MASAMI

Name: MASAMI
SKU: YAGEN-01
Availability: InStock

PREMIUM ORGANIC GENMAICHA

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Description

Easy to prepare and comforting, genmaicha is one of the most popular kinds of green tea around the world. This premium organic genmaicha from Yame combines steamed and baked organic sencha leaves as well as toasted organic rice kernels. Its leaves are plucked in May, contributing to its extraordinary quality and flavor.

The rice kernels of MASAMI premium organic genmaicha are toasted and puffed, but this tea doesn’t include “popped” kernels.

From the moment you open the bag, its warm and toasted rice aroma will make your mouth water. After a quick and easy steeping (using boiling water), you will enjoy its nutty and toasty flavor. This tea is the perfect meal companion but with its very low levels of caffeine, it will warm and comfort you anytime during the day.

For coffee lovers, with its roasted flavor, genmaicha is also an excellent way to ease into the world of green tea.

You can steep this tea several times if your first brew doesn’t last more than sixty seconds.

Origin
100% Japanese tea (tea origin: Kumamoto; rice origin: Fukuoka)
Quality and Type
Premium Organic Genmaicha

Organic
Yes

Cultivar
Yabukita

Tasting Notes

sweetness

A sweet-tasting tea is a very light tea that leaves a sensation of natural sweetness in the mouth.

UMAMI

Although there is no official translation of the word “umami”, some call it “savory taste”: it leaves a mild and lasting pleasant brothy after taste and is recognized as one of the five basic tastes (together with sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and saltiness). It also induces salivation and a furriness sensation on the tongue, stimulating the throat, the roof and the back of the mouth.

BITTERNESS

The natural bitterness of green tea comes from the way it is made. Unlike black and oolong teas, green teas are made from the unfermented leaves of the tea plant, which keeps the antioxidants intact, but also gives them the bitter taste. This bitterness can be regulated with the water temperature : the higher the more bitter and vice-versa.

CAFFEINE

Caffeine is a naturally-occurring stimulant, found in several plants. Caffeine is water soluble, and is extracted into the brewed cup when preparing tea. In most cases, tea has much less caffeine than coffee.

CATECHINS

Catechins are a type of polyphenol (EGCG) and are the main astringency component in green tea, long known as tannins. In order to release more catechins you will need higher brewing temperature at around 80 but this will also increase the astringency and bitterness of your tea because of the caffeine. Dont use such temperatures for Gyokuro.

THEANINE

L-theanine (here referred to as theanine) is an amino acid that has a relaxing, but not sedating, effect. It is renowned for its ability to put you in the ideal state of calm attentiveness. It can sharpen focus, while reducing stress and enhancing overall well-being. Theanine can interact with caffeine, allowing a smaller dose of caffeine to have a stronger effect in terms of boosting concentration and alertness.

FRAGRANCE

The fragrance of a cup of green tea can vary from a highly roasted aroma to a fresh one.

Preparation

Tea for 2
6g /0.21oz

Water
200ml /6.76oz

Temperature
100C / 212F

Brewing
30s

DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS & PRODUCT SHEET (PDF)

Producer

KOGA KUMIKO

Koga Kumiko san represents the fourth generation at her family business KOGACHA GYO in Yame, Fukuoka. Working alongside her mother, president of the company, and her father, director of operations, she is a tea instructor.

Dedicated to lead her company through the challenges of the green tea industry in the 21st century, she is in charge of overseas sales. She also travels around the world to give tea seminars to introduce Yame green tea to foreign tea lovers.

Conservation & Packing

Unopened
1 Year

Opened
6 weeks

Resealable vacuum bag, or aluminium bag with neutral gaz for best preservation.

Reviews

Robert Kim (verified owner) – September 9, 2021

(This tea’s brewing instruction on the bag is incomplete (no brewing time specified) and looked inaccurate. I followed the instruction on the Ikkyu website. )

The first brew was a bit strong in favor of green tea vs rice compare to other Genmaicha I was used to. Green tea flavor beat out the rice one in the second brew as well. I drink Genmaicha at night because it contains less caffeine. This tea may be just too strong if I follow the brewing instruction. The flavors are not bad. It is nutty, not too grassy, and has a long-lasting umami effect. I will be sure to experiment with brewing instructions to get more out of it.
Japanese Green Tea Drinker (verified owner) – October 10, 2021

Using 70 degrees heated water gave me the perfect combination of green tea along side the popcorn taste of the rice. A very nice tea.
Khoi Huynh (verified owner) – February 9, 2022

With hot water 100 degrees, tea lost many things. I use low water about 70-75 degrees, then I feel the balance of tea flavor and strong aroma of rice.
CHERRY (verified owner) – February 12, 2022

This tea is very comforting to anybody anytime. It has nutty flavor and doesn’t lose out on the refreshing characteristic of green tea. The temperature of the water for brewing is very forgiving; either boiling or slightly cool—both works! On top of that it being organic is a huge plus.
Jared Ellerbrock (verified owner) – February 23, 2022

I found this tea to be too light on flavor. I tried brewing at different temps, but in the end, I added additional sencha (Ikkyu’s REI sencha) to enhance the flavor. Now it’s delicious.

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