Genmaicha

Mini sipdown, courtesy of Heather!

I’ve yet to come across a genmaicha I dislike. This cup is a little greener than average but that’s because there’s more leaves in this serving. I burnt it a bit too. A little more roasted and less buttery than my usual genmaicha but still decent! Edit: I take it back, this has a respectful amount of butter rice. There’s also some sweetness.

Genmaicha is one of those teas that I prefer later in the evening or when I wake up earlier than I needed to and can still fall back to sleep (but probably won’t). It has a distinct place in my personal tea hierarchy.

The first David’s blend I’ve loved in a long long time!
Now, I remember having had the DT Genmaicha and back then? It wasn’t nearly as good as this sample. So crisp and sweet… lightly toasted. I’m really digging my cup!
On the second infusion now and it is just as good as the first, only a tad lighter.
Definitely not a cooking tea.
Trouble is, I worry that this sample might not be indicative of the quality sold in store, from a tin. They aren’t very good with consistency between batches and I’ve been burned a few times. (elsewhere as well, but most often at DT)
So is it worth it, investing in a tin? or grabbing ten grams and if it’s the same quality, quickly heading back to the shop hoping that I catch it before a new batch is turned over?
Gah! I have a gift card to use up so this would be a pretty decent way to do that…

I can’t sleep (again!) 

I’ve got Mr. Right on one side, sleeping deeply… The cat all snuggled next to me on the other side… and the dog, well he wants his share of the pie and he’s trying to squeeze in the middle…I do have a large bed, but did I mention the dog is a Doberman?

So me and my iPad are on Steepster…

This tea:  

Don’t know why, but how often I have this Genmaicha does not equal how much I love it…every time I drink it, I tell myself the same thing, and yet, I can be several weeks without it… 

I had it tonight, and it was gooood!  The thing is, for those who aren’t big fans of green tea, you would probably enjoy this one.  It has none of the vegetal grassy feel usualy associated with greens, but it still has that clean refreshing taste, with a toasted rice twist.  

Perfect tea for meals, great with fish of course…

I had 4 very tasty steeps out of 1 1/2 teaspoon.  

Almost 2am, time to fall in Morphée’s arms… 

(Update : The Dobe is now snoring! It is so wrong, dogs should not be capable of that!)

I have now broken two cheap-o electric kettle and realized it’s time to invest. So, this morning I got to boil water in a pot on the stove top. . . like some kind of cave woman! ;)
It actually made it easier to get the temp right which was nice. Used my little DT timer/thermometre. But, for some reason it doesn’t taste as good ad when I got it in store. It’s still quite good, but not what I remembered. I remember a very toasty taste, today I’m getting a rice-y taste. Oh well, every loose leaf cup is different!

Bland on the sip, reminiscent of metallic taste. Light roasted green taste at the end of the sip with something hinting at a floral flavour. After taste is very roasty with green tea taste.

As the tea cools, I’m getting more of a full green tea taste on the sip; very seaweed-like. Very smooth, light and delightful!

On the second infusion the flavour reminds me strongly of popcorn.

This tea does well for at least three infusions.

This tea feels like a good everyday tea for me.

Yay, I got my David’s Tea shipment!

Just awhile ago I wrote about my errors with The Path of Tea genmaicha, which was lovely brewed in my French Press at home with an appropriate amount of tea and a carefully timed steep. When I used my Tea for Life set, the curved blue cup with the metal infuser, I blew it.

So, mindful of that, with David’s Tea I used the Tea for Life set again, but measured only a gently rounded tablespoon and steeped for about 2 1/2 minutes.

The dry tea looks like it’s about half tea (fairly regular, needle-shaped leaves about 3/4 inch long) and half toasted rice, with a fair amount of popped rice kernels. It looks pretty much like the photo. Could not really detect a toasty smell in the dry form.

Steeped, I have the lovely toasty aroma rising from the cup, not with the buttery note I found in The Path of Tea version, but pleasant.

