May 2021 harvest.
I cannot easily understand gyokuro. Same deal with matcha. Lack of familiarity. If Marsh P’s and Obubu’s/What-Cha’s tasting notes weren’t there, I’d say it tastes like chlorophyll. But I can see the peas and melon and umami. More sweetish pea forward than fruity or umami. So… cholorophyll. Last few steeps bring light notes of dry flowers and like nut skins/brazil nuts. I will say it doesn’t have the 我不知道什么 (that’s me practicing Mandarin) of Chinese green teas. Too mellow? I do feel wonderful after drinking this in the morning.
I have no idea what I’m supposed to do to brew gyokuro. Willful ignorance, mostly because I don’t own the proper teaware. Into the Taiwanese black clay teapot it goes. No transferring of water from pot to cup to pot to whatever, just pour 160F water onto leaf in pot, steep till it feels right, pour through a strainer, peel back the layer of mushy leaf from the drain holes, lick the leaf off my finger and refill the pot.Flavors: Floral, Green, Melon, Nuts, Peas, Smooth, Sweet, Warm Grass, Thick, Umami
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I don’t have a ton of experience with gyokuro either. The recommendations I’ve seem were very low and slow, like 140 degrees for 90 seconds or so.
Thank you for the pointer. Next time I brew a gyokuro, I will somewhat follow the recommendations you’ve seen (meaning I have a kettle that doesn’t go below 160F, so I’ll have to estimate). I used 160F, with the first steep being around a minute every time. Each subsequent steep received the same temp but longer infusions and as much untimed as the first. This gyokuro took my treatment just fine and didn’t, with my limited knowledge of the tea, expose any flaws.
Due to imprecise kettle heating/temp measurement at my place (lowest setting is 175F), I’ve found gyokuro can handle a bit warmer than the 140-160F range suggested, but I do try to adjust the steep times and leafing (wing it 15-45s depending). I can often drag sessions out for a lot of cups. Imho it’s a pretty forgiving tea type.
I’m not super knowledgeable about them either, but try not to overthink these fancy guys. I just know they often provide me with some of my “matcha flavour” fix (on resteep repeat) without me having to going to the effort of whisking! :)
I don’t have a ton of experience with gyokuro either. The recommendations I’ve seem were very low and slow, like 140 degrees for 90 seconds or so.
Thank you for the pointer. Next time I brew a gyokuro, I will somewhat follow the recommendations you’ve seen (meaning I have a kettle that doesn’t go below 160F, so I’ll have to estimate). I used 160F, with the first steep being around a minute every time. Each subsequent steep received the same temp but longer infusions and as much untimed as the first. This gyokuro took my treatment just fine and didn’t, with my limited knowledge of the tea, expose any flaws.
Due to imprecise kettle heating/temp measurement at my place (lowest setting is 175F), I’ve found gyokuro can handle a bit warmer than the 140-160F range suggested, but I do try to adjust the steep times and leafing (wing it 15-45s depending). I can often drag sessions out for a lot of cups. Imho it’s a pretty forgiving tea type.
I’m not super knowledgeable about them either, but try not to overthink these fancy guys. I just know they often provide me with some of my “matcha flavour” fix (on resteep repeat) without me having to going to the effort of whisking! :)