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“So after trying the last genmaicha, I realized that I dot notice much difference from genmaicha to genmaicha. Since I have two more genmaichas in my to try pile, I decided to try them next in order...” Read full tasting note
“Just a typical Sunday in my neck of the woods, I slept in, the weather is getting to be unpleasantly hot again, and everybody (but my working sweetheart) is home. It has been a mostly lazy day for...” Read full tasting note
Toasted, summery, but green through and through, it’s no surprise that Genmaicha is a current word-of-mouth favorite among Japanese professionals. But it wasn’t always …As the tale goes, the plain, hearty “Bancha” leaves that form this tea’s base have long been a regular countryside tradition. Its use was widespread among rural Japanese families who saw tea as a way to celebrate the contemplative nature of change. Thus Bancha represented summer and the thoughts that came with the warm, wet season.
Bancha was plentiful and beloved, though never considered cosmopolitan or refine. Until the arrival, as the story goes, of a Kyoto merchant who thought to prove the versatile, hearty value of this tea by blending it into a new form with the help of a sacred grain. By toasting rice and adding it to the mix, a sense of the tea’s gravity was established. If it could be paired with
life-giving rice: wasn’t it worth a closer examination?
And so Genmaicha was born, a meeting of the two great sustaining sources of the Japanese table; representing the balance of luxury and survival in a toasted, vegetal, gardener’s tea. Suitable for most occasions and adaptable to further blending, this tea is a true country-side-to-high-society transformation story. One who’s appeal has no doubt not seen the end of its expansion.
Base leaf: Green tea
Health properties: Antioxidant qualities known.
Flavor strength: Moderate, toasted, vegetal. Primary collection is grass, summer. Fine notes of countryside citrus, unique “popped rice” toasted finish.
Caffeine: Medium.
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So after trying the last genmaicha, I realized that I dot notice much difference from genmaicha to genmaicha. Since I have two more genmaichas in my to try pile, I decided to try them next in order to pick up on the differences.
I noticed that this tea is more toasty than roasty. Less like a roasted peanut, more like like a rice crispy treat. This is also got a sweet mellow vegetal taste. Instead of one note standing out from the other, the two seem to blend so seamlessly I can hardly pick the two apart.
And overall this is one of the more mellow genmaichas I’ve tried. This is a great choice if you want the coziness of a genmaicha, but in a more gentle form.
Just a typical Sunday in my neck of the woods, I slept in, the weather is getting to be unpleasantly hot again, and everybody (but my working sweetheart) is home. It has been a mostly lazy day for me, just catching up on some reading and tea sipping.
Today’s tea is an old classic and much loved staple of my tea collection, Genmaicha! This specific rice filled bancha is from Good Life Tea, a company just recently brought to my attention. It is always nice to discover new places to find tea, especially if you are a hardcore addict like me. The aroma is exactly what you expect from a Genmaicha, if you have never had the pleasure of sniffing one, the notes are a blend of roasted rice, a touch of honey sweetness, a bit of freshly mown grass and hay, and just a touch of fresh vegetation. It is a delightful blend of green tea and popped rice, the aroma is one of those that has always been very homey to me.
After I give the tea a steeping (oh great tea gods do not smite me for not using my kyusu, I didn’t want to get out of my chair) in a tea basket, the aroma of the now wet leaves is even more toasted rice. In fact I am pretty sure I cannot even smell the green tea over all the delicious toasted rice aroma. The liquid without its leafy and rice friends has an aroma that is a blend of rice, a touch of grass, and a bit of butter. It is very mild and subtly sweet.
The taste of this Genmaicha is a nice blend of green and rice. There are tasty notes of hay, grass, and a touch of honey at the start, this fades to a nice burst of toasted rice and a touch of nuttiness. The finish is creamy and a touch sweet, with a nice lingering toasted rice taste. This is certainly a tasty Genmaicha, it evokes that feeling of being comfy at home while tasting good, I approve.
For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/07/good-life-tea-genmaicha-tea-review.html
Flavors: Grass, Hay, Rice, Toasty
Man, someone is on a Genmaicha role! :P