Adagio | Japanese I bought this tea a few months ago and it has sat on my shelf always getting itself overlooked. Today happened to be the day for popped rice tea.
from Adagio The Japanese peasants found it difficult to afford much tea, and would mix it with roasted rice, which was abundant and cheap. Thus, they were able to squeeze more cups from the same amount of leaves. A recipe born of poverty, Genmai Cha had now acquired an uptown chic. This tea had outgrown its humble origins to become a favorite of many urban dwellers in both Japan and the West.
That is an interesting concept to set up this tea experience. A tea blend put together by peasants who couldn't afford to drink straight tea so they cut it with popped rice and popped corn. I could get a sense of it right away. This tea was very light and yellow with a slight grain taste. The popped rice flavor dominated this tea. There were many subtle tastes but they were mostly drowned out by the strong flavor of rice. It also has the taste of cardboard. Some teas tend to have this taste, some of the teas I enjoy and some I do not, this was one of the teas I didn't enjoy.
This tea had an unpleasant mouth feel and the aftertaste was just awful. The whole thing smelled like brown rice. I can understand the need for this tea originally but now that there is plenty of available high quality tea this is just a novelty. It might be good for a cup or if you really like popcorn.
- Rating: 2 Stars
- Water: I used Spring House spring water.
- Prep: 180 deg, 3 minutes
- I drank about half of the this cup.
- I was listening to "Tears Dry in the Sun" by Amy Winehouse
