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“I went for a couple of weeks without this holding court on my tea shelf and those two weeks have taught me that I’m not going to be able to let that happen again. I’ve been waking up with black tea...” Read full tasting note
“This stuff must have crack in it. There is no other reason that I would wind up craving what is, basically, a genmaicha. I don’t really like genmaicha. But this? SO GOOD. All it takes is for...” Read full tasting note
“Well…alright, then. This is going to be a long one. I have finally had my cup of Ryokucha. It was one of the first tea tasting notes I saw passingly (before I even knew what a takgoti WAS ;) ) that...” Read full tasting note
“So this is the Takgoti tea I’ve been waiting to try. Now I’ve finally been given the chance to see if Samovar lives up to its lofty reputation or not. ;) The dry tea smells mostly of matcha, a...” Read full tasting note
Origin: Organic Sencha, Matcha powder, and Toasted Brown Rice from Japan. Blended in San Francisco.
Flavor Profile: Forward notes of toasted brown rice crisps met with sweet green flavors that suggest grass and kelp. This tea is roasty delicious, full bodied, milky, and slightly malty.
Tea Story:Our version of the classic Japanese Genmaicha. This tea is a converter. It converts non-tea drinkers into devoted followers. Check out this infusion and you will be mesmerized and delighted. A stunning green color, this brew is like a meal in itself, a quintessential breakfast green tea.
House blended, we make this grassy, milky, roasty, malty, sweet, and smooth tea by blending organic matcha powder, organic toasted brown rice, and organic asamushi sencha.
Samovarian Poetry: Genmaicha, Samovar Tea Lounge-style. Japanese matcha powder blended with roasted brown rice & sencha. A meal in itself, nutty, grassy. Ideal for breakfast.
Food Pairing: This tea is like a meal in itself! Try using this brew like we do at Samovar when we make ochazuke, tea soup. Pour it over some seasoned steamed rice, and add some steamed veggies, and a baked piece of terriyaki salmon or tofu… yummy! Drink the Ryokucha with your morning bagel and lox for a ideal pairing of flavors of baked bread and sea.
Samovar's is dedicated to preserving the simplicity and integrity of the tea traditions and inspiring people to practice peace through drinking tea.
This is one of my favorite morning teas. Words I would use to describe it are earthy, nourishing and grounding. Upon brewing, the tea has a mild toasted-cereal-in-a-meadow fragrance which carries through to the flavor. This makes for a rich (almost hearty) drink. The color, which is slightly turbid, is a pleasant green that approaches neon. The cup is cheerful and is a great way to welcome the day.
mmm I"ve had this twice now with drastically different results…
first was at 160 degrees with a 2 minute steep time and it was sublime…
second was at 175 with a 2 min steep and I thought it was too spinachy…
How strange… so I’ll be experimenting with this more to figure out all of the little nuances.
Also it seems like using too much tea can drastically impair this teas flavor… more testing to come… obviously…
Enjoyed Ryokucha first thing this morning as it has been highly noted that it could be considered a meal in itself… I can see that it comes from the matcha powder and brown rice which add the creamy/roasty mouthfeel.
About the roasted brown rice.. I was initially put off by what smelled like rice burning while it was brewing…I wonder if I’m brewing it too hot (tho it says 180-190 degrees on the canister) BUT it has sucha sweet & creamy green taste that I shall definitely be keeping this one in the morning lineup. Goes great with my everything bagel/cream cheese.. I can see it pairing well with other breakfast foods.
It’s also labeled as a coffee converter ;)
A Genmaicha cousin with added matcha powder for that electric green look and extra vegetal punch. Whether good or great is hard to say. But costly, is surely is.
COST
A pretty good tea, at $7/oz this is an expensive tea for daily consumption. I’ve found this tea is enjoyed by many people, both tea lovers and coffee hogs. Its smooth, bright, and as always too expensive.
TASTE
A vibrant green grass flavor emerges through a subtle background of rice and slight seaweed. The mixture of rice, leaf, and powder means that the refined subtle flavors of each component become lost. So for those of you who like to hunt your taste buds for comparisons to other foods and lands — the terroir terrorists — you’ll need to look elsewhere.
PSYCHE
After drinking a cup my psyche becomes concentrated leading to a narrow focus. Very similar to the psyche offered by a good Sencha or pure Matcha. More so that a standard Genmaicha. This is both good and bad, ala tunnel vision phenomena. Cold sweets and jitters coming from black-darjeelings are usually not present.
BREWING
Although the Samovar people say you should try using boiling water, which I did (once), I’d avoid the straight from the kettle method. I find letting water cool to around 85º C is best. The marketing material suggests a large range of water temperatures, which I agree with. Genmaicha’s are known for being robust under harsh brewing conditions, the rice acts as a buffer. So this tea is perfect for the bumbling brewer in your house, who can’t be bothered to cool their water.
ETC
The matcha powder to rice/leaf ratio changes depending on which area of the bag you spoon your tea from. The powder has a tendency to fall to the bottom since it is fine. This means sometimes there is far to much powder or not enough. Not sure if there’s a fix. The rice does act as a powder carrier, and is itself a vibrant green.
Great video!