Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha

So, life has been weird and I’ve been away from Steepster for what feels like ages. I miss my Steepster tea-eeps and I don’t care how odd that sounds. I actually think about you guys when I go about my day, and I hate that I haven’t connected with some of you in so long.

In fact, life has been so consuming that I completely lost track of time and I forgot about my 52teas 12 Day of Christmas sampler! I’m way behind in my sampling but I’m very, very, very glad that I opened today’s tea. I was unable to try Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha when it first came out. The original blend had marshmallows in it instead of marshmallow root, so it wasn’t vegan and therefore off the table for me to try. WELL, now it is vegan and I can’t overstate how excited I was to finally try this blend. I love this tea! It’s sweet, creamy, and utterly delicious. I hope that Frank offers this blend for individual sale because I’ll buy it by the case.

Nom nom nom… If this is only half up to pair with the original blend then that must’ve been a pretty fine dessert tea.

The bag has a bit of a funky aroma but, in my opinion, it is largely overshadowed by the delicious syrupy sweet smell of gooey marshmallow (root). The liquid and bottom of the cup smell sweet too, but the flavour doesn’t quite reach that point of sugary ecstasy promised by the scent. The finish and aftertaste try to fulfill the sweetness but it’s only an impression. The first half of this cup tasted mostly of plain genmaicha before I hit marshmallow (drinking it too fast maybe).

I’m going to add some real marshmallows to the strainer next time and see how that goes. I assume it will be a mess and likely result in a massive sugar overload. Fun, fun, fun.

When I saw that this was being reblended, I practically jumped out of my chair with joy. It’s on my (long) list of 52tea desires: the ones I’d love to try, but were made so long ago or were so popular that I have no hope of ever getting a sample. And here, right in front of me, the opportunity to buy an entire pouch?! Thinking back on it, I should have gotten 2, but money’s been tight this month so I went with just one.

Opening the pouch for this is a transcendent experience. It’s marshmallow treats all right, with SUCH a strong marshmallow smell but some nice toastiness too. I’ve had this hot and cold brewed since I got mine, and both ways are beyond divine. The marshmallow flavor is thick and delicious and creamy-sweet, but it’s balanced so well by the genmaicha base. I think marshmallow can easily be an overwhelming flavor, bordering on sickly-sweet, but 52teas balances it so well with things like nutty genmaicha, lemon, and mint. So you get just enough marshmallow without feeling nauseous.

The genmaicha base is what really makes this tea perfect. It mimics the crunchy, crusty flavor and texture of a marshmallow bar so perfectly. Just like in the Cherry Cheesecake Genmaicha, when it was the perfect “crust.” I think most people wouldn’t imagine it as the perfect base for a dessert tea, but I wish there were more genmaicha blends! And more marshmallow blends as well, since this is… heaven. I can’t get enough of it! One of my favorites from them for sure. If you have this, give it a try cold brewed: you won’t regret it.

Thanks so much to The Purrfect Cup for sending me some of this. I’ve always wanted to try it!

I made a big old mug of this to keep me company on such an oooky afternoon. I tend to like genmaicha anyway and this is a nice, nutty flavor. I’m definitely getting the marshmallow as well as some butteriness here. This is really quite yummy. Due to the sweetness I would primarily drink this as a dessert tea. Why won’t Frank add this as the permanent collection? It’s good!

Edit – O HAY tasting note #50!! :)

Edit again – I shouldn’t have reviewed this before drinking a real genmaicha. This is way better, way sweeter. It’s what all genmaichas should taste like. Not quite a rice Krispies square and I’d definitely like more of a marshmallow flavour, but for a not super sweet and slightly marshmallowy version of genmaicha, this is great. I’m enough of a woman to admit when I’m wrong (except to my husband of course), so disregard below. I will bump the rating up from 70 because this has to be compared to a regular genmaicha, not some other sweeter dessert tea. I’m still tempted to throw a giant marshmallow in my cup to take it all the way, but I won’t. Now I want to own this tea, crap.

previous, uninformed review follows
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Big thanks to Sil again for a sample of this precious blend!

I have tried genmaicha only once before, and I’ve gotta say that this one didn’t taste a whole lot different than the regular one from what I remember of it!

