Maeda-en

Average all around tea, yet quite mute, bitter, astringent, and at times sour?Plenty of tea to go around yet there are many brands to choose from that has a far better quality.

Sometimes I wonder if Maeda-en is like the Lipton of tea in Japan?

In any case this is a good basic tea for me which I have been drinking for years, I get it in Japantown and the price does not break the bank. I like the toasty, nutty flavor here which goes nicely sometimes as a breakfast drink when I want something mild.

I’m drinking this today because I wanted something lower in caffeine. Nevertheless, I am rarely in the mood for genmaicha and I think this one has gone a bit stale. I wonder how long the shelf life is, I’ve had it for 3 years and it tastes more like seaweed than I remember. Even though I’ve been keeping it in a tin it’s probably time to just compost it. Oh well!

A soothing genmai-cha. Very mild green tea flavor, this is very nutty and popcorny and is sitting well with me on this foggy afternoon. I can’t say I’m thrilled or excited by it but does anyone get that feeling with genmai-cha? There is matcha powder in here along with sencha… It works for me. :)

I received this sample a while ago (about a year ago?) … had it stashed away and forgotten until going through my stash last night.

This is a pretty decent Gyokuro – certainly impressive for a bagged tea. Light and clean, very fresh tasting – especially noteworthy since I’ve held on to this for a year.

Reading all these posts about matcha really makes me want some! The closest thing I have at the office is this bagged, minced green tea. When I say minced, I mean shredded into itty bitty tiny dust particles. And yes, that means they escape from the fine mesh of the bag. Still, it’s green tea (or close enough to it) so I can’t complain.

I used the tap at work, which says the water is about 200°F. I then let the cup sit for a little while before adding the bag, so I can’t say for sure what temperature the water was. Definitely not hot enough to scorch the leaf particles. After a three minute steep, I removed the bag and took a sip.

Just as I remember, it’s vaguely grassy swampwater. Not terribly sophisticated but could be worse. I gulped it down and promptly re-steeped the bag. Sometimes all you need is tea! And now I’m a couple minutes closer to the end of the work day. :)

The first time I tried this tea more than two years ago, I despised it! I couldn’t stand it! My, how my taste buds have changed in that time.

My impression now is similar to Maeda-en’s other teas. It tastes more standard than premium to me.

Again the tea leaves are chopped too finely. The flavor is still good. It’s an authentic sencha. But I can’t taste any of the matcha notes in it. Overall, I’m underwhelmed.

If you’ve never tried green tea before, this is a good place to start. It’s a cheap way to discover if you’ll like other more robust green teas.

Sipdown…finally finishing this up after it’s sat in my cupboard for seriously about 3-4 years. I’m enjoying this last cup, but I don’t think I’ll restock it. I’d rather have a whole leaf, fresh houjicha. Not much more to say about it than what I have in the past. See my other tasting note.

This is more of a standard houjicha than a premium to my taste buds. The pro: pure houjicha with no added flavorings.

Yes, it comes in a pyramid shaped bag. But I’ve never been convinced that makes much of a difference. The tea leaves themselves were minced into such tiny pieces, it was like dust. That’s a turn off for me. I think more whole leaves would create a richer flavor in the brewed tea.

If you’ve never had houjicha before, then this is definitely one I would recommend. It’s subtle in flavor and aroma and won’t overwhelm you. It’s nothing like other green teas.

Because the green tea leaves are roasted in houjichas, they have a completely different color and flavor from senchas. So, if you’ve had sencha and despise it (like me), don’t give up on all green teas!

i have not tried this specific bran but i think sobacha is excellent!

Maeda-en Gold Genmai-cha has been a staple in my cupboard for most of my adult life, and is an all time favorite. I like it in the evening, when I am just winding down, and is one of my favorites to drink when eating light Asian foods. Veggie Sushi, brown rice and veggies or a simple mushroom soup go well with this tea. In fact, pouring this over a bowl of rice and veggies makes for one satisfying meal. Real comfort food.

Nice! I wasn’t expecting much from this Houji-cha since it was a bagged Houji-cha, but, it is very flavorful. Roasty, toasty, and honey-caramel-y sweet!

YUM!

I found an interesting chocolate bar that scremed “matcha match!” the second I saw it: Rightously Raw’s Maqui Rose Truffle bar. Especially since it’s made with raspberry powder, rosehip powder, Himalayan pink salt, rose powder…Tons of tart red, basically, like Madegascan chocolate. Shiki is the natural match ( given what’s on hand).

Whoo! The chocolate was almost too tart, like a rosehip truffle. Though trying this matcha as koicha out of curiousity made it mellow with the grain and grassness.!
Maeda-en now has “Universal/usucha” and “Ceremony” grades but at a slight price difference which made me think there isn’t much of a difference. Since this came out as wheat sweet and fairly smooth, I think it’s safe to say the universal suffices.

Especially since it now has an amazing raw truffle bar to harmonize with. =)

This still pairs great with Madegascan chocoate. Madécasse’s line especially.
Tastes the same in almond smoothies too.
I guess I’ll keep some around. No rating change.

The packaging changed for this matcha so I guessed Maeda-en changed the blend too. I don’t have any old to compare side by side but the usucha from this batch (with “Universal Quality” under “matcha” ) seems a little duller and rougher. It’s bright green and has the same grain and grass notes I remember. Larger lower quality batch for a growing market? I’ll have to check. Still very good for the price.

Broke in a new infuser with this tea and it continued to deliver. The water was warm but not boiling (IDK the actual temperature) and when combined with the short steep time, produced a light, rice-scented, tasty green tea.

Basic genmaicha, good for everyday drinking. It’s almost impossible to over-steep this; I accidentally left it steeping for eight-odd minutes and it was still good.

In the spirit of experimentation I threw in a few shakes of rubbed sage into mix. Let me tell you it made for quite the fabulous cup. Savory and delicious!

I’ve had this tea since July and I love it. The aroma when it’s steeping is like puffed rice cereal. Add a little honey and it’s like honey smacks…..Great tea and very affordable. I mixed some the Tradition Green tea powder with some as well. Yum!!

I found this at the Asian Market in the area. I wanted to try it since the Houji-Cha is a component of Dr. Tea’s Coffee tea and wanted to taste it separately. I love the light roasted aroma and flavor of this tea. It mixes well with Oolongs and black teas that I have in my cupboard. This morning I added it to English Breakfast and threw in a few french roast beans and made a nice coffee tea. It’s very reasonably priced too and adds a nice variety to my tea cupboard.

Tried this as a 50/50 mix with Maeda-en’s Kukicha last night. Plain and toasty with a brighter green background than just the genmaicha for a nice variation of its rustic hayloft taste. Not exacty what I needed but good to know.

I tried this with 155 F water for 80 seconds and got a surprisingly sweet infusion. Yum! Uping the rating for that little trick.