ARIEL Japanese Genmaicha

Genmaicha is Japan's most comforting green tea. Bancha leaves are blended with toasted rice, some of which pops open like tiny popcorn during roasting, and the result smells like a warm kitchen. It brews to a light golden-brown cup, soft and toasty, quite unlike any other green tea. Easy to drink and easy to love, it's the everyday cup you reach for without thinking.

Tasting Notes

The toasted rice leads, warm and nutty, with a toasted-grain aroma that fills the room as it steeps. Underneath, the bancha stays gentle and grassy, keeping the cup fresh rather than heavy, and a soft natural sweetness rounds everything out. There's a savoury depth to it that makes it unusually satisfying, and the finish is clean, mellow and comforting.

The Toasted Rice

Genmaicha means brown rice tea. The story goes that rice was once added to stretch the tea leaves and make a costly thing go further; whatever its origins, the combination stuck because it simply tastes good. The rice is toasted until fragrant, some kernels bursting open, then blended through the bancha. Because it's built on bancha, it's naturally lower in caffeine than many green teas.

Brewing

Heat fresh water to 75–85 °C and steep 2.5 g (about one teaspoon) for 2 to 3 minutes. The same leaves and rice give a good second cup.

Additional Information

• Ingredients: Green tea leaves, roasted rice, popped rice.
• Formats: 70 g loose leaf, 145 g loose leaf, 1 kg loose leaf
• Certifications: Kasher
• Foundation: Fondation Humaniterra