- Tea variety
- 玄米茶
Genmaicha
Tea with roasted rice, warmth in everyday form.
Flavor profile
The strengths are editorial judgments on a scale within the family, not measurements. They can be compared across the green tea varieties, not directly against another family.
Genmaicha is green tea blended with roasted rice. The rice adds a warm, nutty and slightly popcorn-like tone that rounds off the tea's grassiness, and since rice dilutes the tea leaves, the cup is milder and lower in caffeine than pure sencha. An everyday tea with forgiving brewing and immediate charm.
Sensory analysis
Pyramid and character
Aroma
dry leaf and freshly brewed
- popcorn
- roasted rice
Cup
mid-sip
- nutty warmth
- mild green freshness
Finish
what lingers
- dry
- roasted
- short
Character 0-100 per axis, set relative to the other entries in the same family. An editorial judgment of a typical serving, not measurements.
Background
Facts
- Processing
- bancha or sencha blended with roasted and partly puffed rice
- Caffeine
- lower than sencha, since part of the volume is rice
- Nickname
- sometimes called popcorn tea, after the grains of rice that burst in the roasting
In the cup
Brewing
- Temperature
- 80-90°C
- Time
- about 1 minute
- Note
- handles hotter water than sencha thanks to the roasted sweetness of the rice
Keep exploring
Related in the Zukan
Shop and journal
At Nekko
Evidence
Sources
- Genmaicha (Wikipedia) (retrieved 2026-08-08)
- Nekko Journal: Genmaicha (retrieved 2026-08-08)