If you are interested in getting your hands on some decaf genmaicha, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, we are going to be talking about decaffeinated roasted brown rice tea genmaicha. We’ll answer the question, is genmaicha decaf and talk about how to make your own decaf genmaicha tea at home.
Let’s get started! 🍵 🍿
What is decaf genmaicha?
Before we talk about decaf genmaicha, let’s first define what the tea is. Genmaicha is a traditional type of Japanese green tea made by mixing toasted rice with tea leaves.
The toasted rice imparts a warm and nutty flavor which pairs beautifully with the tea leaves.
The concept of decaf genmaicha would suggest a genmaicha tea that contains no caffeine. We will discuss the challenges this presents in the next few sections.
If you want a full explanation or the intricacies of genmaicha tea, you can read our article 👉 Essential Genmaicha Guide by Japanese Tea Experts
Is genmaicha decaf naturally?
Even though the caffeine content of the tea is extremely low, naturally decaf genmaicha is a myth. There is such thing as decaf genmaicha tea, but it involves a very unnatural process as we will explain later.
So, in short, there is no such thing as decaf genmaicha, but there are ways to make genmaicha decaf. Let’s discuss how in the next segment.
If you're wondering how much caffeine is in genmaicha, we made a complete guide for you! For the full breakdown, just read our article 👉 A Scientific Appoach to Genmaicha Caffeine Level
Decaffeinated roasted brown rice tea genmaicha substitute
One way to make a decaf genmaicha substitute is to actually just make a brown rice tea. You can buy the toasted rice or “genmai” at certain Japanese grocery stores, and while it may not give you the complete genmaicha experience, you still get these warm nutty and cereal flavors.
Because rice doesn’t have any caffeine in it, all the caffeine in genmaicha comes from the leaves. If you take the leaves out, you have yourself a decaf genmaicha!
Make it organic decaf genmaicha
If you want to make an organic decaf genmaicha substitute, make sure to use organic rice. In addition to it being important to eat organic rice, you should also use organic rice when you brew tea, as the hot water can extract a lot from each grain.
How decaf genmaicha tea is Made
In addition to making your own at home, there are more industrial ways to make decaf genmaicha.
Decaffeinated Genmaicha tea is made by removing the caffeine from green tea leaves before blending it with roasted brown rice.
The process of decaffeination
The process of decaffeination typically involves steaming the tea leaves to open up their pores, then treating them with a solution of water and either methylene chloride or ethyl acetate to extract the caffeine.
The leaves are then rinsed and dried to remove any remaining solvent.
Finally, the decaffeinated green tea leaves are blended with roasted brown rice to make Genmaicha tea. The decaffeination process does not greatly affect the taste of Genmaicha tea and it still retain its nutty, toasted flavor from the rice.
If you want to learn more about this decaffeination process, you can read our article 👉 Don't Drink Decaf Matcha Until You Read This Guide!
Final Verdict on Decaf Genmaicha
While decaf genmaicha does exist, it is made using a very unnatural production method, that really takes away from the flavor of the tea. If you want to truly experience the wonderful green tea that is genmaicha, we recommend you just prepare yourself a regular cup of genmaicha tea.
Even though it is not completely decaf, it is very low in caffeine so you should be able to enjoy it any time of day.
There are other types of Japanese green teas that are also low in caffeine. If you want to find some more teas you can drink in the evening time, you can read our guide to 👉 8 Lowest Caffeine Tea: from Lowest to Highest
