Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Shades Of Green’

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 was really excited to try this tea because it was my first of this type and my first tea from this company. I’ve never come across a Japanese green that I didn’t enjoy, so I was really hoping to love this also.

The leaves of this tea are quite thin and long with various shades of green from jade to emerald. The smell from the package was much like fresh cut grass, very clean and fresh.

The first time I brewed this tea, I let it steep for around 2 minutes with not-quite-boiling water. At first, it was pretty decent. It was nicely sweet with a taste of the honeydew melon promised on the package. There was a definite grassy aftertaste which wasn’t off-putting, but slightly grassier than other green teas I’ve had. Uh oh. As the tea began to cool, the sweet taste of honeydew disappeared and was replaced by a very strong, unpleasant grass stew.

Okay, I was a bit disappointed after this first tasting so I researched Gyokuro and realized that it is a quite sensitive tea when it comes to temperature. I tried the tea again, but this time I poured the water over the leaves when it just started to steam. Well before even the smallest bubbles formed. I also reduced the steeping time to slightly over one minute. Success!! I was surprised with a nicely sweet brew of a beautiful bright yellow hue. The honeydew melon had taken the lead and the slight grassiness served to balance out the flavors nicely. The flavor stays on the sweet side if you drink this while hot. I wouldn’t suggest letting this cool too much, unless of course you want to drink a cup of warm cut grass. This tea was quite good through two infusions when paying attention to the temperature of the water.

I cold-brewed the last of my sample and it really mellowed out the grassy aftertaste. The honeydew melon flavor was juicy and lovely. Truly delicious. If I ever come across this type of tea again, I will be cold-brewing it for sure.

I can see the allure of this tea as it was the most unique green tea I have had so far. However, since it is so temperamental, I can’t see myself drinking this on a regular basis. Overall, if you enjoy Japanese greens, you have to try this at least once. Just make sure to pay attention to the water temperature! (Or just cold-brew it!)

You can purchase the Japan Gyokuro directly from the TeaGschwendner website.