Recipe · Hot, iced or boba

Genmaicha milk tea.

Toasted rice, green tea and milk. It tastes like popcorn and breakfast cereal in the very best way. Three methods, from a quick weekday cup to a proper boba shop glass.

MMelissa TzountzourkasTea taster in training, TeafyUpdated 4 October 20225 min read

A tall glass of iced genmaicha milk tea with ice on a marble bench with toasted rice grains scattered beside it

The short answer

Steep 6 g of genmaicha in 80 ml of water at 85°C for 2 minutes, strain, then add 180 ml of warm or cold milk. For a richer cup, steep 8 g directly in 220 ml of milk warmed to 70°C, off the heat, for 5 minutes. Genmaicha is one of the lowest caffeine green teas: about 10 mg per 100 ml of tea.

In this guide
  1. Recipe card
  2. What makes genmaicha so good with milk
  3. Three ways to make it
  4. Iced and boba
  5. The matcha iri upgrade
  6. How much caffeine?
  7. Storing brewed tea
  8. Questions people ask
  9. Sources

Recipe card

Genmaicha milk tea

Prep3 min
Total5 min
Caffeinevery low
Serves1 glass
Serves1

Ingredients

  • 6 g genmaicha (1 heaped teaspoon is about 3 g)
  • 80 ml water at 85°C
  • 180 ml milk, warm or cold
  • Brown sugar syrup or honey to taste (optional)
  • Ice and cooked tapioca pearls, for boba (optional)

Method

Tap a step to tick it off.

  1. Steep the genmaicha in the 85°C water for 2 minutes. Any longer and the green tea turns bitter.
  2. Strain into a cup, pressing the leaves gently to get the last of the flavour.
  3. Hot: add steamed milk. Iced: pour over a glass full of ice, then add cold milk.
  4. For boba, put 2 tablespoons of warm tapioca pearls and a spoon of brown sugar syrup in the glass first.
  5. Stir, taste, and sweeten if you like.

What makes genmaicha so good with milk

Genmaicha (玄米茶) is green tea mixed with roasted rice. Ours is sencha from our family farm in Shizuoka, blended 50/50 with organic brown rice from Kagoshima and Miyazaki, roasted until some grains pop like tiny puffs of popcorn.

The rice brings toast and sweetness. The tea brings a clean green finish. Milk rounds off both. If you love the milk left at the bottom of a cereal bowl, this is your drink.

Three ways to make it

Method
How
Result
Water steep, the recipe card
6 g in 80 ml at 85°C, 2 min, then milk
Clean, toasty, quick
Milk steep
8 g in 220 ml milk at 70°C, off the heat 5 min, strain
Creamier and rounder, like cereal milk
Cold brew concentrate
15 g in 250 ml cold water, fridge 6 hours, strain, mix 1:1 with milk
Smooth and sweet, no bitterness
Which method suits you?

Our tasting notes, scored 1 to 5.

ToastyCreamySweetnessSpeedClean finish
Water steep
The weekday cup.
Milk steep
The weekend cup.
Cold brew concentrate
The summer fridge bottle.

Iced and boba

  1. Brew double strength12 g of genmaicha in 80 ml of 85°C water, 2 minutes, so the ice does not water it down.
  2. Load the glassBrown sugar syrup and warm tapioca pearls in the bottom.
  3. Fill with iceAll the way.
  4. Pour the tea, then the milkTea first, cold milk on top. Stir with a big straw.

Genmaicha's toasty flavour is a natural match for brown sugar. It is the reason this one disappears so fast on a hot afternoon.

The matcha iri upgrade

Matcha iri genmaicha (抹茶入り玄米茶) is genmaicha dusted with matcha. Make your own: whisk 1 g of culinary matcha into the brewed tea before the milk goes in. It turns the drink jade green, adds body, and adds about 32 mg of caffeine.

How much caffeine?

Caffeine per 100 ml of brewed tea
Genmaicha
10 mg
Sencha
20 mg
Hojicha
20 mg
Gyokuro
160 mg
Japan Standard Tables of Food Composition, 8th edition, 2023 supplement.

Half of genmaicha by weight is rice, which has no caffeine. So it is one of the gentlest teas you can drink in the afternoon.

Storing brewed tea

  1. Milk tea is best fresh.
  2. Concentrate: sealed bottle, fridge, use within a day.
  3. Add milk only when you pour.
  4. Tapioca pearls go hard in the fridge; cook them on the day.

Questions people ask

How do you make genmaicha milk tea?
Steep 6 g of genmaicha in 80 ml of 85°C water for 2 minutes, strain, and add 180 ml of warm or cold milk.
Can you put milk in genmaicha?
Yes. The toasted rice flavour suits milk very well, hot or iced.
Does genmaicha milk tea have caffeine?
A little. Brewed genmaicha has about 10 mg of caffeine per 100 ml of tea, half of sencha.
Can I make genmaicha boba?
Yes. Brew the tea at double strength, add brown sugar syrup and tapioca pearls to the glass, fill with ice, then pour over the tea and cold milk.
Why is my genmaicha milk tea bitter?
The tea steeped too long or the water or milk was too hot. Keep the water at about 85°C and steep for 2 minutes.
M

Melissa Tzountzourkas

Tea taster in training, Teafy

Melissa is training as a Teafy tea taster and has three years of tasting behind her. She writes the Teafy recipes: drinks and bakes that work in a normal Australian kitchen, judged for flavour, colour and fuss.

Sources

  1. Japan Standard Tables of Food Composition (日本食品標準成分表 八訂 増補2023), caffeine in tea infusions, via 全農 茶ガイド
  2. Teafy Genmaicha product specification
  3. Google Ads Keyword Planner, Australia, searches October 2025 to September 2026, checked 11 November 2026

We update this page when the numbers change, and date every change here.

Teas in this guide

GenmaichaSencha from our family farm, 50/50 with roasted brown rice.From $25.99Superior Culinary Grade MatchaFirst and second harvest, bead milled. Built for lattes and baking.From $21.99Scoop and Twist Tea InfuserScoop, twist, steep. For loose leaf in a mug.From $15.99

Keep reading

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