Houji-genmaicha is a roasted green and rice tea from Den’s Tea, an online seller of Japanese green teas.
DRY LEAF: Houji-genmaicha smells like roasted corn – kinda like the leftover overly brown kernels in an air popper.
STEEPED: An interesting light brown and peachy coloured tea. It’s a little hard to see as I used a green cup verses something more functional to show the colour off. The smell of this tea is very roasted and strong.
For the steeping, I followed the directions on the tea package – 30 second steep in boiling water and resteep for 15 seconds in boiling water.
TASTE: Deep savory roasted rice and popcorn flavor. End of sip is a light sweetness that edges towards vegetal. Very clean, brothy and bright taste. Houji-genmaicha is light in green tea flavor, but is full flavored with the roasted ricey taste.
RESTEEP: Very similar flavor, but lighter in taste and a touch of buttery flavor. I actually like this resteeping more than the first steeping.
COMMENTS: I enjoy the roasted flavor of this tea and the resteep is delicious. I’m thinking this tea would be delicious paired with sushi or soba. Actually, I could see houji-genmaicha’s brothy, roasted rice flavor being a good dipping sauce, with some mentsuyu, for soba noodles. Maybe I’m crazy. If I try it, I promise to post it.
Genmaicha lovers who love the roasted rice taste more than the green tea should try this tea – Houji-genmaicha would be your dream tea. Houji-genmaicha
