If you have an old Sencha, or perhaps a Bancha that you didn't fancy too much - maybe you can just change it into a Genmaicha to enjoy!

Making your own Genmaicha is quite easy. As Genmaicha is just a mix of roasted brown rice kernels and Japanese green tea, all you have to do is roast your brown rice and mix. We'll go through the steps in this article. All you need to prepare is brown rice, water, and Japanese green tea.

The Japanese green tea can be anything you like. It can be Sencha, Fukamushi-sencha, or even a Kukicha. But this won't change the way you roast the brown rice.

Step 1: Wash the Brown Rice

Take however amount of brown rice you would like to use for mixing into tea, and rinse it in water. Usually Genmaicha is mixed with green tea at the ratio of 1:1, so if you are using 3 teaspoons of Green Tea, make sure you'll have 3 teaspoons of brown rice.

Brown rice after washing

Step 2: Roast the Brown Rice in a Pan

Take the brown rice, put it in a pan, and put the heat to a low. Roast until the brown rice starts to enlarge and change colour.

Roasting Brown rice in a pan

Step 3: Add some water and roast

Add a little water - just enough to get the whole brown rice to immerse in water. Increase the heat to a medium or high. Boil until the water evaporates. After the water evaporates, turn the heat to a low and continue to roast for 10 mins.

Adding water and boiling

Roast for another 10 mins after water evaporates

Step 4: Mix with green tea

You're already done! All you have to do is mix the brown rice with green tea and serve. The typical ratio is 1:1, but I like to have the green tea slightly more.

finished roasting

Mix with green tea. this is with Sencha

Step 5: Serve

Now just serve like what you do with normal Genmaicha. Take boiling water and brew for 30 seconds.

Brewing green tea in a Dobin (Teapot)

Serve and enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed that!

It's actually very easy and also very rewarding. Definitely worth a try. If you still feel that this is a little tedious, well that's one of the reason's we're here for! Make sure to take a look at our Genmaicha Selection.