Recently, I had the unique opportunity to join Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club, and I just received my first shipment! Yay! I received three sample sizes of three different Japanese teas, and this review will be about the first tea I sampled from the group of three: the Monoucha Genmaicha from Ishinomaki, Miyagi
Tea Description:
Sencha from the town of Monou in what is now Ishinomaki City brews into a deep forest green with a strong astringency. With a 400 year history of tea farming, the town of Monou is the northernmost tea region, and the field managed by Sasaki-san is the northernmost tea field in Japan.
Monoucha Genmaicha blends Sasaki-san’s sencha with toasted rice grains as well as rice cracker balls (plain and matcha flavored) for a uniquely toasted nutty flavor.
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Taster’s Review:
LOVELY! I’ve tasted a lot of Genmaicha tea in my “career” as a tea reviewer, and before that, as a tea purveyor. But this Monoucha Genmaicha from Ishinomaki, Miyagi as sold by Yunomi might very well be the very best that I’ve tried thus far. I can taste the freshness of the Sasaki-san Sencha in every single sip, as well as the beautiful sweetness from the toasty rice. This is SO good!
Perhaps it’s the addition of the “rice cracker balls” that are in this blend that makes it different … I don’t know for sure. What I can tell you is that I taste something different in this cup of tea. It tastes sweeter … it tastes fresher, it tastes toastier. It tastes BETTER!
When I was measuring out the tea, I noticed the aforementioned rice cracker balls and I did a double (and a triple) take, because they looked so … unusual. I mean, with a typical Genmaicha, I usually see little bits of popped rice (that look like miniature kernels of popped popcorn), but these little balls were so uniformly shaped … they looked so different from the usual popped rice that I would see in a Genmaicha … and there were a lot more of them than I would usually see in a Genmaicha too. Then I came back here and read the description and saw that there are in fact these little rice cracker balls in the tea … that explains it!
And they do make a difference in the taste. If you like Genmaicha … this is one that you really should try … taste the difference! It’s remarkable!
Kyoto Rice Green Tea Blend from The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Description:
(Genmaicha Tea) Kyoto green tea leaves are blended with popped and roasted rice, to make this a brothy infusion with a unique appeal. Moderate Caffeine.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I drink a Genmaicha tea, I want that sweet, roasty-toasty flavor. And that’s just what I’m getting from this Kyoto Rice Green Tea Blend from The Spice and Tea Exchange!
This is a good quality Genmaicha, with the lush, green tea flavor combined with the sweet, toasted rice flavor. It has a nice, medium body to it: smooth and brothy (just like the description above implies).
I don’t know that I’d stop in to my local Spice and Tea Exchange just to pick up some of this Kyoto Rice tea, because there are a lot of companies out there that offer good quality Genmaicha like this one … but, since they do carry some other blends that usually always interest me, if I’m low on Genmaicha I might pick up some from them. It’s a good one, and I always like to have some Genmaicha on hand!
Genmaicha from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
Genmaicha green tea, also known as “poor man’s tea” is a great choice for bold flavor. This earthy infusion of organic loose-leaf sencha and toasted rice kernels pairs perfectly with savory snacks and Asian meals, and has just enough caffeine to pick you up after a long day.
Ingredients
Organic Sencha Green Loose-Leaf Tea, Roasted Rice Kernels
Characteristics
Bold, Organic
Flavors
Earthy, Grassy
Caffeine Content
Low
Steep Temperature
175˚
Steep Time
3-5 mins
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Genmaicha from the Persimmon Tree, One of my favorite teas! There are different levels of “roastiness” in genmaicha this is not one of the roastiest that I have tasted but it is well balanced and quite lovely. Genmaicha is a “go to” tea for me really anytime, but always when I can’t decide on what to steep. Genmaicha always satisfies. I love sencha, and I love the nutty toasty flavor that Genmaicha has to offer. Call it poor man’s tea if you must, I feel rather lavish when I sip on a cup!
The mouthfeel is creamy, buttery, and fresh, with that lovely sencha flavor that I can’t resist. The rice kernels are plentiful too, and I like that! This is also a very forgiving tea for a green tea, it takes to an over-steep quite well if you are prone to forgetting about your steeping tea. Not that I ever do that, (yeah right).
Today I needed something to center my mind. I have had a crazy busy week, missing one day of reviewing entirely (sorry about that), so today I just needed to get focus back, and ground myself. This tea was calling to me and it is doing just what I needed it to. I also find that Genmaicha helps curb hunger pangs and will really get you through to meal time.
I have sampled a lot of Genmaicha teas and this is one of my top three favorites due to its high roasted flavor. Yet, even with its high roasted flavor, the sencha is the star of the show! You do not lose one bit of the wonderful sencha taste. It also just fills my room with earthy, fresh aromas and is way better smelling than any room spray!
I love a tea company that does good. You can read all about the Persimmon Tree here. I personally love this excerpt:
We, at The Persimmon Tree®, contribute to the sustainability of our planet. Where possible, we use recycled and recyclable materials in our shipping supplies and printed materials. Using recycled products increases the demand for recycled material, which increases the rate of recyclability. Our passion is to instigate and experience positive change through the simple things, and we encourage our customers to do the same.
A very good Genmaicha, a very good company!
