Who can resist the idea of Popcorn Tea, especially when the label has little film reels on it for your next movie showing? Teapigs isn’t the first tea company to package genmaicha under the pretense of popcorn, but they have some of the cutest packaging.
Genmaicha is a type of green tea blended with puffed rice. This makes it so that the dry leaf and the brewed tea has a distinct toasty popcorn smell. It is a unique tea, sometimes slightly savory, but always supremely cozy. I highly recommend trying green tea with puffed rice at least once and see how it goes. Teapigs Popcorn Tea is a great place to start.
The overtones of the tea are warm bready notes, the roasted grain flavors of the puffed rice leading the way in scent in taste. Beneath that first burst of popcorn, the green tea comes through with slightly more vegetal notes like gentle celery or bok choy. Alongside the puffed rice, the tea pleasantly reminds me of sauteeing green vegetables in sesame oil.
I love drinking this tea in the late afternoon (or maybe even before a movie in the evening!). With lower caffeine than black tea, Popcorn Tea makes for a warming and soothing pick-me-up on a busy day. Even if you can’t snuggle in under a quilt with a bowl of popcorn, this tea can help you imagine you’re there.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Genmaicha
Where to Buy: Teapigs
Description:
This tea has flourished from humble beginnings – Japanese peasants used to mix green tea with toasted rice to make it go further. It is now celebrated in its own right as Genmaicha tea, or Popcorn tea. “Sugar Puffs in a cup” – a truly unique blend with an almost nutty undertone.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Harmony Tea from Mellow Monk. . . . . .
Genmai cha is a special type of green tea with toasted rice. Some of the rice kernels have popped in the toasting process, looking like little puffed, white popcorn pieces. I’ve sometimes seen genmai chai billed as the “movie night” tea for its inclusion of these popcorn-like rice pieces. No matter what you name it, genmai cha is a unique and delicious tea experience.
It was a long time in my tea journey before I put genmai cha tea into my usual rotation. Beyond the puffed rice in the dry leaf, the next most striking impression about the tea is that it is savory. If you aren’t expecting a savory experience, the brew can be a little unsettling at first. If you know this tea won’t be fruity or floral going into it, you’ll be much better off. Tasting Harmony Tea genmai cha from Mellow Monk was no exception.
Brewed, the Harmony Blend smells like warm bread or sticky rice. With these meal-like flavors, the warm tea might seem almost more like broth than tea. Over my years of drinking genmai cha, I find this warm brew and its toasty, starchy flavors to be supremely comforting, like sitting in the kitchen when the oven is on and bread is baking.
Despite all this toastiness, it is good not to forget that genmai cha is a green tea, so brew it with slightly cooler water to avoid burning the green tea leaves. Though the toasted rice is the prominent scent and taste of the tea, there is a role for the green tea to play in the flavor profile.
Green tea on its own can sometimes have savory incarnations, but it is usually a vegetable-inspired savoriness, like buttery bok choy or dark and nutty kale. The green tea in Mellow Monk’s Harmony Blend is much sweeter, and not too vegetal. It reminds me of a smooth green tea matcha, green and grassy but still sweet like nutty wheat bread.
It is a rainy, gray day today, and a warming cup of toasty Harmony Tea was just what I needed to turn my mood around.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Description:
Harmoney Tea™ is a genmaicha — green tea mixed with roasted brown rice. The rice imparts a nutty, toasty flavor that makes genmaicha one of the most popular types of green tea in America. Unlike some tea growers, this artisan roasts his own rice, which he buys from local farmers. (During roasting, some of the rice grains pop like popcorn. This popped rice is also included in the mixture to enhance the flavor.)
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Assam Gold Black Tea from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
This smooth, malty infusion is the perfect alternative to coffee. Assam Gold can be steeped multiple times while retaining its flavor. Golden in color, this import from Northern India is a thick, comfortable black tea brew that warms and energizes after a tough, bitter, cold day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I think of “Gold” in relation to “Assam”, I’m usually thinking of “Golden Lion” varieties where the leaves really are golden-brown in colour, frequently accompanied by what I think of as “lots of golden dust”, a little like the grey/white dust that white tea sometimes exudes. This Assam clearly isn’t one of those – the leaves here are mostly a black/brown colour, with the odd golden-tipped leaf. They’re mostly fairly small – around 1/4cm in length, although some are as long as 1cm. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk.
