Taste of Tea :: Genmai Cha from Adagio Teas

Hey there, fellow tea enthusiasts! I hope you’re having a fantabulous week. Today’s post is another Taste of Tea entry in which I’ll relay my notes from my tea-tasting journal entry for the Genmai Cha loose leaf tea from Adagio Teas. I got this tea as a part of Adagio’s Teas Of Japan sampler set; this is the fourth and final of the teas I’ve posted about from the set, so once you’re done here be sure to check out my previous posts on the other three teas in the sampler: Hojicha, Kukicha, and Sencha Overture.

Type of Tea: Green Tea, loose leaf

Ingredients: Japanese green tea, toasted and popped rice

Tasting Notes  The dry leaves were a dark forest green with a predominantly needle-like shape. There was a large proportion of the roasted rice (caramel colored) in the blend. There were also a few bits of popped rice (white, similar appearance to popcorn) in there as well.

The scent off of the dry tea was a little light, but lightly sweet with a touch of a popcorn-like smell.  After heating the teapot I added the tea to the warm pot and to further activate the scent. This really brought out the notes of popcorn.

To prepare the tea I first boiled the water and then allowed it to cool for three minutes before infusing the tea for about 35-40 seconds.

After brewing the first infusion, the scent off the liquor had a much lower roasted character, but also still smelled like popcorn to me. Amusingly, it made me hungry for popcorn.  

The color of the liquor was a pale yellow-green, similar to other Japanese green teas.

The tea liquor had a warm taste that was sweet on the tongue; however, the biggest flavor element was still that of popcorn. The texture of the liquid was a little thick and it coated my mouth. Interestingly, the mouth coating had a feeling that seemed quite similar to that left in the mouth after eating a handful of popcorn. Although the liquid had a thick texture, it was still relatively smooth with only a mild astringency. There also seemed to be a touch of saltiness in the flavor of the tea. 

Quick Summary

• Tea: Genmai Cha, loose, green tea, blended with roasted and popped rice
• Origin: Japan
• Retailer: Adagio Teas
• Current Price: $14 / 4 oz, $29 / 16 oz
• Texture: thick, mouth coating
• Flavor Notes: popcorn
• Finish: sweet with a touch of saltiness

Final Thoughts  Popcorn! To me, this tea smelled and tasted primarily like popcorn. Drinking it was an interesting experience that I would liken to drinking liquid popcorn. The warm nuttiness of the of the popcorn flavor was heightened by a mild sweetness on the tongue and a touch of popcorny saltiness. Overall, I found this to be a very interesting and enjoyable tea experience. If you like popcorn or popped rice, then this type of tea is definitely worth a try. On your next movie night make a cup of Genmai Cha before popping on the movie (pun intended). 

Thanks for reading! As always, these are my tasting notes, and since the perception of taste and aroma can be quite personal your experience will likely, and indeed probably should, differ from mine. But regardless, I hope this post inspires you to get out there and to keep trying new teas. And if you don’t already, I’d encourage you to try making your own tasting notes as you do!

What tea should I try next? Drop me a line down in the comments and share your suggestion.

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