Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Genmaicha’

When one takes a look at the little brown rice puffs peeking out from the tightly rolled spinach-y sencha, one would conclude that this is tea with an interesting backstory. Two histories are attributed to this tea; the first one being highly practical–housewives using a common household commodity to stretch expensive tea.

The second legend is much more colorful: the servant of a samurai tucked some grains of toasted rice in his sleeve to sneak a snack in between his duties. As he served his master’s tea, a few grains fell into the steeping cup. This attracted the ire of said samurai, who whipped out his blade and beheaded the poor peckish peasant. To his regret, the master discovered the brew he believed to be tainted was pretty doggone tasty.

Believe either, or neither, but if you’re a lover of out-of-the-ordinary green teas, this is one to taste. Steeped, it’s a luscious golden green and has a scent akin to a whiff with your nose stuck deep in a box of Rice Krispies. And instead of muting the flavor of the quality organically-grown sencha, the rice gives this bright and brassy brew a nice sweetness. Perhaps our remorseful samurai repented by writing a haiku in praise of this serendipitous discovery:

Snap, crackle, pop; rice
Enhances this tea’s flavor.
I’ll have one more cup.

You can purchase the Genmaicha Organic directly from the TeaFrog website.

Bamboo Shoots from TeaFrog…one thing that NO ONE can take away from this blend is that it is unique.  The first thing I could smell with the dry leaves was a sugary type smell. Once infusing began I could smell the Genmaicha and after the infusion was complete there was a funky smell – almost sour…on the verge of sour milk.  This scent somewhat threw me off – I’m not going to lie. Taste-wise I could taste the Genmaicha first then the peppercorns, then the fruit and then the peppercorns again.  I give TeaFrog an “E” for Effort on this one. It’s not my fave but it’s not bad either. The sour-type smell is freaks out… thank the tea gods it doesn’t taste that way!  I guess moral of the story is… don’t judge a tea by it’s smell.  I found that I didn’t like this one cold but this tea hot isn’t bad.  The spices – Ginger and Cardamom – aren’t really in the forefront but the pepper is noticeable but tends to jump on and off my taste buds so it’s not overly distracting.  I think the Pineapple and Papaya SAVE this tea for me.  As for the Coconut – I couldn’t even really tell it was there, taste-wise.  Like I said… this is a VERY unique blend!

You can purchase the Bamboo Shoots directly from the TeaFrog website.

This is another tea that I’ve been enjoying for ages and appreciating more with each cup, but keep forgetting to review.  It’s poor man’s tea, rumored to have been created out of necessity during a time of tea rations… it makes me feel rich. Genmaicha, roughly translated, means brown rice tea in Japanese, and this one is absolutely the best I’ve ever had.

The dry tea looks a little odd (and gets some odd looks when people see me making it) but I’m happy to explain what it is and to refer people to TeaFrog to get their own.  The Sencha is delicate, like tiny needles, and a smooth dark green color when it’s dry.  The dry rice looks like puffed brown rice – not sure how else to describe it.  Can’t really smell the rice when it’s dry but the Sencha smells grassy and fresh.

Steeped it for four minutes in boiling water and it brews up really clean but with a bit of dust from the rice. Smells like roasted popcorn with a bizarre twist of fresh cut grass.  Tastes like smooth and buttery popcorn but still light and refreshing like you’d expect from a Sencha.  This is one of my favorite daytime teas, especially when I’m running late in the morning (most days).  It’s strangely filling yet light, hard to describe exactly (guess that’s why I’ve struggled to review it).

This Genmaicha should be a staple in everyone’s cupboard, wouldn’t (and haven’t) hesitated to recommend it.

You can purchase the Genmaicha Organic directly from the TeaFrog website.

I am obsessed with genmaicha and try to drink it every day. Needless to say, I was excited to try this and I wasn’t disappointed.

The dry leaf contains various shades of green with a healthy dose of toasted brown rice. The aroma was nutty, but very light.

The first time I had this tea, I steeped it for 3 minutes which produced a rich, nutty aroma while brewing. The liquor was a pale gold that I find to be typical of many greens. The tea tasted of toasted popcorn, not burnt or stale, which I have found in other genmaichas. The second infusion lasted for 5 minutes and had more of a buttery quality, but less popcorn presence.

I wanted to try this tea again with different infusion times in order to hopefully produce the perfect cup of genmaicha. The tea was brewed for 2 minutes which resulted in a lighter, but still nutty and popcorn-like infusion. While the first infusion was lighter at 2 minutes, it allowed the 3 minute second infusion to have a fuller mouthfeel and more balanced taste. I was able to get a decent third infusion, but the tea mainly tasted of sencha without the presence of the toasted rice.

Overall, this tea is a nice example of what genmaicha should be. It wasn’t burnt or stale tasting and had a nice buttery quality which I love. I wish the toasted rice came through stronger in the taste, but honestly, I love bold flavors and I wish almost every tea had a stronger taste. I would definitely recommend this tea for someone who wanted to try genmaicha or prefers light, nuanced flavors.

You can purchase the Genmaicha Organic directly from the TeaFrog website.

I love genmaicha so when I saw this blend from TeaFrog I knew that I had to try it. I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of flavor but I was imagining some type of genmaicha/chai/tropical hybrid.

In the scent of the dry tea, the fruity sweetness is the most noticeable. The typical toasted genmaicha scent is hard to identify, but there is a lot going on in this tea. As it is brewing, the genmaicha scent begins to become more noticeable.

I’ve tried this tea for several different steeping lengths and I love it at 3 minutes. The finished tea has the typical yellow/green aroma that is typical of green teas and has a strong toasted scent with a slightly sweet undertone. This tea is amazing. Slightly sweet, toasted, buttery. This is the Kettle Corn of teas.

Bamboo Shoots is extremely smooth, tasty, and doesn’t need any additions. I think this one is a very original play on the traditional genmaicha and is something all genmaicha lovers should try at least once.

You can purchase the Bamboo Shoots directly from the TeaFrog website.