Japanese Genmaicha (a.k.a. Popcorn Tea)

Japanese Green Tea Country of Origin: JapanRegionShizuoka Prefecture Shipping Port: Yokohama Grade: Genmaicha Altitude: 500 - 1500 ft. above sea level Manufacture Type: Streamed green tea Cup Characteristics: Light brownish yellow liquor with toasty flavour, tending sweet. Infusion: Tending bright with toasted rice kernels Ingredients: Luxury green tea, Roasted rice. This is a specialty Japanese green tea that is blended with fire-toasted rice. A good grade Japan sencha is blended with the toasted rice. The fresh vegetative character of the green tea is imparted on the cup but it is tempered with the bakey-like character of the rice. There is a natural sweetness and almost chewy character to the finish of this tea. During the firing of the rice, it is not uncommon for rice to ‘pop’ not unlike popcorn, hence the pet name ‘popcorn-tea’. Legend has it that during the 1400’s an important samurai warlord in Hakone on the Izu Peninsula of Honshu Island (the Izu Peninsula is near the Shizuoka