Laoshan Genmaicha Green Tea from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
Laoshan Green Tea is the epitome of humble beauty, a tea cultivated on the slopes of a Taoist holy mountain, naturally shaded by ocean mist, and sweet and creamy like a comforting dessert, yet unknown outside Shandong province where it grows. As Laoshan Green grows into its role in the west as one of the top rated, most highly praised green teas available, we thought it was time to return to its humble roots with a Laoshan Genmaicha.
This Genmaicha is warm, comforting and savory, a perfect balance of toasted rice and creamy green tea. We take a mixture of fragrant jasmine sticky rice for its sweet, thick milky quality and blend it with our own locally harvested Minnesota wild rice, picked on canoes on our northern lakes, and carefully toasted in tiny batches in-house to yield the perfect puffed rice for Genmaicha. The wild rice adds a deep nutty and vaguely floral sweetness that perfectly compliments the green-bean taste of our fresh Laoshan Green.
Taster’s Review:
Laoshan Genmaicha Green Tea from Verdant Tea is not available from the vendor at the present time, but, I decided to do this review anyway, in the hope that it will become available soon! It’s a really lovely Genmaicha!
It is also one of the more unique Genmaicha teas I’ve ever come across, and for that reason, if you are a “purist” and are looking for the traditional Japanese style Genmaicha, you may find this to be a bit too different for your taste. There’s nothing wrong with being a purist, mind you! I’m just saying that this tea is certainly different from the standard Japanese green tea blended with toasted, popped rice.
I infused these leaves twice, and the two infusions really tasted very much like two different teas! The first infusion tasted very much like the Laoshan Green tea with very subtle toasted rice notes. The vegetative tones were prominent, with creamy notes that melded quite beautifully with the vegetative tones. However, it was difficult for me to taste the “Genmaicha” in this tea … that is I didn’t taste a lot of the toasted rice flavor, and I found myself wanting to taste that sweet, nutty flavor together with the luscious creamy tones … because I thought they would just be … heavenly together!
The second infusion was definitely my favorite of the two, and that’s because this time, I could taste the toasted rice! It was still not quite as prominent a flavor as I normally experience with a Japanese Genmaicha, but it was more prominent than the first infusion. The Laoshan Green tea was not quite as creamy or vegetative this time. It was still very flavorful, but the flavors were more mellow this time, and I suspect that this is why I could taste the rice.
I found this Laoshan Genmaicha to be a really unique Genmaicha experience … perhaps one that is a bit too different for the purist, but for someone like me, who enjoys trying teas that take a twist on a classic favorite … this one is right up my alley!
Matcha Infused Genmaicha Green Tea from Aiya
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Aiya
Tea Description:
Matcha Infused Genmaicha is a traditional Japanese Sencha blended with toasted brown rice and premium Matcha green tea. The refreshing flavor of Sencha combined with the nutty flavor of toasted brown rice, plus the resilient color and mild sweetness of Matcha make this tea distinctly delightful.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Revew:
Having previously tried Aiya’s Organic Matcha Infused Genmaicha, I was happy to have this opportunity to try this: their conventionally grown Matcha Infused Genmaicha Green Tea, not only to compare my tasting notes from the two teas, but also to experience more of Aiya’s exceptionally high quality tea!
The dry leaf smells a lot more vegetative than I expected … I noticed very little of a toasted rice scent and more of a leafy/grassy green scent with notes of warm, nutty toasted rice in the background. Once brewed, however, the toasted rice notes really came forward! My kitchen was filled with the deliciously roasty-toasty scent of genmaicha, and my mouth began to water as I anticipated my first sip.
Similar to the Organic Matcha Infused Genmaicha from Aiya, I noticed that the brewed tea did not have a cloudy appearance, nor was there Matcha sediment at the bottom of the cup or the teapot. I also noticed when I measured the Genmaicha into my teapot, that there wasn’t a lot of loose powder to the dry leaf. Usually, with Genmaicha blends that have been enhanced with Matcha, there is a powdering of green dust as well as a cloudy cup of tea. This is one area where this tea from Aiya is remarkably different from other Genmaicha teas of this sort.
The flavor is so lovely! No wonder this tea won second place in the North American Tea Championship. This is deliciously sweet, nutty, and warm! Genmaicha usually evokes thoughts of autumn for me because of its warm, roasty-toasty taste, and this experience is no different. And because I am hoping for a speedy spring and summer so that I can enjoy autumn once more, my thoughts of autumn this afternoon are definitely welcome!
But there is also a freshness to the taste, courtesy of the Japanese Sencha base. The green tea tastes sweet, grassy, and has just a hint of savory bitterness that sort of perks the palate up and keeps the flavor interesting. I taste the sweet notes of the Matcha as well, and there is the slightest creamy note from the Matcha which is quite a nice complement to the warm, toasty rice flavor.
I found this experience with the conventionally grown Matcha Infused Genmaicha to be similar to that of the Organic variety, but I think that the flavors here might be a little less distinct. The tones of the rice, the savory quality of the Sencha and the sweet, creamy notes of the Matcha are less defined here, providing a more homogenized flavor that is at once sweet, savory, warm, toasty and creamy, with the toasty rice notes standing out as the strongest notes, and the savory notes lingering on the tongue in the aftertaste. And to tell the truth, I enjoyed both teas very much, and this experience was not so unlike the other that I would choose the other over this one based solely on taste alone. However, I probably would choose the organic because it is organic. Both teas are of excellent quality and superior taste!