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“I have a sample of this, and so finally wanted to try it out. This is Bird Pick’s more expensive gyokuro (out of 2 or 3 available). I tried cold water brewing, first using near-freezing water...” Read full tasting note
Gyokuro literally translates to “Jade Dew” and is one of Japan’s finest Sencha Green Teas. First discovered in 1835 by Yamamoto Kahei, the process involves shielding the leaves from the sun for 2 weeks before being harvested. This increases caffeine and amino acid levels and decreases catechin (a source of bitterness in tea) making the brew sweeter in flavor. Additionally this tea requires a cooler brewing temperature than others.
Origin: Japan
Brew: Light Auburn
Flavor: Smooth & refined w/ a buttery vegetal melody that gently coats the palate
“Kotobuki No Tsuyu” = my guessed, non-Japanese-speaking translation is:
“Fountain of Life” OR
“Celebration of Dew”
If you speak Japanese, please correct this!
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I have a sample of this, and so finally wanted to try it out. This is Bird Pick’s more expensive gyokuro (out of 2 or 3 available).
I tried cold water brewing, first using near-freezing water (steeped for 7 minutes), then 140, 160, 180 steeps. (Not sure how long I let it steep at those temps, probably between 30 seconds – 1.5 minutes).
This had a nice marine-like taste to it, but it was sickeningly sweet; I thought about what the sweetness was like and I figured it out – it tasted just like fake sweeteners (not sure which one) – sweet n’ low, equal, or splenda. I HATE the taste of diet soft drinks or coffee with fake sweeteners. They have a very sickeningly sweet taste, and unfortunately, this tea reminded me of that flavor. I’m sure a gyokuro (or diet soft drink!) lover out there would find this tea delicious, but I didn’t particularly enjoy this first trial.
I am going to hold off on rating this one, as I want to try a regular brew first. Perhaps one reason I didn’t enjoy it is because it was very intense – not only cold-brewed, but 4g of leaf to 4oz water.
I don’t have much experience with gyokuro, so hopefully as I try more I’ll get an idea if I just don’t like gyokuro, or if it was simply this one. And perhaps I’ll even enjoy it with a regular brewing. I really want to like it.
