Japan Gyokuro Bio/NOP (Premium)

Dry- Sweet, grassy, umami, nutty(sweet-pea).
Wet- Grassy, nutty, umami, brothy, vegetal notes, corn sweet scent.
Liquor- light yellow-green.

5oz gaiwan with bottom covered in leaf. I followed the traditional fist steep to open and following steeps shorter

1st – 1 1/2 min with no lid until it unfurls/opens – Grassy (pleasant), vegetal, umami and sort of nori tasting broth up front that lingers in leafy greens and kale notes with some astringency and light bitterness that is not unpleasant or uncommon in Japan greens. As the broth taste slowly fades, the more leafy/grassy taste remains with a growing sweetness that lasts in the tongue.

2nd – 20secs – Grassy with notes of Kale and other green/brothy notes up front. The initial taste wears a pleasant astringency and some bitterness that wakes the tongue. As it goes down, the aftertaste is grassy with kale notes but the aftertaste develops a very smooth and sweet vegetal notes.

3rd – 30secs – Grassy, Kale notes, some astringency with some bitter notes that still resemble a broth upfront. As it goes down, it is develops a deeper grassy and kale taste with some faint sweetness. The aftertaste is grassy with somewhat sweeter notes that linger.

4th – 40secs – Grassy, with leafy green/kale notes, some astringency and now some faint sweetness up front that better balances the remaining bitter notes. As it goes down, it is smoother and becomes sweeter on the tongue. The aftertaste is sweeter and has more a sweet-pea and faint honey resemblance.

5th – 50secs – Grassy, Kale notes that are a little more ‘hay like’, that resemble eating the stem of the Kale, some astringency and some sweetness up front. As it goes down, it sweet with some hints of bitterness. The aftertaste is more grassy and hay like with a more sweeter finish.

Final Notes
I like this tea, I would buy it to ‘scratch the itch’ for Japanese greens. Compared to Chinese greens, Japan greens are way more astringent and wear some bitter notes, but in a positive way. They are certainly not for everyone, but the astringency and bitter notes is what makes them so suitable for the dinner table.

This is another tea I picked up in Spain. Actually, it was a gift of the store manager after several long conversations about tea. This is their top green tea offering and I’m glad I got to try it. Honestly the 90 Euro per 100gr tag would put me off completely with an 1E = $1.60 exchange. So I’m grateful and happy I got to sample via a new friendship.

If you have some time, check my blog

Thanks to JC for a sample of this one…

It’s been a while since I’ve had gyokuro of any kind, I do like them but it can be hard to justify the price. My allergies were bugging me when I woke up this morning, so I thought I’d focus more on green teas today after drinking my matcha smoothie.

I think I may have steeped this at too high a temperature (around 175) with my variable temp kettle. The 1st steep at 90 seconds seems a bit bitter though there are pleasant grassy and nutty notes in the tea with a vivid greenish/yellow tea liquor…

I tried the 2nd steep at a much lower temperature and liked it better. There is more of a umami flavor with some brothiness present. Still grassy but much less assertive. I think you’re supposed to brew gyokuro at lower temperatures but I forgot about that when I prepared this.

I seem to recall I’ve had some other gyokuros that were sweet and a much deeper green than this one. I don’t know if I messed it up due to my brewing parameters? I appreciate having the chance to try it but won’t rate it for now.