Genmaicha

Tea of the evening here, the last one to try in my Kusmi “afternoon” tea sampler set.

I normally quite like genmaicha, but as a few other people remarked this is a very light version and I’m used to the ones made by Japanese tea companies that are quite nutty and brothy. This is rather genteel with a sweetness and a slight floral note. Odd, I thought all genmaichas were mostly the same but perhaps the difference is the green tea they are using in this blend. I think I prefer the more traditional kind, but this is pretty nice overall and made for an interesting surprise. They claim this is delicious iced, so I may need to try that.

I never seem to be blown away by any of the Kusmi teas but the tins are just so darn cute…

First time I met this tea, I burned my tongue ! It was in a big department store in Paris where Kusmi has a corner.
The salesmen always prepare a large volume of one tea and offer it to the potential clients around.
This is a very kind and marketed attention …but they should have warned that it was incredibly hot :)
Anyway I found this tea quite good as soon as my taste buds went out of a burning coma.

I have a small tin of it and had the chance to prepare it home.
This is a very pleasant but quite light Genmaicha.
Not my favourite one but rice and popcorn are really present and there is absolutely not bitterness.

Nice to begin with Genmaicha

This a backlog from last night just before bedtime. It was supposed to be another Tie Guan Yin steep but then there was gaiwan-fail and a lot of wiping up of leaves and such. Then I remembered I had this bag and decided to do that instead.

Then as I was sitting in bed reading and sipping, I realised that it was gift tea from a swap with EvaPeva so I really ought to make a proper post about it. It was really late so I wasn’t about to get up and turn the laptop on again though, but I’ll tell you what I remember.

Overall, I liked it a lot. It was sweet and very velvety smooth. It felt almost soft in the mouth. The nuttyness from the rice was quite nice too and not overpowering. It was just right.

I wouldn’t be able to say whether or not I liked it better than other genmaichas, but I will say that overall I liked it better than I have generally liked bagged Kusmi before. I haven’t had any of their loose leaf stuff (yet) but I have had a selection box with some of their bags. It’s like it makes a difference with their loose leaf, but my overall thought of that sampler box was that Kusmi as a brand was somewhat overrated. (I’ve also occassionally had a bag in the train home from my parents if I’ve been travelling first class, but that was brewed with water kept hot in a thermos, so I’m not really sure it counts)

I’m glad I had this one that was just genuinely good. It has renewed my hopes for Kusmi teas again.

a good genmaicha. and a reliable and cozy genmaicha is always a nice cup.

I received this sample with my Kusmi Teas order. I thought the packaging was pretty with the mint green label and the cloth-like teabag. The scent wasn’t overpowering, but I managed to see a piece of popcorn and some rice mixed in with the dark green tea leaves. This is a VERY light genmaicha. It was unexpected. One of the first teas I got into was genmaicha because they would serve it at all the Japanese restaurants around me. This one was very watered down. The liquid was a light yellow. I really had to stick my nose in my cup and swish the tea in my mouth to really get the scent and flavor. This is nice and sweet and there is no astringency there. I like the light nutty and rice flavors. I imagine that this would be refreshing and nice iced or cold brewed.

I am not a fan, unfortunately. Light, barely detectable genmaichas are not my thing.

I always forget how much I love a good genmaicha. It’s a cool evening here and I wanted something hot and comforting, but still light. This definitely fit the bill!

I was fairly proud of myself having made a green tea without it going bitter. I tend to have that problem a lot, but I’ve gotten (slowly) better.

This particular genmaicha is really lovely! Sweet and amazingly smooth with that familiar popped rice toastiness. I’m also getting a really subtle floral note, which makes it even more tasty! Mm, I have to drink this more often.

Could smell the roasty/ smokiness of our beloved Genmaicha from the moment I poured the water in the cup. . . .Picked up a few tea bags at one of the Fancy Food Shows, and it’s about time i steeped it! This is not their loose leaf version, but bagged….those of your familiar with Kusmi Tea should know that they really have awesome tea bags, basically sewn around the edges. .