First steep I really didn’t taste any marshmallow at all. From what I read in others’ reviews, there were two blends of this tea, one had actual marshmallows in it, the one I have does not. The way I feel is if you’re going to call something "Marshmallow __________ ", it better damn well taste like marshmallows! So I was disappointed. I don’t see the point of a flavored tea that really has no obvious flavor. I don’t need to be smacked in the face with it, but if you told me this was regular genmaicha, I’d believe you, that’s how little marshmallow taste there was.

Second steep actually tasted a bit more marshmallowy, which I guess was news to me considering I recently mentioned how I’ve never noticed a difference in taste between subsequent steeps of anything. So color me surprised.

In case you were wondering, my words taste good!

If you’ve read any of my reviews you know I prefer flavored teas to straight ones. I wouldn’t consider genmaicha to be a straight tea anyway, obviously, but this blend just tasted like slightly sweet nutty, crunchy toasty rice. It had a lot of the puffed rice in it, so that would explain it. I would have liked to try the blend with the actual marshmallow bits in it.

Will compare this to the plain genmaicha I have and be back to report my findings. For now I’ve gotta take points off for no major marshmallow taste. I might change that later!

(85 degrees C for about 3-4 min)

Oh wow this is amazing.
The first time I tried it, my sample from Charoma didn’t travel well at all. Thank you so much for the sample Charoma, I really appreciate you sending me some!
But then I tried some more the other day from Sil’s stash, and oh my what a difference! yes, oh yes it was quite good. Very mild without any sugar, but just a sprinkle really makes a big difference.
I love how the marshmallow is more of a natural extension of the toasted rice than it is just added flavouring.
The vanilla like notes I see in other descriptions worried me at first but I don’t seem to have any issues with it, thankfully. (my allergies seem to have abated somewhat now that I know to stay away from the EG. Yay!)
Yup, this is definitely on my shopping list. Big thanks to Sil for letting me sneak a cup from your stash!

Wow. I am finally in the same residence as may 12 Teas of Christmas (and my family, yay!) so I am giving this a shot. I’ve got to say, I’m impressed. I don’t like green tea as a general rule, and the idea of marshmallow green tea never appealed. However, this is quite tasty. While my conditions are far from perfect (microwaved water, eek) it yields a tasty sweet cp of tea. I’m not getting much green (which I don’t mind) but there really is a marshmallow and rice krispy taste going on here. I am pleasantly surprised! I’ll give it another steep later on and see how that goes, for now I am saving the other half of my sample for my beau, when he arrives on Friday.

Thanks CrowKettle!

Alright, maybe I just don’t have a good memory but I think this is my favourite of the 52 Teas genmaicha’s. It’s waaaaaay better than the s’mores genmaicha! Nutty! Sweet! I can almost imagine gooey marshmallows sticking in my mouth.

This would be the one I’d re-order if given the opportunity.

The dry tea smells sweet and… fruity?? Thinking that’s a cross-contamination issue, I don’t think this one should be fruity….

The aroma from the steeped cup is almost… metallic. You know, I think I got this scent from the Cherry Cheesecake Genmaicha too. I associate it with oversteeped green tea, I think? Yikes, hopefully I didn’t screw this one up. The marshmallow in the dry tea smelled soooo good. There is definitely a sweetness in the aroma too.

Ok, better than I was expecting. I can definitely taste the marshmallow, and it does taste like marshmallow to me. I’m not tasting any oversteeping, but I’m also not really getting the genmaicha flavour I was expecting. Granted, my only experience is with my ancient one and in restaurants, but I’m missing the delicious toastiness. I suppose, though, that there was considerably less rice in the dry tea for this one as opposed to the genmaicha I have in my cupboard. I imagine it would be tastier with more rice. Definitely not tasting fruitiness either, so either that was a misinterpretation by my nose, or another unrelated flavour.

You know, this one’s kind of growing on me. I can’t put my finger on what it reminds me of, and that’s annoying, but I am enjoying it. So glad it’s not oversteeped.

Thank you Amanda for expanding my 52teas horizons again!!

