I should really stop posting first impressions. I often end up rewriting the whole review. This tea took some time to get used to. I disliked the toasted rice at first and wished it was just bancha and matcha, but then I realized that it's the combination of everything that makes this tea work: the bancha provides a nice grassy base, the matcha sweetens it and thickens the mouthfeel, and the rice adds a toasty, almost nutty flavor to all that.

While this tastes perfectly fine just brewing a full mug the normal way, my favorite way to brew this is to use a normal amount of tea but just enough water to fill one of my small cups that I normally use with my gaiwan and brew it for less than a minute. The only bad thing about this method is that the matcha starts to feel a bit coarse and grainy at this level of concentration; I don't know in this case if that's a sign of low grade matcha or an inherent symptom of treating matcha as an afterthought in brewing. Another thing I like to do is extract the matcha in cold water and add a bit of lemonade to that, and then I have plain genmaicha left to brew hot. Someone who likes matcha lattes might enjoy a variation using this tea. This is a very versatile tea with an endless amount of uses and possible brewing methods.

I don't think I'll buy this again, but only because I now want to explore Japanese tea rather than stick with one kind from one brand.

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