Good genmai cha?

[caligatia]

A friend of mine enjoys genmai cha, and is looking for a good source. She's a casual tea drinker and doesn't want to pay a lot for it. Suggestions?

[Ed]

Adagio's is actually pretty good. If you want to get it as fresh as possible and possibly score some higher grade genmai, nearly all of the Japanese vendors carry it. Den's organic genmaicha was the most recent one I had and it was very good.

Ah, I just noticed Adagio is sold out of Genmaicha! I guess that's not an option then. I just ordered a bag of genmaicha from www.mellowmonk.com. I haven't tasted it yet but their other teas seem to be quite good and priced right.

[chamekke]

Ed, I received a sample of Adagio's genmaicha a few months ago. The contents were at least 90% roasted brown rice... there was very little actual tea.

I used up the sample by adding some lower-grade sencha to the mix, but I wouldn't order it again. Even supermarket genmaicha has a higher percentage of green tea (usu. bancha) than that.

Is that typical of Adagio's genmaicha? At the time I assumed it was, but perhaps I just happened to get a sample that was exceptionally low in tea.

[Ed]

Ed, I received a sample of Adagio's genmaicha a few months ago. The contents were at least 90% roasted brown rice... there was very little actual tea.

Whoah, that sounds nothing like the 5 oz. tin I got from them a few years ago. Maybe they are getting their genmai from a new source now. I was actually pretty happy with the stuff I got, except for the fact that those tins do not seal properly. The taste was good, though, and there was plenty of tea in there. Hopefully El Padre will comment because I think he's had Adagio's genmai fairly recently.

[Pentox]

The best genmai that I've had is the genmai from Sugimoto (www.sugimotousa.com) It won the world tea expo best flavored category.

Tea Geschwedner and Den's both have fairly good genamis, neither are as good as the sugimoto one though. (I've had quite a few genmais)

[shogun89]

Adagio's is back in stock. Haven't had it but its on my list.

[Sydney]

The contents were at least 90% roasted brown rice... there was very little actual tea.

Is that typical of Adagio's genmaicha? At the time I assumed it was, but perhaps I just happened to get a sample that was exceptionally low in tea.

Absolutely not. Total fluke, that.

I've never found a *bad* source for genmai, btw. Even bulk in a plastic bag at the local Asian grocery has been fine by me.

[chamekke]

The contents were at least 90% roasted brown rice... there was very little actual tea.

Is that typical of Adagio's genmaicha? At the time I assumed it was, but perhaps I just happened to get a sample that was exceptionally low in tea.

Absolutely not. Total fluke, that.

I've never found a *bad* source for genmai, btw. Even bulk in a plastic bag at the local Asian grocery has been fine by me.

Well, that's why I was wondering. Having had garden-variety genmaicha from the Asian grocery, I was expecting something different - i.e. superior.

Yup, it sounds as though I simply happened to draw the short straw on this one!

[Pentox]

Bad gemai is just that, and it's noticeable too. You'll notice the rice is either too prominent, stale, too little, or the tea is just not right in some manner. Once you find a good genmai the comparison to a bad gemai is very obvious.