Brown rice sencha ($2.60)!
Thursday tea pickup — brown rice sencha (genmaicha) $2.60. The Japanese roasted rice tea variant at budget pricing.
Thursday Valentine’s Day morning tea pickup with BB — brown rice sencha (genmaicha) at $2.60. The Japanese roasted-rice tea variant at budget specialty-tea pricing.
We ordered:
- Brown rice sencha (genmaicha) — $2.60
Brown rice sencha (玄米茶 / genmaicha) is the Japanese tea blend that combines sencha (the standard Japanese green tea) with roasted brown rice. The roasted rice provides the toasty-nutty aroma that distinguishes the blend from straight sencha, with the slight sweetness and the warm-popcorn-like flavour profile.
The tea was probably the standard genmaicha leaf blend brewed properly. Green tea leaves mixed with the visible whole-grain roasted brown rice (sometimes called “popcorn tea” because the puffed rice resembles popcorn after the roasting).
The brewing technique matters for genmaicha. The roasted rice contributes its flavour fast, so the tea can be brewed at a slightly higher temperature than straight sencha without going bitter — usually around 80-85°C versus the 70-75°C for premium sencha. The brew time is also slightly shorter than premium sencha.
The flavour profile combines the green tea’s grassy-vegetal notes with the roasted rice’s toasty-nutty depth. The combination is more accessible than straight high-grade sencha (which can be too vegetal for some palates) while still providing the authentic Japanese tea experience.
Genmaicha has a particular cultural background in Japan. Originally created as a budget-friendly tea by extending the more expensive sencha leaves with cheaper roasted rice. The “everyday tea” status made it popular across Japanese households, and the format has been re-evaluated in recent years as the deliberate flavour combination rather than just the budget-extending technique.
At $2.60 this is budget tea pickup pricing. Specialty Japanese tea shops in Singapore charge $4-8 for high-grade sencha or matcha; the genmaicha sits in the lower-tier accessible pricing because the format inherently uses extended leaves.
The Valentine’s morning tea is the small grounding ritual before the day’s events. Specialty cafe coffee or tea pickup, slow walk back home with the cup, the proper morning warm-up.
Thursday Valentine’s Day pre-celebration was probably the lighter slot before the evening’s dinner. We tend to skip the elaborate breakfast-and-brunch on the holiday morning and save the eating energy for the dinner.
Overall: 4.4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Solid genmaicha — would re-order regularly.
