Houji Genmaicha

Tea: Houji Genmaicha
Vendor: Den's Tea
Price: $4.00 / 2oz
Source: Shizuoka, Japan
Vendor Description: Houji-Genmaicha consists of the two harmonious yet slightly contrasting taste components. It offers a unique toasty aroma both from roasted leaf and brown rice. The Genmai (roasted brown rice) sweetens the roasted Bancha leaves and stems. It is a perfect alternative to sweetened iced teas or hot ciders and cocoas.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea is a mix of brown hues. The color of the hojicha leaves mixes and matches with the lighter brown of the toasted rice. There is the distinctive aroma of the hoji leaves, mixed with a lighter smell of the rice.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 208F, 2 min

1st: The tea has a sweet caramel aroma to it. In this aroma you can smell the rice and the houji roasted aroma, both independently and mixed as one. The tea itself has a rich rice flavor. It's more bodied than most hojicha. There is a stronger genmaicha flavor than a hojicha flavor in this tea surprisingly. Based on the color one would imagine that it was more akin to a hoji. The flavor is very crispy with a light astringency to it.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This tea really surprised me. I was expecting a hoji that was drowning out the genmai flavor, but it was actually the opposite. There is not a strong swing to one side or the other though, the flavors are well in balance with each other. This is a very inexepensive tea, but it was unfortunately light in flavor. This is compensatable with more leaf, but it raises the per cup price of the tea. All in all though it is an interesting mix of two types of Japanese green tea.