Browncoat Genmaicha

How to begin describing this? It reminds me of a Nestlé Crunch but not half as sweet. The smell and taste are also reminiscent of my mom’s chocolate covered rice crispy squares, which use a very pungent, somewhat sour and cheap Hershey-like chocolate. Yes, chocolate covered baked rice crispy squares, and maybe some hot cocoa, is what this reminds me of.

It has all the roasted, nutty, and buttery notes of genmaicha (one of my favourite teas). If anything, the American chocolate enhances that “bitter nut” quality to me more than it creates a true chocolate sensation. Perhaps Nutella? I don’t know. I feel the chocolate and roasted rice meet mid-sip then linger together.

This is different but it works! It’s quite the comforting beverage.. until it reminds me that a certain show will never have a season two. Then it’s not quite so comforting. Bitter nut.

Ok being a huge Firefly fan I HAD to order this tea! Shiny! Besides the idea of adding chocolate to Genmaicha really got my curiosity going.

This is an interesting one…dry leaf smells like toast and chocolate. While the steeped tea smells more like traditional Genmaicha with a slight hint of chocolate. The taste? A weird blend of chocolate and toasted rice. Not my favorite two things together, but it isn’t my least favorite either. Different is the best way to put it and I do like it. Way to go Frank!

This tea is so weird, totally not in a bad way. It is roasty, chocolatey, and a bit creamy…it actually really reminds me of chocolate ice cream and I’m not sure how. I think it’s just that it’s such an odd combination, and yet it’s working for me. It’s chocolate genmaicha.

Backlog:

This was really quite yummy. I loved the way the bittersweet chocolate notes complemented the roasty-toasty notes of the genmaicha. Definitely a winner!

Here is my full-length review of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/01/26/browncoat-genmaicha-from-52teas/

(backlog)
Eeeek, I really don’t know what I’ll do with my packet of this. The chocolate is not exactly my idea of authentic. Quite fake. I don’t think I’d even want it as a base in my food. Some sips are ok as a plain genmaicha, but then others? yikes. It reminds me of the sugar free chocolate my grandfather used to eat, since he was a diabetic. The one candy I would dread getting offered but always accepted out of guilt!
This is my third try and still, no go.

1.25 tablespoons for 375 ml of water

The brewed tea has a note of chocolate in the aroma. Genmaicha scent is at the forefront.

On the sip I’m detecting an out-of-place fruity note. Chocolate flavour is very mild and only present near the end of the sip into the aftertaste. Genmaicha flavour is quite mild. Hint of roasted taste near the end of the sip. There is an odd chlorine-like flavour near the middle of the sip which I think is the result of the mild cocoa and genmaicha mix.

I found that there was a good amount of chocolate-y flavour near the end of the cup with the tea sediment bits that sink to the bottom of the cup.

Hrm. This smells really weird. And my package is all strangely bubbly – anyone else’s like that? Anyways, the dry tea smelled a bit strange, but the brewed tea is actually making me gag a bit. Smells kind of like chlorine?? Hopefully the flavour is ok…

Ehhhhh, this is… unpleasant, to say the least. It tastes chloriney (not from the water), and I can taste the genmaicha but it’s really overwhelming… Plugging my nose, taking a sip, and then breathing out during the sip makes it a bit more bearable, but it’s also kind of bitter.

Perhaps I’ll let this one air out a bit and try it again… I think this cup is going to have to be chucked, because I’m feeling a little nauseated now :S

ETA: Still gagging at the smell now. I had hoped it would dissipate overnight, but no such luck. I’ll be hard-pressed to try this one again…

So I’ve had genmaicha before, but it was only the grocery store variety and it was super nutty. Almost TOO nutty. I had to be in the right mood before I could enjoy it.

This was a nice treat though – thank you again to crowkettle for the sample! Oh man – Steepster is GREAT for swaps. Everyone is so generous. I think I’m over 100 teas now because of all the swaps I’ve been doing. (At least they don’t take up too much room because most of them are samples… :P)

Anyways this is much milder than I expected genmaicha to be. It’s nicely chocolately, nutty and green. I really love this combination. I ended up resteeping it, and I may just try it again in the morning to see if there’s any more life in it.

If Frank ever reblends this, I’ll be sure to pick some up!
(Another note – I love how Steepster allows us to get on a first name basis with the people we buy tea from!)

It’s still cooling off before I actually take a sip, but so far it is smelling like your general genmaicha tea. The liquor is a pale yellowy green. I could see the cocoa in the dry mix, but I could not smell it. I’m gonna see what it is like without any sugar first, since I can sometimes drink genmaicha plain, though I will likely add a spoon (or partial spoon) as I usually find adding sugar brings out certain flavours not detectable alone. Gonna go back to my backlogs while it continues to cool off more…I’ll come back in a bit when I’ve tried it. but I love genmaicha, so there’s little reason for me to not like this unless I fudged on the steeping side of things.