OH! I think I just figured out what it reminds me of. Toasted Walnut by DavidsTea! Except sweeter. Yes, I think the metallic scent reminded me of a badly oversteeped cup of Toasted Walnut, except that it didn’t translate to the flavour. This must be a sencha/green tea thing. Ah. I feel triumphant. Good job, brain :D

ETA: Second infusion smells immensely creamy/marshmallowy. YUM. Flavour similar. No more metallic aroma, there’s some more green tea coming out. This is quite good. I would probably purchase this tea if it was still available :D Love it. I can see why others like it.

ETA: Third infusion (3+ minutes/82C) is still sweet and marshmallowy. The teaball no longer had any lovely aromas after this infusion, so this is as far as I went, but that’s pretty impressive for a flavoured tea, IMO. I’m not kidding Frank, bring this one back!!! I want it!

Another treat from Sil’s Super Box of Awesomeness!
I haven’t had a marshmallow treat in many many years, but amazingly the taste lingers in my mind, & this was a pretty good representation of it, as I recall. Thanks Sil!

Swoooooooon. I’ve been dreaming about trying this ever since I knew of its existence. I had an über good feeling about it and I was right.

I’ve gone from having no genmaicha in the house to over a pound. Restocked on the Uji genmaicha and now this. PLUS I had a bento box for the first time in months and had some genmaicha at the restaurant. So genmaicha galore!

Anyway, the dry leaf smells a lot like tapioca pudding to me. Creamy vanilla tapioca all the way.

As soon as you start steeping it, the toasted rice comes out and it smells a lot closer to regular genmaicha, but actually, it’s starting to smell more like puffed wheat squares than rice krispie squares, which I prefer anyway!

The taste is fantabulous. Like a vanilla marshmallow that has melted into my favourite staple tea. I was a little worried that it might be too sweet but I don’t think so.

Another sip. Yeah, I’m actually getting some of that homemade tapioca pudding.

Thank you so much for reblending this, Frank! I would love to buy some more in the future. If this and Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish may not get reblended in the next while, I just may need to put in an order for a pound of both.

Since I was snapping up all the Graveyard Mist I could afford, and Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha was on offer at the same time, I bought two orders of that as well. I love teas with marshmallow root and was interested in trying the genmaicha with the toasted rice.

When I drank this tea, I recognized the flavor right away. First of all because of the toasty rice flavor, and secondly because I sweetened it, it tasted exactly like Super Golden Crisp cereal to me. I am not a huge fan of Super Golden Crisp cereal, but I kind of like this tea. I might trade away the unopened bag because it feels wrong to hang onto two bags of something that I only kind of like, though, especially since the supply was so limited.

I finally got my 12 Days of X-mas parcel today (not Frank’s fault, Canada Post is always slow this time of year – I should have ordered sooner) so I’ve got a fair bit of catching up to do.

This is wonderful tea to start it on, however. I actually have an unopened pouch of this one that I purchase earlier, but that didn’t make me any less excited about trying this tea when I saw what it was. I was dubious at first about how much marshmallow flavour the tea would actually have – sure it’s got marshmallow root bits, but to anyone who’s ever had plain marshmallow root tea (good for coughs) there’s not really much resemblance between it and the sweet, fluffy, corn syrup-based confections we’re used to in this modern day and age.

All my doubts fled though, when I opened the pouch, I swear if I ddn’t know any better I was smelling freshly-made rice krispie squares. And it carried over nicely to the flavour as well. I’m surprised that there’s no sugar added to this tea because it’s plenty sweet without me adding anything to it (not that I’d sweetened a green tea, but you get the idea). What a wonderful treat.

Thank you Amanda for a try at another 52Teas! I just read the description and saw this is even more rare than the usual 52 blends, since they didn’t make as much as the weekly blends. But then I saw there was already 45 tasting notes! It can’t be that rare… Anyway, marshmallow treats! Another great idea from 52Teas and it should pair well with genmaicha’s roasty toastiness. This genmaicha didn’t have as much roasty or toasty flavor as other genmaichas I’ve tried. But with the addition of a sweet marshmallow flavor, it’s great! It seems like it gets kind of bitter though… I probably steeped it too long or too hot. I have a couple more cups that Amanda sent, so hopefully I get it right next time!

