I love Genmai Cha!

[xine]

by xine » Jul 24th, '08, 16:30

Hi Bonni,

First off- welcome! Glad to hear you have a favorite tea.

Genmai Cha is great 'gateway' green tea but I would also suggest checking out some other teas to experience different flavors that green teas can yield- Gunpowder, Sencha, Dragonwell, would be my suggestions.

Hope this helps!

[Pentox]

by Pentox » Jul 24th, '08, 17:12

Hm, what to go to from a genmai, from genmai I would suggest going to sencha, which is the primary component of genmai. In it's pure form you can find sencha in different grades and tastes. There's a whole world there to explore.

[kymidwife]

by kymidwife » Jul 24th, '08, 20:13

I really enjoyed getting Adagio's green sampler, because it gave me the chance to try several things I wouldn't have known to try otherwise. I've purchased nearly every adagio sampler... blacks, greens, oolongs, flavoreds... it's been a very enjoyable journey into new teas.

Sarah

[Sydney]

by Sydney » Jul 24th, '08, 20:49

green anji (underrated)

green pekoe (good tea to start the day with)

white monkey (mmm white monkey)

sencha premier (sample tin, because if you get hooked on it you'll want to start exploring immediately and if you hate it you'll want to cut your losses)

dragonwell (not the best dragonwell on the planet, but a solid tea)

casablanca twist (if you like mint, especially if you like a Mediterranean tea experience)

citron green

[chamekke]

by chamekke » Jul 24th, '08, 20:52

Isn't most genmaicha made from bancha?

That's why it's often possible to brew it using boiling water without getting a bitter taste.

[Sydney]

by Sydney » Jul 24th, '08, 20:54

Isn't most genmaicha made from bancha?

That's been my understanding. But boiling? ewww

[Ed]

by Ed » Jul 24th, '08, 21:01

Hibiki-an uses first flush sencha in their genmai. I haven't tried it buy I think it's bound to be pretty darn good.

[chamekke]

by chamekke » Jul 24th, '08, 23:00

Isn't most genmaicha made from bancha?

That's been my understanding. But boiling? ewww

Well, genmaicha can usually bear water that's above 180 degrees, anyhow. I don't use boiling water for it myself, I let it cool off... but my experience is that genmaicha is a lot more forgiving of higher temperatures. With sencha, I'm very careful; with genmaicha, not so much.

[Pentox]

by Pentox » Jul 24th, '08, 23:33

Isn't most genmaicha made from bancha?

That's why it's often possible to brew it using boiling water without getting a bitter taste.

Some genmai is, but not all. If you go for the high end genmai i'm pretty sure it's made from first flush.

[Salsero]

by Salsero » Jul 25th, '08, 00:12

I have tried some of Hibiki-an's Genmaicha Matcha-iri which is made from Sencha and Matcha powder. It is the only Genmaicha that I have had so I can't make a comparison, but it is very tasty.

Hibiki-an discusses a bit about different recipes for Genmaicha at their Genmaicha Matcha-iri page.

http://www.hibiki-an.com/product_info.p ... cts_id/407

[chamekke]

by chamekke » Jul 25th, '08, 02:55

I have tried some of Hibiki-an's Genmaicha Matcha-iri which is made from Sencha and Matcha powder. It is the only Genmaicha that I have had so I can't make a comparison, but it is very tasty.

Ooh, now that you mention it, I did once have a genmaicha that included matcha - and it was super-delicious. I'll have to order some of the Hibiki-an stuff the next time I place an order from them. Thank you for the reminder!

[Sydney]

by Sydney » Jul 25th, '08, 07:45

I threw in some genmai with matcha when ordering from o-cha last night. Gotta expand those horizons, no?