Heavenly Gyokuro
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Commercial Description
This Gyokuro is hand picked from just outside Uji. This area of central Japan is known to make the best shade-grown Gyokuro. The delicate processing produces a very rare and very rich taste that might be most enjoyed by brewing the tea in cooler water than normal (155 degrees) for three minutes. This method of brewing can be a great way to enhance the tea's inherent sweetness and body.
Ratings & Reviews
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80 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 2/5Alex Zorach (1453 reviews) on Oct. 8th, 2012
I'm no expert on Gyokuro, but I will say that, at least to my tastes, this was a top-notch example of one.
I sampled this at World Tea East, but I found I liked it better when I brewed it myself. Harney recommends 155F and 3 minutes. For one teaspoon, I found I liked the results better with a little hotter water (160-165F) and a 5 minute steeping.
Either way produced a mostly clear, pale yellow infusion with a greenish tint, ever-so-slightly cloudy.
Less vegetal in aroma than any other Gyokuro that I've tried, but still somewhat suggesting spinach or other cooked greens, especially in the finish. A rich, brothy umami (savory) flavor, with considerable sweetness. I like longer steepings because more of the brothy flavor comes out, but if you brew it as recommended you can get 3 or so flavorful steepings. This is easily among the sweetest of Japanese green teas that I've ever sampled. Finish leaves a grassy quality. There's almost a hint of mint, like spearmint, in the aroma as well. Like spearmint, I found this tea to have a cooling quality. If you up the water temperature as I did, I find a toasty quality comes out, and the aroma tends ever-so-slightly more in the direction of Chinese pan-fired teas.
Gyokuro is not my favorite type of tea, as I tend to like the brisker, more bitter green teas, but I think this was an exceptionally smooth example of its style. I would recommend this tea to anyone who likes teas that are both sweeter and vegetal.
It's hard for me to rate the value of this tea, because I'm just not a big fan of Gyokuro. I marked it as overpriced both because Harney and Sons sells so many other teas I would rather buy more of for a lower price, and because among green teas, it's not something I would choose to drink every day unless it were priced at a much lower price point.
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