First sip: seem a bit weak. I think it needs a bit more in the filter when made this way. I’ll try increasing the amount of leaf slightly next time and steep it for the same amount of time. I may try a re-steep, adding another teaspoon of fresh dry leaf. And I’ll try it in the French press tonight or tomorrow.

Going to withhold a numerical rating for now, but so far it’s quite nice and I’m looking forward to more tweaking.

Update: I just tried Daniel Scott’s discovery of this technique and I’m getting much stronger toast notes this way even though the tea has cooled down quite a bit:

1. First, exhale completely.
2. Take a sip of tea.
3. Hold the tea in your mouth across your entire tongue and inhale deeply through your nose.
4. Swallow.
****************

Update 2: Re-steeped as planned, with addition of another tsp or so. Pleasant but still not there. Next time will try with more leaf to start with.

Hoorah! Didn’t kill this one. I think I actually got the leaf to water temp to steeping time ratio right for once! Only the barest of astringent aftertaste, but the bulk of it is a nutty, earthy, brothy taste. This used to be one of my all time favourite teas and in light of my love affair with DT, it has been pushed to the back of my cupboard. The last few times I have made this it was bitter despite my attempts to not make it bitter.

I decided on this one because I had a Hemp and Matcha soy latte at Jaga Silk earlier and when I got home and wanted tea, I realized I was out of milk, so that ruled out some (well, most) of the teas I have…so I opted for more of a straight tea of the non-black variety. I have boatloads of this so I figured I ought to have some.

I don’t think it is my favourite genmai cha as I have had some that are very forgiving, and this one is not. It’s not bad…it is kinda hard to screw up this kind of tea, I think, but I think I have had better.

toasty and delicious.
we all know how unique this tea in general is. tastes like comfort food in your cup.

Oh I love Genmaicha. It’s probably my favourite way to drink green tea.

That being said, I haven’t had a really broad sample of varieties. I used to drink a bagged version from the Asian grocery store before I got into loose leaf teas, and this one from David’s has a much fuller flavour than those. The green tea is sweet and the rice is toasty and yum. I’ve also gotten totally lazy with this and completely oversteeped it some days, and it’s not gone bitter on me yet.

I do wonder if there are better versions out there, and I’d be keen to give them a shot once I’m through this tin.

PS – I totally judge the appeal of a Genmaicha by the ratio of popped kernels to unpopped, because I think it’s cuter if there’s more. Is that wrong?

Puffed rice. I kind of like the smell in a bizarre sort of way.

I can’t stop drinking it, yet I’m not really sure what it is I like about drinking it.

Update: Also great resteeped! This one gets the upgrade. But I still couldn’t tell you exactly why. Now back to PLL!

Update #2: 4th resteep, still going strong.

Well 5 steeps, that was my entire tea story for this evening. Impressive. Time to turn in.

I had this to-go with the straight tea promo (though I’d argue against it being a straight tea, really!). I don’t think you can go too far wrong with genmaicha, which is why I chose it. It hit the spot, but didn’t taste quite fresh enough. I think I’m spoiled with the Den’s genmaichas which have a really great contrast between sweet sencha and toasty rice. Still, nice, soothing, and smooth.

Mmmmmmmm. The best way to drink this one is with sushi. At one point I would buy sushi and a straight green tea whenever I went to work to motivate me during the seasonal times with stressful and rude customers. This tea is great! So nice and toasty. You can definately taste the grains in this one. It cheered me up during those stressful times

this was one of only two tins I bought during my 27 tea spree on Saturday. Tins of tea make me feel rich! Which I am not. Becuase I bought 27 teas on Saturday. And then 2 more tins on Sunday…
Anyway. I love this tea. I drink it at work when I’m starting to get hungry and I’m still a ways from lunch time. Tonight i was trying to resist the munchies (so far, still sucessful but it’s only 1am) and i brewed this. Then I got distracted and let it cool to almost room temperature. The kettle was already on for my next cup so I chugged this. Woah, it’s GOOD. I am going to try making iced fruity teas with genmaicha added. I think that’s the reason I love Sleigh Ride as much as I do…

