I find it hard to believe I haven’t reviewed this one yet. I’ve certainly been drinking it for a little while! I’m sure I did write a note, but maybe steepster ate it. Or maybe I’m just mad.
I used 1 tsp of leaf, and added it to water of about 175 degrees for 2.5 minutes. I was a little taken aback by the colour of the liquor; it was quite a dark yellow-green shade, a shade I usually associate with bitterness or astringency.
Fortunately, it has none of these qualities. Instead, the sweet cherry flavor comes through first. It’s quite mild, but there, and it’s reasonably true-to-life. Not overwhelmingly candy-like, or reminiscent of cough medicine. The toasty rice is the second flavour, and, again it’s pretty perfect as far as my tastes for genmaicha go. It’s toasted without tasting burnt, or bitter, and it’s not too overpowering. I had feared that it would disguise the cherry flavour altogether, but it doesn’t. The final flavour is the mild, sweet, vegetal taste of the green tea. It’s very smooth, and the “green”, almost slightly grassy, flavour augments the fruitiness of the cherry perfectly. I catch just a hint of creamy cheesecake flavour right at the end of the sip, but nothing more than that. It’s enough, though, and it really helps to round this one off perfectly. All elements present and accounted for!
While it’s not my favourite of the cheesecake genmaichas, this makes for a very pleasant cup. Banana Cheesecake Genmaicha will probably always hold that crown for me, and I’d want the cherry here to be a fair bit more prominent if it were seriously going to challenge that. Even so, it’s one of the better balanced genmaicha blends I’ve tried, and they can be hit and miss for me sometimes. Good work, Frank!
