It’s no secret that genmaicha is my favorite tea, I never get tired of drinking it. Have you tried genmaicha yet?
In it’s most common form, genmaicha consists of a blend of bancha and roasted rice in a 50/50 proportion.
It sounds strange at first, but when you smell it and then drink it, you’ll realize that it makes perfect sense.
Here’s 5 reasons why you should drink it everyday (or at least once a week 🙂 ).
1. Genmaicha tastes great
Although people’s tastes are differen, I’ve found that in general beginners in tea have a high acceptance rate for genmaicha (as opposed to green teas such as matcha and sencha). I think that the nutty flavor and aroma of the roasted rice balances out with the astringency and mild bitternes of green tea.
I’m not saying that this is the best-tasting green tea ever, but it’s a very good tea for its price, which brings us into reason # 2.
2. It’s affordable
As much as I’d like to drink matcha or gyokuro daily, it’s just too expensive for me. Genmaicha is much cheaper, that’s the main reason why this blend was invented in the first place.
Genmaicha (and all types of bancha) also has the advantage that it uses more water for the same amount of tea, compared to other higher-grade green teas. That means that you get more drinkable tea, and thus it’s even cheaper than if you just measured the cost per gram of tea.
Let’s go over the numbers: For one serving of tea, you should use about 4 gr of green tea (no matter which type). Genmaicha is brewed with 120 ml of water, sencha and matcha with 60 ml and gyokuro with 20 ml. Surprising, isn’t it?
Don’t forget the fact that you can also re-steep genmaicha. I recommend no more than once, though, but it’s up to you.
Even if you don’t follow the recommended brewing instructions, I’m sure that you’ll find genmaicha affordable. You can even buy bancha and then make the roasted rice yourself!
3. Easy to brew
Are you in a hurry? Genmaicha only takes 30 seconds to brew, and you use boiling water. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!
With delicate green teas like gyokuro, you have to use a cooler temperature and a longer steeping time, otherwise you’ll ruin the tea.
4. It’s popular
Genmaicha wasn’t invented yesterday. It has a long tradition in Japan, and will most likely continue to be a favorite of many people worldwide.
For the most part, I dislike flavored teas. However, genmaicha is an exception for me because it’s a “tried and true” blend. In other words, it has withstood the test of time.
5. There’s a wide variety of genmaicha
Although the traditional genmaicha is made from bancha, now you’ll find genmaicha made with green teas such as sencha, gyokuro and even houjicha.
Sometimes you’ll see genmaicha with matcha, it’s a nice touch. You can also add the matcha yourself.
Another aspect is the rice itself. There’s more than one type of roasted rice, with mochi rice being the best for genmaicha. Different roasting times also affect the taste and color of the roasted rice. As an example, take a look at this page to see some of the different types being sold there.
I hope that you enjoy drinking this tea as much as I do. Please tell me what you think about genmaicha in the comments.
January 23, 2013
Nice article! I absolutely love Genmaicha!!
January 25, 2013
Hi,Ricardo! I like Genmaicha too.I am Japanese, but my parents never drank Genmaicha,just because they used sencha sent by relatives of Shizuoka.
I had tea in the house next door by chance when I was seven,and was very surprised to see tea leaves with brown rice and small popcorns!
It was very delicious.Coming home,I told my mom excitedly what I drank.
After reading your article,I roasted genmai and had Genmaicha remembering my childhood.
January 25, 2013
Shizuka san, thanks for sharing your genmaicha story!
October 5, 2014
Would like to know where in South Africa, Cape Town I can buy Genmaicha green tea.
October 5, 2014
Hello Engela.
I’ve never been to South Africa, but genmaicha is a popular tea so you should have no problem finding it at your local tea shop.
Another option is to buy online, many online tea shops ship internationally.
June 30, 2015
Hi,
Great article !
I was sipping this genmaicha as I am reading this page. I like the taste because of its rusty colour and roasted aroma..
