Still struggling to “understand” Gyokuro tea. In general, they taste to me like a very umami-rich green tea, almost in the direction of being like a lightly savory green-tea soup.
This one is interesting – IMO, it’s a bit of an acquired taste (for context, I live in the USA and not Japan), but fairly intriguing. Very tricky to serve to guests, since once again, it’s somewhat of an acquired taste and you have to be open-minded and willing to try a somewhat unique/different tea.
For a first time taste, I’d recommend either going to the Ippodo Tea locations in Kyoto (excellent), Tokyo (also quite good), or New York City (never been) to get a freshly brewed cup by the staff, or try brewing it yourself cold brew. Brewing it hot is quite nice, but I’ve found that I enjoy it cold better. (Cold tastes kind of like a green tea flavored very light gazpacho?)
