Genmai Cha Loose Leaf Green Tea (8-Ounce Bulk Bag); Unique Japanese Style Gen Mai Cha Tea w/ Dried Rice

Look, unlike some other commenters who are bound by convention- YOU CAN NOT OVER BREW THIS TEA. Of course I like my tea to taste like, well, something and not just hot water, and I used to let my go to Kirkland (CostCo) brand steep for 15 minutes. Yummy. Now you can expect all the usual Tea side effects like dry mouth and Tea breath because it is a diuretic just like coffee, but bitter taste is not among them and I have let this sit in a hot Thermos for 45 minutes or more because I also have a life.Yummy.It comes out a distinctly brown elixir (yeah, clear and sweet tasting, used for medicinal purposes, it's a metaphor) about the shade of a normally brewed Oolong and I suspect based on my research and experience that it's about as caffeinated as coffee, with all those good Tea based extenders and buffers that keep me from getting all jacked up and jittery (even Black Tea and yes, I used to drink coffee, two pots a day).I can't recommend it enough. It's entirely non-fussy and mild. The one thing you should pay attention to is the dosage. Two even teaspoons is plenty for 20 oz. (two British cups) of tea and really, who re-brews their used teabags at these prices ($12 a pound) though I'm told you can do it at least 3 times.Did I mention I like my tea to taste like something and not just hot water?

New daily tea. The perfect green tea for me- I even like to mix a bit of peppermint with it to make my own Moroccan mint blend. Much cheaper than buying a tiny bag already blended. I love gunpowder green and this is not only an excellent value but an excellent product. It has a nice smoky, green tea taste. Just enough caffeine but not too much that it makes me jittery. I think some people are such tea snobs-after viewing reddit threads about tea, I’ve realized you can’t please everyone. And some people are only pleased if you are selling the most expensive, rare, grown on a specific mountain tea.

I don't even need to open the bag to know that this is not Japanese sencha tea. Sencha comes only from Japan, not China. All of this marketing-speak boohoo about Japanese-style, sencha-style, garbage. Also, in the description it mentions that this tea is also referred to as shincha or ichiban cha. No, it is not. That is a complete fabrication. Shincha is a special process that requires the first spring tea to be picked, in the shade, and carefully steamed for drying. It must be done IN JAPAN, IN THE FIELD. True sencha is good tea, often called first cutting. But again, tea from China cannot be sencha much less shincha.I did not open the product but can't return it. Guess I'll use it as fertilizer in the garden. Also, I should read the reviews a little more carefully to see that a product marketed as Japanese is actually made in China.BTW, this is my second attempt at a review of this product as Amazon decided to censor my first. They don't ever really say why but list several directives about policy. Maybe it was a word in the title of the review, a four-letter word, that means a bed typically stacked two or three high. Is that obscene? This review is not a slam on China but on the marketers of this particular product. Misleading at the least, fraudulent at the outset.

If you're wondering why it cost the same for 8oz Solstice dragonwell and 4oz Tealyra or Valley of Tea dragonwell, it's because Solstice appears to be lower quality. The leaves are browner indicating a lower grade, see picture. The Solstice tea isn't bad, but it has a slightly nuttier flavor than most Dragonwells, which tend to be smoother and slightly sweet-ish. As mentioned, it doesn't actually taste bad, just not what I expected. You get what you pay for as usual.

CAFFEINE: I bought this tea based on reviews that I was getting a STRONG green tea. I don't know why they don't tell us in the description or why the bottom description panel on the package is covered up in the pictures but this is a LOW CAFFEINE tea. See the picture of the package I uploaded. Is there a reason this company has not included this fact in pictures or their description? For me, and I would think for others, this is a key factor.PRICE: So, the price is amazing no doubt. A huge bag for $15. You won't find a better deal on loose green tea anywhere.TASTE: It's OK. A little smoky. I have to brew 1 TABLESPOON (not teaspoon like it instructs) for 8 ounces of water and steep for 15 minutes to get a reasonable caffeine content and taste.OVERALL: Super cheap, totally OK green tea that you will have to brew a long time to get the same cup as a standard Bigalow teabag.WOULD I BUY AGAIN?: No but that is because I don't mind spending more on a stronger more flavorful tea. For a great majority of buyers, I think the will be a great bargain.

I've purchased this tea before without a problem, but this bag had an off taste to it. The best I can come up with is the tea plants were sprayed with some kind of chemical. I decided to do what the Japanese people do. I pour boiling water over the leaves, stir several times, pour off that water and then make my tea with the cleansed leaves and it tasted like it should. What a bother. I wouldn't be buying this brand again.

I enjoy many many different teas. I'm a huge tea nerd. Let me say, this company is crap. I bought two different types of green teas from this company, on top of buying many other types of green teas from other companies on the same day. So, as you can see. I can spot the difference between a great company and a not so great one. It's not that this tea taste bad tasting. It's the fact that it is smooth. As in, it was watered down when they preccessed it, causing the green tea to loose a lot of it's flavors. I breed dubia roaches and i actually ended up using this tea for the flooring in their tank. Wasnt worth drinking it. Si, use that information as you will. Theres many many way better companies that go thru Amazon. Dont waste time on this one.