Browncoat Genmaicha

Oops. Missed one. Back up to 184!

I also missed my 500th tasting note, so hello 503! Wow.

Anyways.

This one is tasting soapy to me right now. It tastes like a genmaicha, but with soap. :(

I have enough for one more cup, so I’ll try again another time.

How to begin describing this? It reminds me of a Nestlé Crunch but not half as sweet. The smell and taste are also reminiscent of my mom’s chocolate covered rice crispy squares, which use a very pungent, somewhat sour and cheap Hershey-like chocolate. Yes, chocolate covered baked rice crispy squares, and maybe some hot cocoa, is what this reminds me of.

It has all the roasted, nutty, and buttery notes of genmaicha (one of my favourite teas). If anything, the American chocolate enhances that “bitter nut” quality to me more than it creates a true chocolate sensation. Perhaps Nutella? I don’t know. I feel the chocolate and roasted rice meet mid-sip then linger together.

This is different but it works! It’s quite the comforting beverage.. until it reminds me that a certain show will never have a season two. Then it’s not quite so comforting. Bitter nut.

(backlog)
Eeeek, I really don’t know what I’ll do with my packet of this. The chocolate is not exactly my idea of authentic. Quite fake. I don’t think I’d even want it as a base in my food. Some sips are ok as a plain genmaicha, but then others? yikes. It reminds me of the sugar free chocolate my grandfather used to eat, since he was a diabetic. The one candy I would dread getting offered but always accepted out of guilt!
This is my third try and still, no go.

Sipdown!! (213? I think)

So I have been on a bit of a genmaicha kick recently if you have not noticed from my constant talk about it (Sorry steepster for my obsessive blabbering :S). This is one of many and it came by way of a swap package from JennyFur. I recall having this once before and not being particularly impressed but I usually try to have at least two cups to ensure the first was not simply lacking due to human error.

Reading my tasting note on this one, I can’t help but feel my initial impressions were spot on. This tastes like a genmaicha, a decent one at that, but not much else. If you are going to advertise a flavor, I want to be able to taste it and I am getting none of that here. Though I still enjoy the cup for the tasty genmaicha that it is, I would not order this, especially when there are more easily accessible genmaichas around. All in all, this is good but nothing special. The last tsp of this is going out to Roswell Strange to see if she has better luck finding the cocoa. However, I am very happy I got to try this if for nothing else than my curiosity might have gotten the better of me and I may have purchased a 2oz package if it became available and then have been disappointed. So thank you JennyFur for the opportunity to try this without having to commit to such a large amount. That really is one of the many beautiful things about swaps!

So I’ve had genmaicha before, but it was only the grocery store variety and it was super nutty. Almost TOO nutty. I had to be in the right mood before I could enjoy it.

This was a nice treat though – thank you again to crowkettle for the sample! Oh man – Steepster is GREAT for swaps. Everyone is so generous. I think I’m over 100 teas now because of all the swaps I’ve been doing. (At least they don’t take up too much room because most of them are samples… :P)

Anyways this is much milder than I expected genmaicha to be. It’s nicely chocolately, nutty and green. I really love this combination. I ended up resteeping it, and I may just try it again in the morning to see if there’s any more life in it.

If Frank ever reblends this, I’ll be sure to pick some up!
(Another note – I love how Steepster allows us to get on a first name basis with the people we buy tea from!)

Another “In and Out” Sipdown (209)!

Mmm, Genmaicha! There’s so much of it in my house right now that I absolutely had to take advantage of the one cup sample size of this from VariaTEA and drink it all up tonight! Yummy!

My parameters were the whole sample, in 8 oz. of 80 degree celsius water steeped for a little shy of three minutes.

I’m a little disappointed because I don’t get chocolate out of this at all! Not in the dry or steeped smell, and not in taste either. What a shame! That said, it’s still a really nice Genmaicha and it’s hitting the spot so well right now!

I debated adding some Nesquick Chocolate Milk Syrup into the mug just to give it that chocolate touch I was looking for, but decided against it – plain Genmaicha is doing nicely for now.

I’m really loving this as a plain Genmaicha, but I’m gonna rate it sort of low despite that because it’s not supposed to be a plain Genmaicha (definitely not living up the the description).

Ok being a huge Firefly fan I HAD to order this tea! Shiny! Besides the idea of adding chocolate to Genmaicha really got my curiosity going.

This is an interesting one…dry leaf smells like toast and chocolate. While the steeped tea smells more like traditional Genmaicha with a slight hint of chocolate. The taste? A weird blend of chocolate and toasted rice. Not my favorite two things together, but it isn’t my least favorite either. Different is the best way to put it and I do like it. Way to go Frank!

This tea is so weird, totally not in a bad way. It is roasty, chocolatey, and a bit creamy…it actually really reminds me of chocolate ice cream and I’m not sure how. I think it’s just that it’s such an odd combination, and yet it’s working for me. It’s chocolate genmaicha.

Backlog:

This was really quite yummy. I loved the way the bittersweet chocolate notes complemented the roasty-toasty notes of the genmaicha. Definitely a winner!

Here is my full-length review of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/01/26/browncoat-genmaicha-from-52teas/

1.25 tablespoons for 375 ml of water

The brewed tea has a note of chocolate in the aroma. Genmaicha scent is at the forefront.

On the sip I’m detecting an out-of-place fruity note. Chocolate flavour is very mild and only present near the end of the sip into the aftertaste. Genmaicha flavour is quite mild. Hint of roasted taste near the end of the sip. There is an odd chlorine-like flavour near the middle of the sip which I think is the result of the mild cocoa and genmaicha mix.

I found that there was a good amount of chocolate-y flavour near the end of the cup with the tea sediment bits that sink to the bottom of the cup.