★★★★★
I love the toasted flavors the rice adds. It adds to the complexity of the tea, pairs well with green tea.
Classic Japanese green tea, blended with toasted, popped rice. Warm, nutty with a lovely savory and hearty quality.
Customers use these reviews to describe their experience with Genmai Cha, including flavor, aroma, preparation preferences, strength, and how the tea fits into daily routines. Browse the full review history page by page to compare tasting notes, steeping tips, and favorite ways to enjoy this tea.
I love the toasted flavors the rice adds. It adds to the complexity of the tea, pairs well with green tea.
One of my all time favorite teas. It has a very unique taste. I highly recommend to anyone especially if they like green tea.
Gennaio Cha is one of my all-time favorites. It's a savory tea. Buttery, nutty, and with an aroma of popcorn.
You really can taste the popcorn and the toasted rice. The toasted flavor predominates. A toasty aftertaste is not really what you expect with a cup of tea, but it's growing on me.
A delicate taste that I come back to time after time. You need less of this one than you think because of how much the rice will swell, so keep that in mind.
Great cup of tea for those times where I need a pick up in the middle of the afternoon. Not too strong but gets me to where I'm going with a clear mind.
Perhaps I steeped at too high a temperature or this just isn't for me - I found the sample size bag I got was about 75% popped rice and only about 25% green tea, which resulted in a cup which tasted and smelled very slightly like unsalted popcorn but mostly like hot water, no vegetal or grass notes from the green tea present at all. Steeping for longer didn't create a stronger taste.
Exactly what the description says. It's a light less astrigent but substantial broth tea. Smells like sesame seeds to me. It's savory and would go well with a meal. I really like.
Genmaicha is a different kind of Japanese green tea that many people find intriguing. Brown rice kernels (genmai) are added while the green Bancha leaves (cha) are being dried, so the kernels get crispy and some burst open. Genmaicha has a unique appearance and a pleasant roasted flavor.
my after meal cup of tea! love the taste without sweetener
This has become my daily tea! I love the toasty flavors of the rice, they compliment any meal.
I got this tea as a gift for a friend and she loved it!
In the packet, this tea smells surprisingly sweet! Once brewed it smells very toasty and a little bit nutty, as other reviews point out. The flavor is really unique! It does indeed taste slightly sweet, but also a bit savory, and the toastiness of the rice really rounds out the flavor in a very pleasing way. And there’s no grassiness like green tea sometimes has. I’m not usually a fan of nutty-tasting things, but it’s far from overwhelming in this tea. The aftertaste is sort of drying, but that isn’t something that bothers me. Overall, I quite like this! It’s so different from any other tea I’ve tried.
I wanted to like this one and it's highly rated so I'm sure it's me, but i felt like i was drinking grassy rice krispies. I tried it several times and I just can't get used to this one. You have to like a rice taste to enjoy this one.
There is a definite toasted rice flavor. This probably isn’t for everyone but I enjoyed it as an occasional cup. It’s unique and interesting.
This lovely, pale green tea magically tastes like popcorn. Best new tea I've tried in a long time. Delicious and light.
It is a pretty classic genmai cha, though frankly I could do with a lower popped rice to tea ratio-- it's very savory, and lower caffeine.
This is a all time favorite. The aroma is so nutty and inviting. I drink this almost every day. It is a great mid day pick me up.
My wife and I have been searching for the tea we get at our favorite sushi place and we’ve found it! It has the nutty overtones and smooth flavor of green tea as the one there.For us it’s become a favorite to have while eating dinner.We drink it with no sweetener.
I discovered genmai cha after having some at a Japanese restaurant. I love the buttery flavor of the popped rice. It has a clean mouthfeel and provides just the right amount of caffeine for me. This tea is simply delightful.
Super nutty as expected. Very full flavor.. mostly of the grassy/vegetal taste is overpowered by nuttiness. Once it cooled a bit the green tea flavor came out more
Toasty, nutty, and delicious. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but one that is sure to intrigue any true tea drinker.
I love genmai Cha and this one is delicious. I always either drink it plain or with a little sugar if I'm in the mood for something mellow but sweet
Genmai Cha is my favorite tea. I drink about five cups a day while working at home. I really like the Genmai Cha from Adagio, it is excellent. Great taste!
I love the toasted rice flavor in this tea. Some describe it as a savory tea but I think it tasted like unsweetened Sugar Smacks cereal. Add a bit of stevia or honey and it's your favorite cereal in a cup.
Lovely green tea, I appreciate the popped rice toasty essence.
Great value tea, very similar to the type of tea that would get served at a sushi restaurant. The leaves post-brew have a very strong smell of toasted rice so I would enjoy the tea away from where it was brewed.
When I first tried this tea I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but now it is one of my favorites. It has a rich, nutty flavor that is distinctive and satisfying. Everyone should try it.
CT 3-6-23. I guess I am just not a rice drinker. I will eat popcorn some but it is far from a first choice snack. Perhaps combined with green tea which isn’t my top choice it just wasn’t for me.
What a strange tea. Definitely tastes like rice! All toasty and stuff. A nice tea, though not one I'd reach for often.
