Genmaicha substitute

Best substitute

Green tea plus your own toasted rice

Use 1 teaspoon green tea plus 1 teaspoon toasted rice for every cup of genmaicha

Best for hot and iced genmaicha

Close match

Toast plain brown or short-grain white rice in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring, for 5 to 8 minutes until it is golden and smells nutty, then brew it with the tea and strain.

Other genmaicha substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Hojicha (roasted green tea)
Different taste
Use the same amount
Green tea roasted until reddish brown.
What changes
It comes at genmaicha's toastiness from the leaf side rather than the rice side.
Best for
hot drinking, iced tea and cold brew, lattes and desserts, lower caffeine
Toasty and caramel-like rather than popcorn-and-rice, browner in the cup, sweeter and completely without astringency, so a mug of hojicha tastes cosier and less green and savoury than genmaicha. It also has far less caffeine and cannot be made bitter, which makes it the more forgiving choice. In a savoury application such as a tea broth, hojicha reads slightly sweeter than you may want.
3Roasted barley tea (mugicha or boricha)
Different taste
Use the same amount
Roasted barley, brewed like tea, caffeine-free and widely available.
What changes
Best for
caffeine-free drinking, iced tea for the whole table, long steeping and cold brew
The toasted grain character is very close to the rice in genmaicha, arguably closer than hojicha, but there is no green tea underneath at all, so the cup tastes purely roasted, mellow and a little sweet with no vegetal freshness or astringency. It is the best pick if genmaicha was the evening drink and caffeine is the reason you are looking for a swap.
4Plain sencha or bancha green tea
Different taste
Use the same amount brewed at 80 C or 175 F for 2 minutes
The base of genmaicha without the rice, and the majority of what is in the bag anyway.
What changes
Best for
any recipe where genmaicha is the liquid, steaming rice or fish, hot drinking
Grassier, brisker and more astringent, because the toasted rice in genmaicha both softens the green edge and dilutes the leaf. Expect a slightly sharper cup with more caffeine per spoon. Since the rice is doing the mellowing, a pinch of salt or a shorter steep helps a plain green tea taste rounder and more genmaicha-like.
5Genmaicha with matcha (matcha-iri genmaicha) or a pinch of matcha in green tea
Different texture
Use the same amount or ⅛ teaspoon matcha per cup of green tea
A common variant with matcha dusted through the blend, or a home approximation with a pinch of matcha stirred into brewed green tea.
What changes
Best for
a fuller, greener, more savoury cup, when the brew has to hold up against food
Deeper green in colour, thicker in the mouth and more umami-savoury, which suits genmaicha's savoury side well. It does add caffeine and a slight cloudiness. Use a small pinch, since matcha is powerful and can quickly make the cup taste bitter and dominate the toasted note you were trying to keep.

What is Genmaicha?

Genmaicha is Genmaicha, sometimes written genmai cha and nicknamed popcorn tea, is Japanese green tea blended with toasted and partly popped brown rice, which gives an otherwise grassy tea a savoury, nutty, popcorn-like warmth.

Cooking tips

Brew at 80 C or 175 F for about two minutes. The rice tolerates hot water but the green leaf does not, and boiling water gives you a bitter cup with a starchy edge.
Genmaicha takes a second and even a third steep well, and the later infusions taste noticeably more of rice and less of green tea, which is worth knowing if it is the rice note you like.
It is the most food-friendly Japanese tea, so use it where you would use a light broth: steam fish over it, cook rice in it in place of water, or use it to loosen a dressing. Its savoury toastiness suits salmon, mushrooms and soba.
For iced genmaicha, cold brew a heaped tablespoon in a litre of cold water in the fridge overnight. Cold water pulls the sweetness and the rice aroma and leaves the astringency behind entirely.
If your genmaicha tastes dusty, the culprit is usually old broken leaf rather than the rice. Buy it where it turns over quickly and keep it sealed away from light, since toasted rice picks up stale smells fast.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave genmaicha out?

Where it is a background liquid, in a broth or for steaming rice, water works and you simply lose the toasted savoury note. Where it is the drink or the flavour of a dessert, use plain green tea with toasted rice added, or hojicha, since something has to carry that flavour.

Is genmaicha the same as popcorn tea or brown rice tea?

Yes, all three names describe the same blend. The nickname comes from the way some of the toasted rice grains pop open and look like tiny popcorn. Genmai simply means unpolished brown rice in Japanese.

Can I add rice to any green tea to make genmaicha?

Yes, and it works well. Toast a tablespoon of brown or short-grain white rice in a dry pan until golden and nutty, cool it, then use one part toasted rice to one part green tea leaf. Untoasted rice adds starch and no aroma, so the toasting step is the whole recipe.

Does genmaicha have less caffeine than green tea?

A little, because the rice replaces some of the leaf by volume rather than because of anything the rice does. It is still a caffeinated tea. For a genuinely caffeine-free version with a similar toasted character, use roasted barley tea.

Is genmaicha gluten-free?

Traditional genmaicha is green tea and rice only, so it contains no gluten, but some blends include barley or are packed alongside barley tea, and roasted barley tea itself is not gluten-free. If it matters, check the ingredients on the packet rather than assuming.

Related substitutes

More beverages substitutes

Genmaicha substitute

Other genmaicha substitutes

2Hojicha (roasted green tea)

3Roasted barley tea (mugicha or boricha)

4Plain sencha or bancha green tea

5Genmaicha with matcha (matcha-iri genmaicha) or a pinch of matcha in green tea