A Genmaicha cousin with added matcha powder for that electric green look and extra vegetal punch. Whether good or great is hard to say. But costly, is surely is.
COST
A pretty good tea, at $7/oz this is an expensive tea for daily consumption. I’ve found this tea is enjoyed by many people, both tea lovers and coffee hogs. Its smooth, bright, and as always too expensive.
TASTE
A vibrant green grass flavor emerges through a subtle background of rice and slight seaweed. The mixture of rice, leaf, and powder means that the refined subtle flavors of each component become lost. So for those of you who like to hunt your taste buds for comparisons to other foods and lands — the terroir terrorists — you’ll need to look elsewhere.
PSYCHE
After drinking a cup my psyche becomes concentrated leading to a narrow focus. Very similar to the psyche offered by a good Sencha or pure Matcha. More so that a standard Genmaicha. This is both good and bad, ala tunnel vision phenomena. Cold sweets and jitters coming from black-darjeelings are usually not present.
BREWING
Although the Samovar people say you should try using boiling water, which I did (once), I’d avoid the straight from the kettle method. I find letting water cool to around 85º C is best. The marketing material suggests a large range of water temperatures, which I agree with. Genmaicha’s are known for being robust under harsh brewing conditions, the rice acts as a buffer. So this tea is perfect for the bumbling brewer in your house, who can’t be bothered to cool their water.
ETC
The matcha powder to rice/leaf ratio changes depending on which area of the bag you spoon your tea from. The powder has a tendency to fall to the bottom since it is fine. This means sometimes there is far to much powder or not enough. Not sure if there’s a fix. The rice does act as a powder carrier, and is itself a vibrant green.