Compared with so many teas I drank – Pu erh, Oolong, Lipton, Tie Kuan Ying, Matcha, Sencha green teas, Ku Chiao Cha, Ku Ding Cha, etc this is I should say the more acceptable and good for daily brewing !
June 30, 2015
Hello Jon
Thank you for your comment. Enjoy your genmaicha 🙂
January 21, 2016
Recently I was advised to stop my coffee habit for health concerns, but I still need the warmth and comfort of a hot beverage, so, I turned to green tea. I have been experimenting and buying many samples of green teas and I came across Genmaicha and Genmaicha with Matcha. Now, if it’s possible to love a cup of tea, well, I love both of these! Now I’m in the process of finding the best manufacturer and as I’m sure you are aware all Genmaicha is not created equal. So there are two questions I’d like to ask, first who is your go to supplier for Genmaicha? And can you buy the roasted rice? I have tried Google to find it and I’m coming up empty. I tried the link in the article you wrote but it doesn’t seem to be working any more. I have been thoroughly enjoying this website and look forward to reading more, and would be most appreciative for any help you can provide.
January 21, 2016
Dear Glenn
Thank you for your comment, I have updated the link.
If you stopped drinking coffee because of the caffeine, then maybe you should go for the plain genmaicha instead of the genmaicha with matcha.
One genmaicha that I love is the one from Obubu Tea Farms, because it uses a mochi rice instead of the normal rice. Mochi rice is more expensive so it’s rare to actually see it in a genmaicha, but it tastes great.
Now, you can buy just the mochi rice from Obubu, and then add it to a better green tea than bancha. Think of the possibilities 🙂
March 15, 2016
I’ve recently got genmaicha with matcha but not sure about brewing? Boiling water and 30 seconds like regular genmaicha? Nice article 🙂
March 15, 2016
Hi Aneta
Thanks for your comment. You can prepare it just like normal genmaicha in 30 seconds, or look at what the package says.
March 15, 2016
Thank you Ricardo, your blog is very interesting btw 🙂 I plan to read everything. Regards
January 5, 2017
HI enjoyed the article and went directly to the obubu website to see about ordering the genmaicha but —how do you know how much you are paying in us dollars? I’ve never ordered anything from other countries before
January 5, 2017
Hi Donita
You have to look at the exchange rate for the yen, I believe it’s about 100 yen per us dollar. Take note of the shipping cost too.
January 6, 2017
Hello Ricardo,
Since I started following your blog just about a year ago now I have read everything that you have posted with great enjoyment, and I have extended my knowledge of tea which has helped me greatly to know what I like and where to buy it from. I just read the latest post from Donita, so I thought I would share just a little about what I have learned. One website that I have been buying much of my tea from is http://www.yunomi.life. Yunomi is run by CEO Ian Chun who himself is a Japanese tea farmer who basically decided to start a company and gather many tea farmers of the region together so that they could sell their respective teas on one larger website. In doing so I have been able to try different teas from different farms all on one convenient website. I mention this because I read Donita’s post about Obubu Tea Farm and Obubu sells some of their tea and genmai at Yunomi. I live in the U.S. and for me Yunomi is in English and pricing is in U.S. currency which make it easier for me to enjoy Japanese tea straight from the Japanese farm. I hope this information helps since Donita was concerned about figuring out pricing in Japanese Yen.
January 6, 2017
Hi Glenn
Thank you for your comment. I’m also a big fan of Yunomi myself!
January 13, 2017
Does this tea ( with rice) has a constipating effect ( as rice would do)?
January 13, 2017
Hi Julia
No, I have never heard of such effect in this tea. Normally, you don’t eat the rice in the genmaicha, but you can if you want.
January 29, 2019
When is the right time to drink genmaicha? Is it okay to drink it right after meal?
January 29, 2019
Hi Neal
There isn’t a right time to drink tea, you can drink it at any time. But I do often have genmaicha after lunch.