No matter how many tea i taste genmaicha always see me coming back ( in fact i got a cup right now ) can’t say if taht one better than the other i drank since i don’t have all them with me to taste one after another but that one pretty good ( and don’t have to wait 1 week to get if i forgot to buy more before drinking them all yay for having a tea store at less that 20 minute from home )

Genmaicha is probably my most favorite tea right now ( just after genmaicha with matcha ) Not much more to say this tea is yummy and i hope it’s will stay that way

This is my first Genmaicha. I’ve never been much into green tea except some common classics-Moroccan Mint and Jasmine. Credit to Steepsterites for bringing this tea to my attention.

I HAVE had sencha before-a green coconut sencha that I got used to, but didn’t really enjoy that much and TG’s Sencha Claus, which is good, but really disguises the flavor of the Sencha.

Toasted brown rice sounded like a nice compromise between overwhelming the sencha with spices and flavorings or not tasting the botanicals at all (like the green coconut sencha).

So, this tea looks really interesting with the brown rice kernels and the occasional cute little popped kernel. The rice will help make this a lower caffeine option-which I sadly need these days. The liquor is a very light sea green in color. The toasted rice flavor is nice and unusual to me in a tea. It is kinda dominating the sencha, though. It’s good, reminds me of a puffed rice breakfast cereal. It’s got a touch of a tinny note in it though. I am trying to remember if that’s something I noticed in the breakfast cereal as well. I don’t care for that little part of it. Overall, it’s decent. I don’t love it, but I’d like to try some more genmaichas in the future.

This is the greatest tea ever. The roasty flavour of the rice is so very comforting and delicious. I just pop (hehe) a few tablespoons (yes, tablespoons) into the bottom of my mug, pour steaming hot water on top, let the leaves sink to the bottom and drink away. This way, the rice stays on the top and you can have a little snack while you drink your favourite tea! :-)

I’m a little biased… this is probably my most favorite tea in the whole world and I never knew what it was until 2 weeks ago.

Basically, I always wondered why tea at the Japanese restaurants I frequent was so delicious and rice-y (is that a word? It is now.), but my green tea at home was, well.. bitter and green! I wanted the rice! But where, why, how?! D:

Thank you Steepster, because that is how I came across my favorite tea and bought it the very next day. I have it pretty much every morning at work. It’s tastes wonderful and perfect every time – needs no sweetener of course, that might ruin it in my opinion.

Anyways! For anyone who is a fan of the tea at your favorite Japanese restaurant, do yourself a favor and pick up this tea.

I echo the sentiments of so many other Steepsters—the Genmaicha from DavidsTea is perfection!

I use a French Press and will add water to the leaves up to three times—this tea is soothing, sweet, nutty, delicate and absolutely wonderful with sushi, fish, rice dishes and on its own.

Snap, Crackle and Pop! Genmaicha is my very favourite tea to start my day. The little, toasty grains of rice make it like eating my cereal and drinking my tea all at once. The warm, toasty flavours of the rice shine through the delicate green tea, making for the perfect match. Be careful not to steep for too long… I find there is a fine line between the time it takes for it to taste great and the time it takes for it to get a little bit bitter.
My other fave is Matcha Genmaicha – can’t wait to review that too when it finds its way onto Steepster!

Mmmmmm, this is delicious. Roasty, toasty, and green. I love it.

I love that it brews up a clear minty green color, it’s so pretty. And it tastes fantastic, I had three steeps of this today and I am quite confident I could have had more if I didn’t need to leave immediately to go to the store.

Courtney sent me a sample of this, as well, and I am loving it. I’m pretty sure it’s going to have to go on my shopping list.