Gyokuro

Grassy-sweet, vegetal (seaweed), and buttery. Lately, that’s all I’ve wanted in a cup. I think I may have OD’d on all my flavoured and unflavoured black teas, or maybe it’s the indecisive weather here on the northwest coast. I just want greens, funny herbals, and chais made on stove top- all of which are teas I didn’t care much for last year.

The main con with this tea is the price. I’m not sure if this is a top notch gyokuro specimen, but it’s alright for now. Like some of the lighter tasting teas, each consecutive sip builds up on a foundation of flavour. While the first few sips were watery and lackluster, the bottom of the second cup consisted of a creeping sweetness with a moist nutty aftertaste.

On a side note, living a 10 minute walk from David’s Tea this year is not going to be a happy thing for my tea budget.

The beau bought some of this the other day without looking at the price. Considering our general dislike of green teas (or at least a lack of enthusiasm for them) I wasn’t very impressed with him. We tried it out last night and I must say that I wasn’t impressed. I won’t give a numerical rating for now as I had only a few sips, but this was little more than hot water to me. I couldn’t pick out any sort of taste, not even vegetal or buttery as expected. It eas extremely mild and way too pricy. So far, I’m not impressed.

buttery? yes. grassy? a little. unique? yeah, I’ll give it that…
However all of these things are overshadowed by the fact that this is yet another green tea which makes me nauseous :(
I couldn’t even finish a second steep…
—funny, the teas that I expect will be ok are not, and vice versa. le sigh

I’m glad I got this for free because of their Earth Day promotion because if I had paid money for it, I would have thought it was a really waste of my money. This tea tastes and smells like seafood soup and tastes a little like it too. It’s got a seaweed/mussel quality to it. It’s definitely not what I’m looking for in a morning tea. At least it was light and smooth?

This is the first Gyokuro I’ve ever tried. It was nice, but not astounding. It tasted like a nice but standard sencha to me. Light, buttery, slightly grassy. I’ll have to try some other Gyokuros to compare. Also, why am I following package instructions lately? It’s not working for me. I went with 2 minutes and this was starting to turn bitter. It would definitely have been nicer starting with shorter infusions.

This tea is alright for what it is, a Japanese green tea. The reason for a lower rating is that it is supposed to be a Gyokuro.

This tea had the complexity of an average sencha, and didn’t really develop much beyond. Though this might be because I made it in the traditional method of quick brews.

Well this smells…interesting. Like something from the sea. But not like ocean air, which I love. Something else from the sea, that doesn’t really smell all that great. I didn’t get that at all in the dry scent, only once it steeped.

Yep it tastes like something seafood-like as well. And despite growing up next to the ocean my entire life, I do NOT like seafood.

This is really good! I was worried it would be too fishy, seaweedy but it isn’t. It’s a smooth, balanced vegetal goodness. If I hadn’t already tried the dragon pearls I would say that this is the best green tea I ever had. But nothing will top those jasmine-scented dragon pearls, those were love at first sip!

The second steep of this was just as good as the first! I did extend the steep time by a minute but no more being afraid it would turn bitter on me. But I’ve yet to be able to savor that last sip at the bottom of the cup on the first brew. I can imagine it would be delicious! You see, my two year old stole it. Yes, I made the mistake of sharing my tea with him early on and now he see’s me drinking and demands a sip. Every. Single. Time. Sometimes he’s content with just a sip and will let me enjoy my tea in peace. Not today. I thought when I gave him his obligatory sip of this he would say “yuck” and walk away..I mean what 2 year old would like a real green tea?? Mine would. And not only did he like it , he made me share sip for sip and then got to savor the last mouthful. Little bugger. Maybe he should be writing these reviews.

So, even without being able to savor that last mouthful of goodness of the first brew this stuff earns high marks. Not as high as my beloved dragon pearls but pretty darn close! I heard you can get tea-drunk. Not sure if that’s true but if it is I would imagine it’s tea like this and those delicious dragon drops that could help someone achieve that state.

First Gyokuro I’ve tried, and it did smell good dry So I though I’d give it a go.
Definitely vegetal and grassy, but I didn’t get any of the smooth buttery flavour that other people seem to. This one turned bitter almost right off the bat, though I think that was due to the staff person using water that was too hot since I didn’t let it steep long at all. It seemed slightly sencha-like to me, but even that didn’t redeem it in the long run.

Another tea I got in-store to sample. This time the girl knew how to brew a green and didn’t burn the leaves, something I was extremely grateful for when I took my first sips. This one is definitely vegetal, but less so than others I have tried. The flavour was a delicate one, not overpowering like I expected it to be, which was a pleasant surprise.

Not my favourite straight green, but I did finish the cup of this one.