The question of when to drink genmaicha depends on who you are. The tea is considered to be low in caffeine, but there is still an optimal time to drink genmaicha, and we’re going to talk about it in this article.
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When to drink genmaicha?
Before we answer the question when to drink genmaicha, it’s important to first talk about what the tea is.
What is genmaicha?
Genmaicha is a special type of Japanese green tea made by mixing green tea leaves with toasted rice.
The addition of the toasted rice brings a warm and nutty flavor to the tea, which complements the sweet and vegetal flavors of the tea leaves.
Even more important, the toasted rice lowers the caffeine content of the tea.
This affects the ideal time when to drink genmaicha, as you can drink it much later on in the day without it keeping you up at night.
When to drink genmaicha can depend on your sensitivity to caffeine and the time of day you wish to enjoy it.
For a complete guide to genmaicha tea, you can read our article 👉 Essential Genmaicha Guide by Japanese Tea Experts
The caffeine content of Genmaicha
The caffeine content in Genmaicha can vary depending on various factors such as the quality of the leaves and the brewing method used.
On average, Genmaicha contains about 15-30 mg of caffeine per 8 oz (240 ml) serving. This is considered to be lower than the caffeine content found in other types of tea such as black tea, which can contain up to 90 mg of caffeine per 8 oz serving.
If you're looking to learn more about the caffeine in genmaicha, and how it can vary depending on the type of tea, you may want to read our guide 👉 A Scientific Appoach to Genmaicha Caffeine Level
When to drink genmaicha if you are sensitive to caffeine
If you are sensitive to caffeine, you may have to plan out your green tea drinking a bit more carefully. In this next section, we’ll talk about how and when to drink genmaicha as well as other types of Japanese green tea.
When to drink genmaicha in the morning
If you are sensitive to caffeine, you can still get away with drinking genmaicha in the morning, and you may even be able to get away a medium caffeine Japanese green tea like sencha.
The caffeine content in both teas will depend on various factors such as the quality of the leaves and the brewing method used. In general, the caffeine content in Sencha is considered to be higher than that in Genmaicha due to the fact that Sencha is made using only green tea leaves.
When to drink genmaicha in the evening
If you are less sensitive to caffeine and used to the jolt of coffee, the question of when to drink genmaicha may be a little bit different. You should be able to drink genmaicha even after dinner without being kept up late.
If you're looking for a list of low caffeine teas you can drink before bed, we have just the thing! You can read our guide 👉 8 Lowest Caffeine Tea: from Lowest to Highest
Lowering the caffeine of your genmaicha
If you are still nervous about the caffeine content, you can also try brewing the tea with cold water. Caffeine is extracted at a higher temperature, so when you use cold water you don’t get nearly as much.
If you want to learn how to cold brew green tea, we made a full guide about it 👉 Cold Brew Green Tea explained by Tea Experts
Choosing a lower caffeine genmaicha
Another thing you can look into to reduce the caffeine content of your genmaicha is choose one that is made from the older tea leaves (bancha genmaicha). These leaves are lower in caffeine, which will make it easier to drink later on in the evening.
Green tea can also be made from older leaves and not have the addition of toasted rice. In this case, it is simply called Bancha
When to drink genmaicha if you can’t have caffeine
The question of when to drink genmaicha becomes a bit more difficult if you can’t have caffeine. There is such a thing as decaf genmaicha, but it is made using an artificial decaffeination process.
A decaf alternative to genmaicha
Brew up the toasted rice
Another option if you are looking for a decaf version of genmaicha is to actually just brew up the toasted rice. The toasted rice or “genmai” can be purchased at a lot of Japanese grocery stores, and can be either added to your favorite green tea or drunk on its own.
This may not be quite the genmaicha experience you’re looking for but it gives you that warm toasted flavor without the caffeine. This can sometimes be a nice after dinner drink without the caffeine.
Decaf Matcha
Decaf matcha undergoes a decaffeination process that reduces the caffeine content.
This decaffeination process is applied to the tea leaves and not the finished powder, as the caffeine is on the outside of the leaves and once ground it can be difficult to isolate.
If you want to learn more about this decaffeination process, you can read our article 👉 Don't Drink Decaf Matcha Until You Read This Guide!
Final thoughts on when to drink genmaicha
When to drink genmaicha can depend on a bunch of different factors. It’s important to consider how sensitive you are to caffeine and how much caffeine is in the genmaicha you’re drinking.
As we’ve discussed, there are a few different things you can do to manage the caffeine content in your genmaicha tea. You can use cooler water, or use a bancha genmaicha made from lower caffeine tea leaves.
Avoiding caffeine altogether
If you really need to avoid caffeine altogether, you can brew up genmaicha sans tea leaves and still enjoy the warm nutty flavor.
Whatever you decide to do, genmaicha is a delicious tea you’re sure to enjoy. If you are looking for a good genmaicha tea, we’d love to share some of ours with you.
Premium Genmaicha from Nio Teas
Over the past few years, we’ve traveled all around Japan to meet with dozens of farmers and sample hundreds of different green teas. We’ve ultimately settled on a few different genmaicha teas and we’re sending them all around the world with free shipping.
Try them out for yourself and let us know what you think!
