Tea Popped roasted rice adorns the tea

Genmai Cha: The History of a Unique Taste

Chris Cason

Unlike tea, the Japanese during difficult times rice was both plentiful and inexpensive. Diluting tea with a handful of roasted rice was one way that a limited amount of tea could be made to last longer. Out of this opportune desperation, a tradition was born of combining tea leaves with rice, producing a mixture called Genmai Cha.

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