Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Green, Seaweed, Sweet, Grass, Metallic, Tea, Vegetal
Sold in
Loose Leaf, Sachet
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Michael
Average preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 45 sec 5 g 6 oz / 177 ml

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47 Tasting Notes View all

From Adagio Teas

Green tea from Japan famed for its unique shading process. Gyokuro, meaning ‘pearl dew,’ is among the finest of Japanese teas. Our ‘Moonlight Gyokuro’ is made solely from the prized tender buds gathered in the early spring flush. Three weeks prior to plucking, tea bushes are shaded from the sun. The fruits of this hard work are evident in each cup. The result is a gentle tea with an intoxicating fragrance and truly sublime taste.

About Adagio Teas View company

Adagio Teas has become one of the most popular destinations for tea online. Its products are available online at www.adagio.com and in many gourmet and health food stores.

47 Tasting Notes

76
2036 tasting notes

Yum.

That is all.

(Did someone say cheesecake? We’re going to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Woo hoo!)

VariaTEA

Lucky!! Have a piece of cheesecake for me!! I won’t be able to have their tasty food until I am in Florida in March.

__Morgana__

I will be eating from the skinnylicious menu, unfortunately, but I may allow myself a bite of someone else’s cheesecake and I’ll be happy to do it in your honor, VT. ;-)

VariaTEA

Awww so sweet. Enjoy yourself!!

Roswell Strange

Urghhh… Too much cheesecake talk :(

__Morgana__

Sorry RS! ;-)

Fjellrev

I’ve never been there before but I heard it’s pretty good!

__Morgana__

F, it’s decent for a chain. Lots of selections so something for everyone. But ridiculously HUGE portions.

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89
98 tasting notes

Dry Smell: like a fruit rollup.

Wet Smell: Like snow peas.

Tastes like snow peas. Maybe grass as well. Not bad I’ve never had Gyokuro before but it’s nice I think I might like Sencha Better though.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Put some ice cubes in a teapot and some gyokuro leaves on top of the ice. As the ice melts…pure tea amino acids melt off snf can be poured off into a cup for a super concentrated sip. Little by little…you get these little tastes of tea. Of course, the better the gyokuro the better the flavor. (Just a suggestion, one of my favorites)

Matt

Thanks for the tip Bonnie! :)

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89
81 tasting notes
I had another pleasure of trying Gyokuro this time around since my last impression was from an “up-selling establishment”. My first impression was almost always the intense vegetal and spinach aroma along with a deep jaded color. Adagio’s take of Gyokuro is highly authentic grown by respected hands…yet a shadow of its essence. I don’t know exactly, maybe someone out here would explain but my idea is probably the age of the batch is a bit old for a sample, possible a bad batch, or yet the dreaded draw down of intense flavors for customer appeal (something I hate to see in this tea that’s know for its rich taste). Either way, this tea is light in comparison…even T’s gyokuro could rival in its umami salty-like, savory aspect, its tastes much more like grass, a faint familiar vegetal aroma and flavor. The liqour has a light green color beyond two minutes, though at first I gave it a go at forty-five seconds but it was all too light that its liquor could have been mistaken for White Tea. Negatives aside, its an enjoyable tea with a balance not seen with gyokuro, smooth taste without tannins,without` bitterness after brew after brew. As much as I praise Adagio and the tea grower for this gyokuro, every sip I take always so often it seem generic yet I may be wrong.

Update: I kinda regret what I just mentioned above, It appears it does have an umami flavor close to sushi and seaweed. I dont know what went wrong with brewing this tea before but I certainly enjoy more often then I should of…I ran out of this stuff:( oh well…

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 15 sec
Jillian

If you’re looking for a high-quality gyokuro I’d recommend a place that specializes in Japanese teas like Den’s Tea. They’re more expensive generally but the quality is worth the extra money.

Kasumi no Chajin

mellow monk, http://www.o-cha.com/ and Yuuki-Cha would be worth looking into as well.

Anthony Bazic

Thanks jillian for that, i checked Den’s tea there quite a good selection and definately expensive. @Kasumi: Thanks for the reference yet I can’t find the amount there selling only the prices are shown.

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99
176 tasting notes

I actually tried to re-steep one and IT WORKED OUT WELL I just let it steep a big longer. I DON’T REALLY KNOWWHY I DIDN’T TRY IT BEFORE. Wow that was dumb of me. AT LEAST NOW I KNOW!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 45 sec

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78
865 tasting notes

This came on Saturday and I thought this would be the perfect day to rip into it since it’s the Select item- and it’s my 1st gyokuro!

Prepared as suggested. 1tsp/170 degree purified water. I’m really glad they’ve gotten away from the 1tsp/180 degree water parameters, but this isn’t close enough. Leaf amount is right, but water volume has got to be less, the temp has got to be cooler, and it’s way over steeped. But, this is what they suggest, so it’s what I’ll try 1st.

