Green Tea Genmaicha

Genmaicha (玄米茶, rice coffee tea) is essentially a mixture of green tea and roasted rice. This mixture balances the astrinsity of green tea with the nutty taste of roasted rice. The Japanese regard genmaicha as a kind of Japanese green tea rather than an ordinary blend, perhaps because they have enjoyed it for quite some time. Genmai is also the word for “brown rice” in Japanese, but most of the roasted rice is actually made with white rice. Because both roasted genmaicha rice and brown rice use the same word in Japanese, it’s a little confusing. So why is white rice used instead of brown rice? Apparently, brown rice is not as aromatic when baked and becomes much darker than roasted white rice.