I think I fudged up the steeping…this tastes like regular genmaicha to me. I’m getting no chocolate. I love genmaicha, so I am not worried, but I was hoping for that Nestle Crunch flavour. Maybe next time. I’m beginning to wonder if my buds are off. I might have to try a tried and true fave and see what happens.

thanks so much, Starfevre, for sharing this one with me! I love these fandom blends. It really should be time for me to revisit Firefly… maybe in the summer when there isn’t as many decent new shows on TV. (Also, I think now with the success of The Avengers, isn’t it time that Mr. Joss Whedon has his own TV channel to air everything he creates or likes? With no fear of cancelation? I think so!)

I really loved the idea of a chocolate genmaicha! There is a ton of toasted rice here that pairs perfectly with chocolate. I didn’t see too many cocoa nibs, but maybe they are hiding with the rice. Since this is a 52Teas blend, I went with a short steep time at 45 seconds, but decided it needed more flavor so I kept the infuser in for a minute and 40 seconds. This is good! It tastes like a great roasty genmaicha with a tiny bit of bittersweet chocolate milk added to it, though it does leave the mouth a bit dry. As it cools, it tastes like chocolate ice cream. I can see Captain Mal sipping “the people’s tea” while protecting them. I think it would have been a nice touch to add a bit of strawberry, since they are so precious in the ’verse.

This is my first time trying genmaicha, and I do not think it was a bad introduction. This is also my first time trying anything from 52 Teas, I plan to try more of 52 Teas in the future.

In the first steeping the chocolate was very faint, barely there (Maybe my sample got exposed to too much light/air?) but it was still a really good cup of tea. So much like drinking slightly sweet popcorn.

Strangely the second steeping had a more chocolatey taste. Maybe I should have just steeped it longer the first time?

Makes me wish I had gotten around to watching Firefly so I know what this Browncoat is about.

I have been meaning to get a flavoured genmaicha for my stash for a while now. This one tastes like normal genmaicha but better, it has a hint of chocolately-ness that I really like. I drank a bunch of it yesterday at work.

Hmm.

This is a very toasty genmaicha, with the promise of chocolate. That promise is not kept, which makes me sad.

Thanks to CrowKettle for this sample too (Wow, I have a lot of samples from you!). I need to revisit this I think.

So, I was not planning on buying any more tea until after I return from my trip to Japan (I leave in 10 days!!!!). But then I saw this tea. Firefly + Genmaicha + Chocolate = me caving in and purchasing.

I really love genmaicha but have never tasted one with chocolate in it. The taste of this kind of reminds me of those Krakel chocolates that come in the Hershey’s miniatures packs. The chocolate really enhances the toasty flavor of the genmaicha. The after taste is kind of vegetal, and the toasty, chocolatey taste fades a bit. Overall, the chocolate in this tea is not overwhelming. Instead, it enhances the flavor of the genmaicha.

Well, I’ve never tried a genmaicha before and I’m not a huge fan of green tea in general, but this is pretty good for a green tea and the toasted rice is really good! I don’t like the green tea part as much, but it just gets a slight grimace instead of a full on yuck face like most of them, so that generally means good things. I do love the toasted rice part though. I can’t taste the chocolate at all.

I am a fan of Genmaicha and this iteration with chocolate notes is amazing. The subtle chocolate is not a milky flavor; instead it has a roasted cacao nib flavor that pairs well with the toasted rice. Of course, the Firefly reference gives it a unique space cowboy coolness.

I’m not giving this a score as yet because I think my score will be artificially deflated. I have never tried Genmaicha before. I’m not sure if it’s my thing. It reminds me of that horrible malt-o-meal ricey cereal that my mother made us eat growing up because it was healthier than fun cereals like fuit loops.

I want to give this tea another try at a later date, maybe add a wee bit of sugar. I think if you like genmaicha you’ll love this, as you have some good flavors going on and it tastes like quality tea. I just don’t know if toasted rice in tea is for me.

While Genmaicha on its own is great- adding cacaco nibs to the mix takes this tea over the top. I am not typically fond of chocolate teas but in this case its a rare exception. The Genmaicha base combines with the subtle chocolate flavor to make a unique and tasty cup.

Firefly! This was my first order from 52 teas :)

I tried it soon after I got it and didn’t like it, there was a sharp sort of chemically smell and I didn’t like the taste at all but after reading some, I decided to let the bag sit a bit and try again later.

So on this second try, the weird smell has gone away and the taste is a nice roasted, toasted rice and hint of chocolate. It tastes like what I imagined it to be from the description so I’m very pleased.