2/5 ESP Emporium Teas
After the unexpected but awesome caramel popcorn tea, I’m wicked excited to try this one! I’ve been eyeing the Ryokucha tea by Samovar for probably a year now. But the price is kind of steep and they were sold out of sample sizes for months. So, by the time they re-stocked, I had moved on. Still, Ryokucha was calling my name. This looks just like it!!! I’m hoping it’ll be similarly yummy since everyone loves that one so much.
The dry leaves smell pretty much like genmaicha. There are lovely, large pieces of rice but not as much matcha as I would have expected. The resultant brew is slightly green, but not bright matcha green. It pretty much just tastes like genmaicha too. It’s a little disappointing, but maybe I used too little leaf. It does taste slightly watery. I’m going to start over!
Take two! I doubled the leaf amount this time. Muuuuch better! The overall mouthfeel is silky smooth, which is actually quite interesting. There’s slightly more matcha flavor now, but still it’s much less than what I expected. I can also taste a mildly grassy sencha underneath the toasted rice. Mmm! There is some astringency near the end of the sip, but it’s tolerable in small doses. i.e. don’t chug this down!
If I treat this like it’s just a genmaicha, then it’s great! But I really wanted a matcha genmaicha, and in that respect, it’s a little lacking. Still, the silky smooth texture and lovely toasty grassy flavor is pretty yummy. I will definitely drink and enjoy this! Hey look at that, my cup is empty! :)
