Dobashien No. 10: Genmaicha - Kinu

Hooray, Yunomi finished reorganizing/revamping their subscription program and sent me my first month (I paid for 3 months not knowing it had been suspended so I’m getting them now!). The concept is actually quite cool, it’s a comparison of the same tea with and without matcha. They sent two versions (with and without matcha) of three different teas, for a total of six samples. Tonight I felt like a genmaicha, so I figured I’d break into the samples. The sencha in this tea has very thin and dark leaves, but unfortunately it’s very broken up, which makes me worry about getting a bitter brew. There is also the usual toasted rice and a few pieces of popped rice. Dry scent is rich and buttery.

Thankfully, I can smell the toasted rice more in the steeped aroma. It’s a lovely lime green color. There’s a bit of sediment at the bottom of my cup, so I’ll try to drink this as quickly as possible to avoid any bitterness. I can taste the roasted flavor best in the beginning of the sip, after which the sencha takes over until the end. The sencha here is quite smooth, but has a concentrated vegetal flavor that reminds me of steamed spinach. There’s also a nice touch of sweetness reminiscent of snap peas. I can also taste a nice, brothy umami presence that makes this so satisfying to drink. In the aftertaste, the rice flavor comes back out to play and mingles well with the other notes. Overall, it’s quite nice and I can definitely tell that this was made with a premium sencha.