Matcha Genmai Cha starts with popped rice — that toasted, almost popcorn-like smell hits before the tea even touches water. The blend combines matcha and sencha with roasted rice kernels, and the rice does most of the talking: caramel and nutty sweetness wrapped around the more bitter, grassy edge that matcha brings. What's left in the cup is a bright yellow-green, cloudy rather than clear, with a thick, almost velvety texture from the suspended matcha powder. The aroma leans herbaceous, and the overall effect is smooth and calming rather than sharp.
It's a Japanese tea, harvested across the spring-to-autumn growing season, and it sits in the genmaicha family that pairs green tea with toasted rice — a combination originally used to stretch tea supplies that's stuck around because people like what the rice adds. Matcha, like other green teas, carries the catechins (including EGCG) that green tea is traditionally associated with, and it has long been drunk for a steady, slow-release kind of energy rather than a caffeine spike.
Brew it with water around 75-80°C and give it one to two minutes to steep — matcha turns bitter fast if you push the temperature or time too far. It's meant to be drunk plain, without milk or sweetener, so the rice and matcha balance can come through clearly. Once opened, keep it in an airtight container, away from light and anything strongly scented, since matcha absorbs odours easily.