Thank you to Ze_Teamaker for sharing this ‘windfall’ tea with me!
My flavor imagination was quivering with anticipation when Ze_Teamaker let me know this tea was on the way through the Postal System.
I’m a big fan of Laoshan Black…cocoa and bread, malt and light black pepper (sometimes). Genmaicha isn’t a tea I sit down and drink. I cook with genmaicha.
For whatever reason, a savory tea makes me hungry and I begin thinking up recipes…invariably ending up in the kitchen cooking (and eating).
When the tea arrived, I took it to share with Joe at the tea shop.
We drank a little over half the sample, enjoying the tea without talking much.
What I loved was the classic sweet Laoshan Black up front, no genmaicha flavor at all, and then at the back of my mouth…rice.
Smooth genmaicha rice with a very long finish pushed by the bread flavor of the Laoshan Black.
This was like drinking two tea’s, one sweeter and one savory. (A nice surprise)
I couldn’t help dreaming (as I do) about what I would create with the Genmaicha in my kitchen.
When I arrived at my home, I began to experiment.
I infused some rice wine vinegar with the Genmaicha, hoping to create an interesting flavor. The idea was good, but the vinegar needed to be lighter and I needed more tea to infuse more flavor.
(The sweet, cocoa malty Laoshan Black and Minnisota Rice would make a great infusion!)
Here’s hoping Verdant will release this blend! I’d like more!
