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I wasn’t really thinking about the notes of the tea when I first drank it, which was probably not advantageous to part of this review, but for me, the tea is predominantly mint. I don’t really like mint tea that much, but this is definitely the best mint (“mint themed”?) tea I’ve had yet. If you like mint, I’d go for it! I drank it hot, but it could be better cold. Don’t worry if you over-steep it. I did and I don’t think it affected it for the worse. Quite fresh-tasting! I drank it with sweetener, and I probably wouldn’t recommend it without that.

I tried this cold and I think it must have a little menthol in it, because when you drink it even at the temperature of a cool room, it is very, very cooling. It has a freshness that I’ve found absent from most mint teas (with the exception of Kusmi’s Spearmint Green), which thankfully takes the place of that horrible, weedy kind of taste that mint tea always seems to have. It also leaves a clean taste in your mouth, unlike those weedy ones. I can’t really pick up any other elements besides mint, except for a touch of peripheral herbal flavour that gives it a very, very slight soapy, bitter element—only able to be tasted if you are really looking for those other notes. Besides that aspect, it’s mostly a fairly well-executed mint, but mint tea just leaves me cold (pretty much literally in this case.) I think this would be really good with some lemon or lime juice and zest (along with the sweetener), and for my next sample of it, that’s what I’ll be adding (most likely to a cold cup.)

This was the first genmaicha I’d ever had. It’s an unusual kind of tea taste for me, and I knew it would be. It’s got roasty, green thing going on and it tastes a lot like the flavour of those bits of rice that get charred onto the bottom of a pot of rice if you cook it for too long, with an aftertaste that tastes almost exactly like marijuana. It’s very rice-y, like the taste in your mouth after eating those round rice crackers, but that’s definitely balanced with the green aspect. It’s not at all bitter, even though I left the bag in for several minutes (I know that’s not what’s recommended, but I pretty much needed the caffeine because it’s assignment time, and also, I wanted to really test the flavour). It’s quite comforting, and though I wouldn’t definitely buy a full canister of it, I wouldn’t discount it as a good option for a “sometimes” tea. I drank it unsweetened and couldn’t imagine it any other way. I think it’d probably taste like cereal or something then.

Update: I tried this slightly sweetened. It brought out the rice flavour in a way, but it was just kind of a bit cloying since the tea already has that slight sweetness to begin with. I’d recommend either going very easy on the sweetener, or going without it. I won’t change the rating, because the tea’s flavour was just as good as last time, which is quite good!