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Organic Gyokuro from Hibiki-an

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68/100

Organic Gyokuro

Green Tea by Hibiki-an

Our Organic Gyokuro is certified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan. They are grown with only natural organic fertilizers and no agricultural chemicals or pesticides.

In Japan, we say “Daichi tono Kakutoh” to describe traditional organic farming. “Daichi tono Kakutoh” means that it takes a lot of time and great effort to grow organic green tea. There are only a few farmers that produce organic green tea in a small part of Kyoto. (For more information, click here.)

Gyokuro was developed in Uji, in Kyoto region of Japan. Even today, it is enjoyed almost exclusively in the Kyoto region. Among many regional varieties of Gyokuro — which is the finest grade of Japanese tea — Uji Gyokuro is said to be the best.

Carefully grown under diffused sunlight for twenty days before harvesting, Gyokuro has several unique features: an elegant aroma, a sweetness of taste, and a light green colour.

Although Japanese green tea is harvested two to four times throughout the year, we can realistically harvest high quality organic tea only once a year due to lack of nutrition caused by limited use of fertilizers. Many organic Japanese green teas are harvested two to four times throughout the year, so unfortunately the taste and aroma are not excellent.

Please enjoy the simple and traditional taste of our Organic Gyokuro.

Breed :‘Gokoh’

1 Tasting Note

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35

Purchased as an organic replacement to Teavana’s gyokuro. Though it seems irredeemably mainstream to say anything nice about Teavana, their gyokuro has a full, bright, grassy flavor that is proving difficult to match.

I had high hopes for this tea based on the consistently high reviews that Hibiki-an teas receive. This, apparently is not one of their better offerings. The flavor, initially, is more subtle than that of Teavana’s gyokuro but it finishes with a robustly icky flavor reminiscent of a neglected flower vase. The bright grassiness is not there – at all. It’s been replaced with some green veggie you bought, oh, a while ago, on a health kick and avoided until it became a slimy, mushy thing that could be thrown away without remorse.