To taste, this one is deliciously malty. It’s sweet and almost thick-tasting, in the way of molasses. It’s also deliciously smooth and creamy, with a very mild bready note at the end of the sip. It’s slightly tannic, although not nearly as much as Assam can be. It’s a cup I’d happily drink on a morning, as it’s strong and full-bodied enough to be a good “wake-up!” tea, yet still fairly gentle.
I enjoyed this cup – it’s a classic Assam. I didn’t find it especially unique, but sometimes that’s not what’s required. It’s a good, solid example of my favourite tea variety, and would make a great introduction for the uninitiated. Lovely stuff.
Organic Black Tea from Arum Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Arum Tea
Tea Description:
A sweet and malty flavor that jolts the taste buds, with a caramel undertone and a floral finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t think I’ve come across a black tea quite like this before. For starters, it’s appearance reminds me more of an oolong. The leaves are black/brown in colour, but they’ve been rolled into oolong-like pellets, complete with leaf stem! The scent also puts me in mind of a dark roasted oolong – it’s rich and kind of earthy, with a metallic tang. I guess these characteristics could describe a black tea too, but I personally associate them a lot more with darker oolongs, as I do the leaf preparation. Still – we shall see! I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. The liquor is a medium golden-brown, so I made no additions.
It might look like an oolong, but it certainly doesn’t taste like one! It’s actually a mildly malty, delicately sweet tasting tea, with strong stone-fruit notes. I’m picking up apricot mostly, followed by a mild plum flavour towards the end of the sip. It’s incredibly juicy-tasting, almost as if it were infused with fruit juice rather than just being tea. It’s not, of course, and that’s what’s so incredible about it. I’ve not come across many like it previously, with the exception of Butiki’s Mi Xian Black. If you liked that one, this is definitely one to try. As it cools, I’m also picking up some bready, almost yeasty, notes. The fruitiness fades a little at this point, so it’s not as unusual as it sounds.
I really enjoyed this cup. It’s sufficiently different from other black teas to provide some much-needed variety, and the fruit notes are a particular highlight. It’s a fairly light tea, both in terms of liquor colour and body, but it’s certainly not short on the flavour front. The leaf barely unfurled on my first steep, so I imagine this one will also yield significant resteep value. Recommended!
Golden Snail Yunnan Black by Whispering Pines Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Whispering Pines Tea Co.
Tea Description:
This Yunnan black tea was harvested in early spring (2014) and carries a robust and delicious flavor profile! The first thing you taste is a thick honey flavor giving way to creamy cocoa with a touch of malt. A heavy molasses-like sweetness lingers on your tongue while juicy morel plays with a hint of gardenia in the aftertaste. This tea is delicious hot as well as iced and holds up very well to three or more infusions!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Black tea will always be my absolute favourite, and as I discover more Chinese black teas, they rise higher in my estimation. I bought this one from Whispering Pines in an effort to try more teas from Yunnan, which (of all black teas) seem to possess the majority of characteristics I really enjoy. High praise indeed! This one impresses from the moment the bag is opened. The scent drifting up is pure chocolate – so much so that I almost had to check I’d actually picked up a bag of tea. The dry leaf itself is beautiful – little golden black curls that really do look like miniature snail shells. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a medium golden brown. Since this is to be my first cup of the day, I added a splash of milk.
The initial flavour is a beautiful, creamy milk chocolate. It’s pretty hard to believe that this isn’t a cup of cocoa, but I definitely made it with tea leaves! I’m reassured when a sweet maltiness emerges in the mid-sip, along with the wonderfully comforting flavour of baked break. Tea it is, and a wonderfully sweet, smooth, chocolatey thing at that! The maltiness deepens towards the end of the sip, becoming an almost treacle-like molasses flavour. It’s rich and flavourful; a real treat for the tastebuds.
Chocolate and baked bread are my two favourite flavours in black tea, except perhaps for sweet potato and honey. To find a tea that features these so clearly is a real delight! This is a great example of a Yunnan black tea, and would make a good starting point for anyone looking to explore this particular variety. Whsipering Pines did well with this one – I’m left in no doubt as to the quality of their offerings, and it’s certainly a tea I’d be happy to repurchase in future. Well worth a try.