Banana Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha

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).

Sipdown (1287)!

Finished this one at work… yesterday?

I had less tea left in the pouch than I had realized, so this was actually an underleafed mug. To compensate I steeped it extra long, and that resulted in more of a toasted rice note that made up much of the sip, with just a bit of sweet banana in the undertone. I wish there was more banana, but to be fair the sample has aged a fair bit and my steeping method definitely wasn’t the most ideal way bring out the banana – I just didn’t want the cup to taste thin/weak, and this was better than that.

thanks for the revisit of this one through the 12 days of Christmas VariaTEA. Great afternoon ish tea for warming up after playing with the dog outside.

Threw the weed powder in this tonight since last time it did a great job of calming my brain while not really getting me high. I was able to focus and watch a lecture for class. I am actually super impressed b/c this tastes completely normal. The weed taste is fully covered and this is just deliciously banana and genmaicha awesomeness.

Backlog. Pretty sure I got this tea from the sampler I won. As this is everything I never wanted in a tea. I was willing to give it a shot, hoping it was at least palatable.
Dry smell reminds me of banana laffy taffys and a sugar bomb. 180F, 2min, westren style.
Tastes of banana, toasted rice, odd taste. Marshmellow comes through in texture and aftertaste.
This tea does not work for me at all. Banana does not belong in tea or beer. I’m not going to rate it. It tastes as it’s named, I just don’t like it.

Mondays are supposed to be the day that we release our new flavor of the week but I’m not in the office for most of the day on Monday because that’s my day to watch my grandson and since I’m somewhat together today (quite a feat for Sunday), I decided to go ahead and release the tea a day early rather than a day or two late, especially since this is one that I feel like people will be very excited about.

I’ve never actually had a banana marshmallow treat before but the idea sounds yummy, right? And if it tastes anything like what’s in my teacup right now – it would definitely be yummy because this is so good. The banana is sweet – candy-like? Maybe. I don’t think I’m the right judge of that. One comparison I’ve often seen with the banana flavoring in teas is that it tastes like banana runts. I am not a fan of banana runts but I am a fan of banana flavored teas – so I never really got that comparison.

This tea is deliciously banana with a nice marshmallow note. The genmaicha comes through and the matcha adds a little creaminess to enhance the marshmallow notes. The genmaicha has a nice toasty quality to it.