Itoen Genmaicha (Brown Rice Tea) Matcha Blend Premium Bag 2.3g Pack of 50

Cost performance is great.

This genmaicha with matcha has a rich, authentic flavor and is very enjoyable. The tea bags contain a good amount of tea, so the taste comes out nicely. I also like the thoughtful design — the string has a small tab with a slit that hooks onto the rim of your mug, keeping it from falling into the cup. The Japanese packaging shows it’s an imported product, which I appreciate. I’ve tried many Japanese teas, and this one is truly delicious. Highly recommended!

Love the flavor. Glad to have a larger 50 count box. Nice green color and aroma.

People giving a bad review have no idea that matcha genmaicha is not the same as genmaicha. There is a difference and the ones giving bad reviews are the ones describing how there's powder and it's a mess. If you want straight up just Genmaicha (green tea leaves and roasted rice), then buy Yamamoto Ya Genmaicha That does not have the matcha powder. This brand has matcha powder in it. So yes, you'll get powder out of the packet!! This tea is good and flavorful. The matcha is just right flavor and not overly bitter like a lot of brands. If your water is set at the right temperature, the flavor comes out tasting right. if water is too hot, you've "cooked" your tea leaves and matcha. The flavor is not the same. This tea has a good balance of flavor w/the roasted rice, matcha and the tea leaves I do not taste a strong bitter taste that most brand has. The roasted rice is aromatic and smells like roasted rice too. The tea itself is smooth and flavors are well balanced. For those who likes more bitter taste or like the flavor to be light, this brand is not for you.

I'm a genmaicha enthusiast, and this is what I'd call a perfect entry-level genmaicha. It's high in tannins with a hint of nuttiness and a balanced flavor with none of the grassy notes that some genmaicha can have. In that way, it's sort of the "Lipton" of green tea with brown rice--which is not at all a bad thing! That means it appeals to a lot of people and offends almost none of them. If you're shopping for tea for more than one person, this is an excellent choice. If you're shopping specifically for yourself, because you like green tea with brown rice, this may or may not be what you want. Itoen is well known for its nice, strong, dark green tea brews, and this doesn't exhibit the same types of complexity. If you wanted something that had the aggressive green tea flavor you find in other Itoen products, this isn't the tea you're looking for. I'd compare it to scotch: if you're buying for someone you don't know or a group, you get a blended scotch without much specific character. This is, in those terms, kind of the Johnny Walker Blue of genmaicha: high quality, tasty, and very much "down the middle" of the flavor profile of genmaicha. If you want something more specific that expresses some of the unique character of the ingredients of genmaicha, this may not be the right option. (You can always do what I do with it... use it to introduce other people to green tea with brown rice!)

I have loved genmaicha tea since my Japanese son-in-law introduced me to it some years ago. I had always bought the Yamamotoyama brand before but decided to try something different this time. The Itoen, also an authentic Japanese brand, tea smells wonderful and tastes delicious and authentic. I was waiting eagerly for it to arrive and made my first cup as soon as I had it in the door. My skin always looks better when I am drinking green tea regularly, and its other health benefits are well documented. I have heard to let the water get hot for green tea but not quite to boiling and don't leave it in too long. It depends how strong you like your tea, too. The directions for Itoen say to leave it in just 30 seconds. I think I like mine a little stronger than that, so I left the bag in a little longer. Price-wise, I bought 50 Itoen bags for $15 and Yamamotoyama today on Amazon is selling 90 bags for $25. So, the Yamamotoyama at that price costs a little less. Packaging is not my main concern; it is how the tea tastes (although using biodegradable plastics in packaging wherever possible just makes sense from an ecological standpoint). I had not realized matcha genmaicha was different from just genmaicha.

I've been drinking Yamamotoyama Genmai Cha tea for a while. I work with several tea drinkers who like to share tea. When I would hand each of them Yamamotoyama tea bags, I said, "This is the best of the worst." We all know that green tea is healthier for us than our beloved black tea, but it's similar to drinking essence of lawn trimmings. The toasted rice in genmaicha makes it more palatable to me. Another Amazon reviewer tipped me off to Itoen Genmaicha. I drink this tea several times a day because I want to, not because I feel I should. It's delicious. As a result, I'm placing monthly orders for it. The reviewer who recommended it suggested placing another order when you receive a package. It does take a while to be delivered from Japan. The box arrives mangled, but the tea inside is individually wrapped and is not damaged in the least. I drink it plain in a 12 oz. tea cup. I steep it a bit longer than the 30 seconds that are recommended. The matcha makes the color beautiful -- and leaves a few dregs at the bottom. Drink them up and think about all the antioxidants coursing through your body. In case you're interested, the text on the back of the wrapper is a lovely haiku about gathering nori (seaweed). I learned this from a colleague of my husband's who was born in Japan.

If you like this type of Japanese green tea (with toasted brown rice) you will almost certainly enjoy this delicious and healthy tea from the Itoen company in Japan. It is so easy to drink cup after cup. But the toasted rice gives it a bit of flavoring that is wonderful. The packaging has been fine, and the very well designed tea bags make for a simple procedure. (You can probably reuse each tea bag, but the second cup of tea seems to lose some of the subtle flavor of toasted brown rice). All the writing on the package is in Japanese, so there is no doubt where this product has been mailed from! I like that it comes with 50 individually sealed tea bags. It makes this product a bit more expensive than some competitors, but I there is that old wisdom, “In general, you get what you pay for.” This product is well worth. I’ve ordered twice from Amazon in the past two months: both times it arrived in about 7 days