First Steep. . .tasting the rice right away. This is the lightest version of Genmaicha i’ve tried. . . not too much of an after taste. Very smooth though. . . wanted something a bit stronger perhaps. .should have left the bag in longer. . .

There’s popcorn in my tea leaves. Popcorn! (As I oh-so-eloquently wrote in an email to teaplz).

I love this stuff. Second day in a row I’ve made a large mug of it, and just stuck some in the fridge for cold consumption later. The smell and taste is overwhelmingly roasted nuts, which is delicious. The corn is more subtle, but gives it that little extra kick at the end. I fear my little sampler tin won’t be enough for me.

And there’s popcorn!

This was the first genmaicha I’d ever had. It’s an unusual kind of tea taste for me, and I knew it would be. It’s got roasty, green thing going on and it tastes a lot like the flavour of those bits of rice that get charred onto the bottom of a pot of rice if you cook it for too long, with an aftertaste that tastes almost exactly like marijuana. It’s very rice-y, like the taste in your mouth after eating those round rice crackers, but that’s definitely balanced with the green aspect. It’s not at all bitter, even though I left the bag in for several minutes (I know that’s not what’s recommended, but I pretty much needed the caffeine because it’s assignment time, and also, I wanted to really test the flavour). It’s quite comforting, and though I wouldn’t definitely buy a full canister of it, I wouldn’t discount it as a good option for a “sometimes” tea. I drank it unsweetened and couldn’t imagine it any other way. I think it’d probably taste like cereal or something then.

Update: I tried this slightly sweetened. It brought out the rice flavour in a way, but it was just kind of a bit cloying since the tea already has that slight sweetness to begin with. I’d recommend either going very easy on the sweetener, or going without it. I won’t change the rating, because the tea’s flavour was just as good as last time, which is quite good!

Love it! A very aromatic and delicate tea. You can clearly taste the rice flavour even though it’s actually quite light. It’s good cos your mouth will not taste of fried rice, as in the case of some stronger genmaicha, after drinking! This tea will definitely go well with the Japanese sweets (wagashi) I bought from Muji!

so I tried a sample of this tea earlier this year. As I have no kusmi stores near me, I bought a tin today. This is by far my fave genmaicha out there. The flavor is light and not too strong. It was perfect with my grandmother’s homemade apple pie.

I completely agree with the other reviewers. I found this tea weak and thin and it lacked the intense nuttiness I associate with other Japanese genmaichas I have had (and loved) over the years. I was disappointed in the lightness and thinness of this tea, and am glad that I was only trying a sample bag that was sent to me when I placed an order for another tea.

I received the afternoon tea set by Kusmi for Christmas (and have been regretting the fact that it was not the Russian-flavored set ever since).
This one is the first I tried of this set, after the Anastasia, which I really liked.
The experience is however not as positive with this one. I’ve never been a huge fan of green teas, and especially Japanese green teas. Their taste is often too grassy for me.
The green base has a strong fragrance and flavor and seems to be a nice Japanese green, better than the ones I had had in the past.
Add to this nice though not craving-inducer base, some pieces of roasted and puffed rice, and it turns out not so nice-tasting any longer. The roast of the rice gives to it a slightly burnt taste, the puffed rice brings in the flavor of puffed rice snacks, whose taste I always associated with styrofoam.
The blend is therefore not really a success to my tasting buds.
I have the strange feeling to be drinking the liquid that you would get doing that:
1. while cooking rice in a pan, forgetting it on the fire, until all water has evaporated and the bottom gets burnt
2. after taking out most of the overcooked and burnt rice, putting back some water in the pan and some freshly cut grass, heating it before tasting.
It seems vile; yeah but unfortunately that’s really what it reminds me of.
Even though the box held only 25g, I assume it’s going to be very difficult for me to finish it…