Gyokuro Yamashiro

I really do love the flavour of this tea, but I find it a little too soft for my liking. Still trying different combinations of steeping times, temperatures, and leaf amounts for that perfect cup.

Oh my gosh what a good tea this was. So I am a huge fan of green teas and this one really did please my palate! This one tasteed so nice and smooth, it tasted sort of spinach-y with a hint of the ocean to me. It definately goes down easily. I wish it wasnt so pricy though, but it is very rare and high quality… I will stick to getting it togo instead of buying the dry leaves (:

update Okay so I just brewed a cup of normal teabag grocery store green tea and I find that it has no flavour at all. After drinking loose leaf teas the grocery store teas just cant measure up…. i swear the bag has been in this cup for a half hour and it is has nooo flavour to it! I think I will stick to davids loose leaf green teas, tently is just not working out for me….

This is really good. A unique buttery, sweet, light green tea with an intense flavor.

Mmmm. One of my first straight green teas. Wonderfully devoid of bitterness and as others have said, very buttery. I always kind of wondered what people meant when they said a tea was buttery, and now I know. I got this as a sample and I can’t wait to buy more next time I’m at David’s (I wish it wasn’t so expensive though!)

Gyokuro,

I stopped by David’s Tea today to grab a cup of straight green tea for the ride home under this terrible weather. I wanted to have a little taste of Gyokuro Yamashiro tea. A little bird told me to get a cup of it instead of buying a baggie because of its price, so I did.

Two things I should’ve done differently
1. – I ordered it with a splash of soy milk and agave out of reflex
2. – I steeped it for 5 minutes

I wanted to taste how it truly is… BARE NAKED STRAIGHT but I only realized it a little too late. I didn’t want to make a fuss so, I left it as that and went my way. I’ve also forgotten the amount of leaves David’s Tea pour for just a cuppa. It was too much! I think I’ve over-steeped the drink, giving it a slight bitter after taste, however, the tea was satisfyingly enough. I really love the vegetal tones.

This is the best tea I have ever had. If I could magically transform my entire tea cupboard into this tea, I would be the happiest tea drinker there ever was.

I have been drinking this tea and steeping it for a minute, then reusing the leaves and adding 15 seconds to each steep. I can use the same tealeaves all day long, only noticing a weakening of the flavour towards late afternoon/evening. So then I just start upping the steep time a little more, and it’s still delicious.

The tea is warm and light and buttery, has none of the grassy taste that turns me off some green teas. This is a tea that makes the world slow down and give you some time to breathe and relax. I am taking it to visit my parents for Christmas, and they can’t have any because I am mean like that.

Steamed green tea from Japan. Grassy, vegetal, sweet, buttery, reminds be of chicken noodle soup broth. Second steep, just as good as the first, but with more buttery taste. Not bad, but not worth the price.

This was my cup today in-store as they filled my order. I got the new girl on staff who doesn’t know her teas well at all and honestly kinda creeps me out. Sadly, the water she used was way too hot for this tea (something the regular girls at my Davids are sure not to do). My first few sips were utterly scorched and tasted like burnt spinach. YUCK.

Still, I’ve had luck with greens that I just kept with, so I let it cool a bit and didn’t sip again for at least five minutes. The cooler temperature helped (as probably did my pulling the leaves almost immediately after she gave it to me) and now that I’m halfway through the cup it is better. We’re still slightly scorched but I can see why people love this tea. I think if I’d made it at home it would be an excellent, if extremely strong, green. If I choose to have it again in store, I think I’ll ask for the bag on the side with a cup of hot water so I can choose when to steep the cup.

Dry: Rich dark green tea leaves with a soft vegetal, almost sweet green tea aroma. I smelled a sencha after this one as a dry leaf and it is a very notable difference, with this one appealing significantly more to me.

Steeped: Lovely green, sweet, rich green tea. Clear yellow-green bright liquor.

Taste: If the aroma was nice, the taste is wonderful! Chlorophyll meets buttery sweetness. Almost the very slightest floral note at the end of each taste. This is what I wanted green tea to be when I first tried some of the others out there. It is both savory and sweet at the same time to my palate. 2nd steep was equally magical. Third steep starts tasting a touch diluted. Still, nothing needs to be added or changed- I love it just the way it is. The only unfortunate thing is that it is quite pricey for an every day tea, but worth it for something special. I have a birthday coming up and know what I will be asking for!

Fantastic for a straight green. Doesn’t get much better in fact. While I generally prefer pure oolongs over pure greens, I’d drink this every day if I could.