The liquor is a light olive color w/ a very sweet aroma- almost as sweet as the musk melon I just had. The mouth feel is very smooth- not exactly what I expected since the leaves are so tiny leaving particles in my cup. The flavor is very sweet with just a hint of astringency. Good, but I think an overhaul of the steeping parameters will give me a better cuppa.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Shinobi_cha

Tiny particles, in a gyokuro? I am no expert , but don’t tiny particles only come in deep steamed (fukamushi), or if the (green) tea is low quality?

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74
46 tasting notes

I’ve had my sample for months and only now felt brave enough to try brewing it hot. (I tried the cold-brewing method first, without much success, must have been the ice I used.)

Looking for guidance from TeaChat, O-cha (http://www.o-cha.com/brewing-gyokuro.htm) and this post (http://meandmytea.blogspot.com/2008/04/gyokuro-brewing.html), I settled on 2g of leaf per oz of water. I used a heaping tablespoon which turned out to be 6.10 grams, then used ~100mL water. I started with 140F for my first batch.

First impression: Wow. Like matcha, only smokier.

The first batch I used only about 90ml, and it was too concentrated that I had to add a bit more water. It then mellowed down to a considerably more enjoyable cup. In fact, downright tasty I was smacking my lips. As I’m writing this now suddenly I can taste a sweet powdery taste emerging at the back of my tongue.

The succeeding batches, I upped the temperature of water a bit to 150, then 155, and used more water, about 110-120mL, infusion times between 60-90 seconds.

I’ve seen instructions (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/wa_style/sub_contents/101/gyokuro.html) to use even lower temperatures (104 to 122F, or 40 to 50C), steeped for two minutes. Since I still have a lot of my sample, I will give that a try soon, but maybe not today, because damn this stuff is already going to my head, like espresso, and I think I better lie down. :P

Preparation
145 °F / 62 °C 1 min, 15 sec
Cofftea

Like matcha only smokier? I think I’ll skip those parameters then lol! I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything described like that lol.

pimli

feel free to use your own parameters, and share them with me please! mine, uh, suck.

Cofftea

LOL! I love matcha, but yeah smoky matcha would be like drinking ashes. I depend on http://www.denstea.com/perfect_brewing.html for all my Japanese green steeping parameters. Good luck!

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95
24 tasting notes

First off , just straight awesome!! I brewed it for 45 seconds and the brew had a emerald colour, the taste was that of steamed spinach and melted butter, the texture was like you were drinking melted butter! MMMMM and I got 3 steepings out of it, a first for a tea from adagio.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 0 min, 45 sec
Cofftea

Have you tried their dragonwell? I can get 12-22 infusions from that:)

GREEN TEA TV

Good to know , I will pick some up next time I order, thanks for the heads up. I have also made some signature blends on ADAGIO and I got multiple infusions from them.

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80
55 tasting notes

I brewed this at a slightly lower temp (a recommendation from Twitter) – 160 degrees – and I saw a slightly milder taste than the bitter edge I got at 180d. Grassy is a def, vegatal with a slight sweet taste. Full, grassy scent. The second steep was milder still.

This is a great pick-me-up when I need to focus and keep getting distracted.

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

160 is the temp recommendation I have as well. 2tsp in 4oz water for 2 min. Glad you got a better cuppa:)

Jane Quigley

It made such a difference!

Kyle Hildebrant

I found 165-170 to be fine. 180 definitely brought out some bitterness.

Jane Quigley

I found that too – I’m glad I have Adagio’s tea kettle – the one where I can change my temp settings.

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100
336 tasting notes

I love the look of the leaves resembling dark green silky needles. The smell is very grassy and a bit off-putting. Some people, I recall, describing this tea as a broccoli water :) But I actually like the taste. It is grassy, vegetal not as sweet as Sencha.
Sometimes I think my body has a mind of its own and it says: “Give me more of this! I like it!”
Now, I’m talking to myself …. Sigh. Never mind, I’ll have some more tea.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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53
59 tasting notes

I’m not sold on this yet, but from reading some of the tasting notes, it appears that it may take a lot of experimentation with the time/temp/amount of leaf.

On the advice of the tasting notes, I used 2 tsp of leaf and steeped for 2 min at 160°. This produced a brew that, while initially lightly sweet, quickly turns fairly bitter and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.

Rating pending. Going to try a second, much shorter steeping now.

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

You also may want to change the volume of water that you use. For these steeping parameters you may want to only use 4oz water. Another set of parameters you may want to try is 2oz of 140 degree water, 2tsp tea steeped for 2.5min. Hope this helps!:)

Scott Cranfill

That’s quite little water for quite a lot of leaf! What effect would you expect that to have on it?

Cofftea

I expect a much better result. For more info on steeping parameters of Japanese greens, I suggest http://www.denstea.com/perfect_brewing.html

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