78
drank Malted Genmaicha by 52teas
2036 tasting notes

This isn’t the only tea I’ve had since this morning, just the only one I had anything to say about. The others were all from teabags, consumed on the way to or at work, in various stages of sipdown. The good news is, I have several sipdowns of my starter teas coming up in the next few days. Yay!

I had this for the first time last night but it wasn’t under the best conditions. I intended to take it with me in the car on the way to meet another family for dinner out, but the BF was in a mood and eager to get going and was unwilling to wait the 1:30 it would have taken to steep this. Sigh. So it sat in the Breville until we returned and was room temperature, which this time of year is more like cold. I drank it cold, and it wasn’t bad that way, but I suspected it would be better hot.

So I’m trying again tonight. I really like genmaicha, and even without enhancements it gives me a bit of a malty grainy impression sometimes. This is like that natural maltiness dialed up to 11. I can smell toasty rice in the aroma of the steeped tea and barely any malt, but the flavor is as though someone has taken the insides out of malted milk balls, smashed them up and sprinkled the resulting powder into genmaicha.

There’s also an interesting milk note. I noticed a lot of discussion about the symbolism of the glass of milk on the label, and my own contribution is that perhaps it is referring to this milk note and not so much the idea of malted milk.

The tea liquor is a clear, light yellow.

I give it high marks for living up to its name. I suspect, though I don’t know for sure, that unlike a couple of the other elderly 52 teas packages I’ve cracked open lately this one won’t turn on me. It has a different aspect to it altogether that isn’t causing me vertigo from drinking tea that tastes like a completely different non-drinkable food. Yay!

Flavors: Malt

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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