Banana Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha

Another awesome tea sent from VariaTEA!

I haven’t had a genmaicha in a long time now, years actually. I’m so excited for this one because banana!

The scent definitely has banana, so that bodes well. The initial sip has banana too, very much like a banana chip, which is what appeared to be in the dry tea. There’s a very subtle creamy aspect and a hint of sweetness that I can see being the marshmallow aspect here.

I did a re-steep of this and it’s just a delicious, which is such an upside to genmaicha. Even if some of the added flavours are lost, the genmaicha itself is so tasty! I’m going to do a third re-steep in the morning as well.

First steep 2 minutes
Second steep 3 minutes, 30 seconds

Overall, really enjoying this one. Thanks VariaTEA!

This is a 52teas genmaicha, so of course it’s good! There were very few banana pieces in my whole bag, but I made sure to include some in my mug. Unfortunately, I taste nothing except regular genmaicha. What might work is to remove the genmaicha after the proper steep time, but then keep the banana pieces in for 20+ minutes. I like to give my herbal banana teas an extra long steep. Well anyway it’s a pleasant, toasty tea, but not banana at all.

Yummy Genmaicha. It’s very similar to the other Marshmallow treat Genmaichas from 52Teas but now I think this is my favorite because of the bananas. :D Just like I love their pancake breakfast but my favorite is the one with bananas. ^^

12 days of Christmas, day 2! I freaking love banana teas, and found this to be exceptional. The banana is prominent, and really well balanced with the the marshmallowy goodness. The toasty genmaicha balances the former 2 flavors really well. Was so sad when I finished this cup. I very much wish I could purchase more of this!

Another tea of advanced age that I haven’t reviewed!

This one was a very delightful surprise today – being a genmaicha of unknown age (a few years, at least?), I didn’t have high hopes. However, the dry tea smelled quite good. Not really any banana, but definitely of vanilla and toastiness. And brewed up, it’s even better! In fact, it tastes remarkably like my memory of Frank’s original Marshmallow Treat genmaicha (not his later reblends, which were not nearly as good), where the marshmallow flavour is sweet and prominent, rounded out by the toastiness of the popped rice. The banana flavour is pretty light – this is likely age-related. But even so, this is absolutely delicious, and just what I needed on a night where my cravings for sweets are going crazy. I’m pretty sad that I only have a cup’s worth of this left!

I’m pretty sure this is from last year’s Christmas sampler, so this is likely getting old. It’s almost gone, so I’m working on using it up. I don’t remember what this was like back when I first tried it. Currently, the sip starts out with some candy banana flavors with just a hint of grass, kind of like someone dropped the candy on the ground, then picked it back up and gave it to me (not in a bad way lol). The more it cools, the more I lose the distinct flavors and end up with a general savoriness.

Summer is here and I’m switching back to cold steeping in the fridge for iced tea! Last night I put the rest of this in my pitcher and woke up to an awesome cup waiting for me. It was good plain, but I love a little soy creamer in it to amp up the creamy notes. The banana is there, but not overpowering. The rice adds a distinctive rice crispy flavor and with creamer the marshmallow is more full. I drank the whole cup and went back to my pitcher for seconds. This pitcher isn’t going to last the whole day or even half if I keep up this pace.

When I opened the pouch, the leaf smelled just like banana gelato. Steeped, this one is a winner in my books. Banana and genmaicha is a bit of an odd match, but executed beautifully and I’ll get over it.

I have never had genmaicha before. Not very adventurous here, which is why a sampler like the 12 Days of Christmas is good for me. It gives me a chance to try something I normally wouldn’t in a small quantity.

My sense of smell is slowly growing, so I got a nice whiff of banana when I opened the pouch, along with a sweet scent which must be the marshmallow. My sense of smell died shortly thereafter so I can’t tell you what the brewed tea smells like. I prepared it exactly as instructed to. After two minutes I hesitated because the tea was so pale. But since I was new to genmaicha I followed the brewing instructions to the letter. Surprisingly, it darkened as it cooled.

The flavor is tricky for me since I lost the smell before I could drink it. I think I can kinda get the banana at the start of the sip. The sip ends for me with a slightly bitter after taste. I don’t know if that is just me or not. So I’m not rating this tea yet. I’m going to try another cup later this week and see if it works better for me then.

Genmaicha is not for me. To my taste buds, the combination of green tea and toasted rice is inherently savory. As such, any attempt to add sweet ingredients is going to be a stretch.

But, as I said before, I’ve resigned myself to at least trying to get through a cup of each day’s tea. The good news is that the tea tastes a lot better than it smells. The bad news is, despite the previous statement, it still isn’t something I enjoy. I got through about half a cuppa before I gave up the ghost.

I love the idea of a tea that tastes like banana-flavored marshmallow treats. I’ve had sweet black tea blends with toasted rice in them (ex. Bluebird Tea’s Easter Egg Nests) that I’ve really liked. I love a good banana tea. I love marshmallow notes in tea.

All the components are there. There’s decent, true banana flavor. There’s a light marshmallow note that compliments the banana very nicely. You just lose me at the genmaicha. Again, the grassiness of the green tea combined with the warm, earthy flavor of the toasted rice just leans a bit too strongly on the savory side of things for my taste. So, trying to mesh savory genmaicha with sweet marshmallow and banana just doesn’t work (for me).