If you’re looking to buy genmaicha but you don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we are going to be covering all the basics. What is genmaicha where to buy genmaicha and how to prepare it. Without further ado, let’s dive into our guide on how and where to buy genmaicha tea.
Before you buy genmaicha
Before you buy genmaicha, you’ll probably want to know a few things. First, what is genmaicha?
Genmaicha literally translates to “brown rice tea” and it is made by mixing green tea leaves with toasted rice. This tea has humble origins, as it was originally used during times of economic hardship.
Why was rice used in tea?
Because rice was a cheaper ingredient, it was added to the tea leaves to make the tea supplies last longer. It didn’t take long before people began to appreciate these warm and nutty flavors that the toasted rice gave the tea.
Genmaicha today
Now, far from being a tea for times of famine, it is enjoyed by people all around the world for its unique taste. The art for a tea farmer is to blend the tea in such a way that there is a harmony between the warm cereal flavors of rice and the fresh vegetal flavors of the leaves.
The farmer will experiment with different types of tea leaves and different ratios to find a balance that works.
If you want to become an expert on this fascinating Japanese green tea, you can read our article 👉 Essential Genmaicha Guide by Japanese Tea Experts
What to look for when you buy genmaicha tea
When you go to buy genmaicha tea, you’ll probably want to know a few things first. To start, what are the different kinds of genmaicha?
There are 4 different kinds of genmaicha, and to evaluate each one, you’ll want to look for different things. If you follow these guidelines, you'll be able to find the best genmaicha.
How to buy genmaicha with matcha powder
One variation of genmaicha you will find is when it is mixed with matcha powder, like the Matcha Genmaicha Shizuoka. This can give the tea extra flavor and health benefits. What you want to look for is a bright green color, a lighter powder to leaf ratio of 3:100 and high quality leaves.
This variation is also called matcha iri genmaicha, and if you want to learn more about it, you can read our article 👉 Learn all about Matcha Iri Genmaicha
Buy genmaicha tea with bancha leaves
Most genmaicha tea will be made with bancha leaves. These are the older, more mature leaves on the tea plant and they are much cheaper.
Just because they are cheaper, doesn’t mean that you can buy genmaicha without looking at it. You should look for larger leaves and a light “camo” green color.
Genmaicha with sencha leaves
One step up from the bancha genmaicha is the sencha genmaicha. When you buy genmaicha tea made from sencha leaves, you will want to look for a slightly darker green color on the leaves and a thinner roll.
Because these are younger tea leaves they are more delicate and thinner, allowing them to be rolled into these thin needle shapes.
Buy Genmaicha Gyokuro
If you want to buy genmaicha gyokuro or gyokuro genmaicha, take everything you learned from the sencha segment and turn it up a notch. Because this is a long shaded tea, you’ll want to look for incredibly dark tea leaves and really tight rolls.
This tea tends to be a bit sweeter from the shading process which can be a nice complement to the toasted rice flavor.
Genmaicha made with gyokuro is a tea you won't find very often. If you're interested in learning more about this rare tea, you can read our article 👉 Why is Gyokuro Genmaicha so rare?
Best Place to buy genmaicha online
Now that we’ve discussed the basic of genmaicha tea where to buy it is probably next on your list. The best place to buy genmaicha tea is often online, and the best place to buy genmaicha online is Nio Teas.
After traveling around Japan for the past few years, we have met with dozens of farmers and sampled hundreds of different types of teas. We’ve ultimately decided on our favorite genmaicha teas, and those can be found on our website.
Where to buy genmaicha tea outside the U.S
We’ve heard this question many times before, “but where can i buy genmaicha tea if I don’t live in the U.S?”
As we mentioned before, buying genmaicha tea from a reputable brand online is the best way to ensure that you have access to high quality genmaicha wherever you are in the world.
At Nio Teas, we offer free worldwide shipping options on all of our tea as a way to share premium organically grown Japanese green tea with people all around the globe.
Genmaicha where to buy new york
If you live in New York and you’re looking for the best place to buy genmaicha the first place that may come to mind is of course Harney and Sons in SoHo.
If you’re looking for a genmaicha buy that is a little bit more authentic, you can go to SenBird tea in Midtown south, which has more of an emphasis on Japanese green tea. You can then enjoy your nice cup of tea in nearby Bryant park for some relaxing people watching!
How to prepare genmaicha
Now that you know where to buy genmaicha tea, you’ll probably want to know how to prepare it. All you have to do is put some genmaicha tea into your kyusu teapot, pour in some hot water and let it brew for 1 minute.
It's important to follow the specific temperature guidelines for genmaicha tea, and if you want to follow the complete process, you can read our article 👉 Start Brewing Genmaicha like a pro with this tea master recipe
Final thoughts on where to buy genmaicha
Hopefully by now you’ve learned where to buy genmaicha green tea no matter where you live. As you can see, there are so many options for getting good quality genmaicha tea, you just need to know what to look for.
Don’t be afraid to ask where the tea comes from and test the knowledge of the people selling the tea.
Where we buy genmaicha
At Nio Teas, we like to proudly display where our tea comes from and we’ll even tell you about the person who made it.
On our product pages, you’ll be able to find the region where the tea was grown and information about the farmer who grew it.
If you are interested in trying the best tea we’ve discovered after years of traveling around Japan, you can find it on our website.