Toasty, with savory vegetal hints. Good for multiple re-steeps-- the toasted nuttiness seems to come out more on later cups. It's pretty smooth and would go well with a hearty meal or just on it's own.
Tasty toasty tea with the most-ie. This green tea is different, and has a distinctive toasted rice flavor, but the green still shines through making this one of my favorite unique flavor profiles.
This tea is unique and delicious - nutty and toasty and reminiscent of popcorn!
I adore this tea. I love the way the toasted rice makes the tea taste.
CT packet 3/6/23 - I adore Genmai Cha and this time was no different. It's good hot or iced very soothing with just a bit of toasty-ness.
This tea is... not my cup of tea. I'm generally not a fan of grassy green teas, which this very much is. And there is something about the toasted rice flavor that I just don't like. (Who knows why? I love the smoky flavor of lapsang souchong, so I guess my palette is just weird.) But if you like grassy green teas, and a unique toasted flavor, go for it!
Genmai cha (popcorn tea) is one of my favorite greens! There is something so nostalgic about having toasted popped rice in a tea. It is a gentle green tea providing brain clarity and mental awareness and can be enjoyed even in the late evenings. The inescapable allure of roasted, grassy and nutty flavors are on stage, but green is still present and is begging for a part in the final production. I am ready to sit and sip while having sympathy of a life in the past, where tea wasn't as readily available as it is now. I was able to get two flavorful steeps out of the CT packet. The first steep I enjoyed hot, the second steep I poured over ice in my to-go tumbler and I am still enjoying it now. No sweetener added, because I think sweetener would take away from the tea. Perfect as is! 2-3 min @180
I liked this! I was happy that the toasted rice flavor was detectable as I sipped. I had a bit of nostalgia thinking of cereal I ate when I was younger. This was a unique and enjoyable cuppa!
With a bit of honey, it covered up any of the lighter vegetal notes and added to the more toasted flavour. Reminded me of a popped rice cereal. Not for me, but it is worth a try.
I've been searching for a green tea to love and this is it! Just the smell alone is comforting, and the taste is great with no astringency. Added just a pinch of sugar. Genmai cha is a keeper!
For me this has a strange taste, I guess it’s the rice. It’s not grassy which for me is a plus in green tea. There’s a nuttiness to it. It’s not awful and I had a second cup but I think it’s not for me.
Genmai cha is probably my favorite green tea; it has a nice roasty toasty flavor from the rice that pairs well with the very light flavor of the tea. There's no grassy or vegetal flavor, so even those who are not huge on green tea might want to give this one a try!
Glad this is today's CommuniTEA tea. I first tried the genmai cha recently as part of the Japanese Green Teas sampler, and I liked it a lot. A savory Japanese green tea, but with a cozy nutty toastiness from the puffed rice that's out in front of the green tea flavors. Great unsweetened. The description is spot on-- It has almost the feeling of heartiness, with the lightness of a green tea. Plus... just seeing those little pieces of puffed rice mixed in with the dry tea makes me happy. :)
Update --- I'm a repeat customer for the medium bag of genmai cha, and love to have it around as a comforting tea that still has the fresh crispness of a Japanese green. It's great with savory food and I find that for some reason it helps me with nausea. I also read that it's on the lower end of caffeine for a green tea (still moderate overall), which is sometimes helpful.
Such a unique tea that I would not have experienced without Adagio. I recommend everyone try this one.
When I opened my CommuniTEA packet, I noticed the vegetal aroma of green tea with a hint of sweetness. As I steeped the tea, I noticed more of the aroma of the toasted rice. This tea is delicious! It did not taste like green tea, but it really highlighted the nutty, savory taste of the toasted rice. I would definitely order this in the future!
Smooth, not grassy or vegetal, but toasty and nutty. Very good
Communitea pouch with 8oz purified water @180F for 3mins in electric kettle.
The dry tea has a nice, mellow, nutty, and signature green tea aroma to it! Nice and cozy to my nose. My pouch had a lot of toasted rice in it compared to tea leaves.
The smell from the freshly steeped tea is all toasted rice, very nutty! Wow!
The base flavor is very mellow combination of the two ingredients, I was surprised that the amount of roasted rice in my pouch didn't overwhelm the green tea.
After adding 1tsp of sugar, the tea brightens a little bit and brings forth the roasted rice flavor to a small and pleasant degree.
Balanced, smooth, and overall a great genmaicha!
This tea was very surprising, in a great way! Out of the package, I couldn't really smell the rice but as soon as the hot water hit the tea, the fragrance popped. I really enjoyed the toasted rice flavor of this tea, which was unexpected. I don't like green tea, so I was pleasantly surprised that the flavor of the green tea was mild and let the toasted rice really shine.
I love gemnai cha. It has a wonderfully nutty, toasted flavor that mixes well with the fragrance of the green tea, and it holds up well to oversteeping (which is a bonus for forgetful people such as myself). One of my favorite teas--highly recommend!
I like this tea. I like the nutty flavor in combination with the green tea.
This is like a lunch tea. Goes well with lunch foods. Didn't pair super great with my yogurt. It feels like a special tea and smells like no other I've smelled. The toasted rice gave kind of a toasted sesame seed scent.