Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 12 of Genmaicha
✓ 52 of Flavored Green Tea
✓ 32 of Wegmans
✓ 65 from Japan
Review of Genmaimatcha Green Tea
March 13th, 2013
Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
5 of 10 | 3 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 60 of 100 |
Fair | Fair | Good Value |
A pleasant, perfectly drinkable tea that is dirt cheap. Although I didn't think it was great, it had few objectionable qualities and I actually think it is a pretty good buy. It seems to have much more toasted rice than tea leaf, and has a bitterness and sourness that I normally don't encounter in either genmaicha or matcha.
I'm skeptical of matcha-infused green teas. I find them hard to brew, as fine mesh infusers get clogged up with the small particulate matter, but coarser ones let too much leaf through. I used Tea Tangent's Tea Nest to brew this satisfactorily.
Aroma is mostly of toasted rice, a hint of corn, and some fishy qualities. A little bit of flat paper/cardboard qualities come out too. Surprisingly bold flavor for genmaicha. More bitter (bitter undertones, not bite), but still on the mellow side. Has a somewhat metallic taste. Becomes especially sour towards the bottom of the cup.
Can brew two infusions, but most of the tea aroma is gone after the first, and the remaining aroma is predominately of the toasted rice.
Really cheap...almost disturbingly cheap, $17 a pound. How is this tea so cheap? I think it's because it's mostly toasted rice and has very little tea in it. Compare with Aiya's matcha-infused genmaicha. While I thought that was a better tea, I actually would prefer buying this tea, as Aiya's costs over 5 times as much. It's better, but not that much better, and it's still just genmaicha, which to me still tastes primarily like toasted rice. I prefer this one though to Maeda-En's genmaicha, which is in a similar price range.