Kimberley's Kyusu

Hey there Teacups! I’m back today with another Let’s Talk Tea post and this time around I’m going to be reviewing Obubu Tea Farms – Genmaicha. I’m sure you all know well enough by now that Genmaicha is one of my favourite ways to drink green tea, there’s just something about it that I really enjoy and I love that it pairs so well with food and is great to have alongside a meal. I’ve tried so many Genmaicha blends over the years and I always love being given the opportunity to try a new one especially when it’s from a tea company that always provide such great quality teas. I really have been looking forward to review this blend and doing a tasting session with it for so long so I’m glad the time has finally come and my body gave me enough of a break from the pain to let me do it and write up this post.

Here’s what Obubu Tea Farms have to say about this tea over on their website: ”Genmaicha is one of Japan’s most popular teas made by mixing Yanagi Bancha leaves with roasted rice. This Genmaicha is brass yellow in colour, with a light astringency and a rounded finish. Its nutty pecan-like aroma and buttery sweet taste make it a very soothing and satisfying tea.”

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Genmaicha, ”Genmaicha (玄米茶) is a traditional Japanese tea that has been growing in popularity in recent years. Genmaicha, actually meaning ‘brown rice tea’ is a composition of Japanese green tea and roasted rice. Combining the two traditional Japanese products tea and rice makes Genmaicha an unmistakable exponent of Japanese culture. Although it is called Genmaicha, white mochi rice is usually used to create this blend. This is due to the fragrant aroma the white rice develops by roasting”

Tea Tasting Notes

As you all know by now I’m not a huge fan of green tea, I enjoy it by I just don’t reach for it over others teas apart from Genmaicha. Genmaicha is actually one of my favourite ways to drink green tea, I simply can not get enough of it and I actually drink Genmaicha quite a lot. So when I saw that Obubu had sent me some of their Genmaicha to try I couldn’t have been more excited and I was so grateful that they chose to include it because I knew before I had even tried it that I was going to love it. There has only ever been maybe two Genmaicha I’ve tried that I haven’t enjoyed so I knew going into this tasting session that I was in for a treat. It was going to have to have been something pretty horrible for me to add it to the list with the two other that I didn’t enjoy.

I definitely should have sat and brewed this tea in my gaiwan but unfortunately these days my health just doesn’t allow me to do that and if I waited until I was well enough to do it I would never end up posting anything. So I brewed this one western style and that didn’t effect my enjoyment of it at all. I brewed this using 85 degree (C) water and I steeped it for two minutes but it could probably be steeped up to around 2 and half minutes and the result was a very well rounded up of tea and it was such a pleasure to drink. This was my first cup of Genmaicha in 2020 and I definitely couldn’t have started off with a better one.It’s much sweeter than other Genmaicha blend I’ve had, but for the most part it’s quite well balanced with notes of buttered toast, brown rice, toasted rice, seaweed, spinach and a touch of umami, which is what I always looks for in a Genmaicha as they are the elements I love the most. It was a little bit lighter than a few Genmaicha blends I have had but honestly it didn’t effect my enjoyment of it at all. It’s got quite a light but smooth mouthfeel and all in all it’s just really pleasant to drink. Genmaicha is such a staple tea for me as I drink so much of it so for this one to wow me as much as it has means it must be pretty special. You all know that there is no way I would make as bog of a statement if I didn’t truly mean it.

This is definitely a Genmaicha I can see myself buying time and time again and keeping a core part of my tea collection. I’m looking forward to the day I decide to lift my tea buying ban so I can restock with this and treat myself to some truly beautiful tea. Thank you Obubu Tea Farms for giving me a chance to try this tea it was a pleasure to drink and If they others teas of yours that I am yet to try are anywhere near as good I am definitely in for a treat.

Overall Teacup Rating: 5/5

If you want to find out more about Obubu Tea Farms and purchase some of this tea for yourself, you can do both here. As always if you have any questions at all either stick them in the comments or send them to me over on Twitter/Instagram @teaisawishblog and I’ll answer them all as soon as I can.

Speak to you all again soon. Happy Steeping – Kimberley

*The Tea featured in this post was gifted to me for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own and have not been paid for*