremely disappointed. I expected to enjoy this but the sample I received had an overvearing burnt popcorn scent and flavor. I wanted to enjoy this but ended up throwing out the cup after 5 sips. I couldn’t stomach it. I have no experience with gemmaichas so I might not understand the flavor but this is God awful in my opinion. I usually enjoy most green teas. Very disappointed.

Terrific, flavorful and well balanced. The tea has the grassy flavor common in sencha, and the roasted brown rice is nice and toasty. Neither dominates the other.