I’m so happy I finally got some of this tea! I’ve been eyeing it since foreeever! I was lucky to purchase a bag of this before it was sold out. It went pretty fast!

anywho, the tea is great! I love the dessert-y sugary scent and slight toasty rice scent is soooo mmmmmm. I’m wishing the toasted rice flavor is more prominent, but it’s yummy otherwise. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy. It’s savory and sweet and so freakin good. I should have ordered 2 pouches…but then I’d feel bad about depriving everyone else of this tea.

Steep two had only a hint of candy sweetness but it was still awesome.

This smells awfully sugary sweet. It definitely smells like warm marshmallow. Or fondant. Yeah, fondant. I can’t say as I’m too fond of either to be honest. I prefer marshmallows at room temperature and just as they are. And only whipped cream in my hot chocolate, thanks.

So yeah, I’m a bit concerned. All those fruit blends, where did they go?

The flavour is marshmallow spot on all right. There is lots of it too and I can also tell by the nuttiness underneath that we’re dealing with a genmaicha base. But it’s sooooooo sweet. And sticky. And sweet.

And rather too much for me, to be honest, which probably points back to aforementioned reservations about warm marshmallows. You know how sometimes you want to make tea sweeter? So you add sugar. What do I add to make it less frightfully sweet?

No, this is just not one for me. It’s too sweet and too much and too… It’s too much. Even my sweet tooth of considerable proportions can’t keep up with this.

The boyfriend thought it was okay, though. I gave him the rest of my cup.

Today has been a good day. My very jealous dog seems to have finally decided that she was going to get along with my new puppy! After a week of continuous supervision dealing with outbursts of nipping and growling, today, finally, they started playing as if nothing had ever happened. They played and played and I smiled and smiled as my boyfriend giggled with me as if we were kids. So happy!

To celebrate this happy turn on events, I had the 6th of the 12 days of Christmas teas! This particular one I had been curious about for a long time. I am not a fan of Genmaicha , so I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t like it just because it would remind me of it. On the other hand, I really love rice crispy treats… So I was thrilled to get to try it!

As soon as I opened the packet I smelled sweet, not quite marshmallow but yummy and promising. I was expecting to see real marshmallows, not marshmallow root. Sad but not terrible.

The brew was a very light golden green that smell like marshmallow treats with a suspicious hint of cupcake. All in all I was still very excited about it. I sweetened it with generous amounts of brown sugar.

All of my high expectations were sadly not exceeded by the flavor. I sipped and sipped and all I got was sweet genmaicha with a hint of marshmallow. It still smelled amazing, enough so that anyone who walked into the room asked what smelled so great, but the taste just wasn’t as spectacular as the smell.

I really thought that this was going to be one of my favorites, but I guess my disliking genmaicha got in the way. I did enjoy it, but it didn’t live up to what I had prepared myself for. It was enjoyable and a good companion to my happy, warm, fuzzy joy of seeing my two doggy girls get along! : )

Wow, I’m the first to log this one?

OK, this is AWESOME! Sweet and toasty. It tastes remarkably like rice krispy treats… or perhaps, more accurately, it tastes like rice krispy treats that had a special addition of green tea added. The flavoring seems to soften the roasty-toasty-ness of the Genmaicha.

Yummmmmmmmmm!

1.5 tbsp used for 375 ml

I will try to infuse this for a shorter amount of time but I am getting the same bleachy/maybe mildly coconutty dilute flavour which seems to take over the profile. Strong butter note in the background peeks through. I can imagine that this is the correct flavour profile that needs to come to the forefront. That taste blooms into a very accurate rice cereal marshmallow treat flavour which reminds me of biting into a homemade desserts. Still, this is all happening in the background and is muddled by the other flavours- I have to really focus on the taste to pick it out.

I will try to infuse this tea for a shorter length of time in the future.

I think my expectations for this were too high. I got this from Alphakitty who got the new reblend. I’ve heard people comment that this one is made a little different. Maybe the original is more marshmallow-y. This one is a slightly sweeter and toastier genmai cha. Still good. Wish it were more marshmallow-y.

Thanks for the taste Alphakitty!