Japan Gyokuro (720)

This is an absolutely lovely tea. I don’t want to use specific words to describe it because each word that comes to mind does not do this tea justice. I prefer big black teas with lots of smoke and lots of flavor. When a subtle tea wins me over like this, I am really moved. I’m going to invest in more of this, knowing that it’s a tea for a special and wonderful occasion.

This is a very yummy green tea. Distinctly Japanese, the flavor is primarily hay, artichoke, and seaweed – I realize that this description might not sound as good as it tastes. There is a little bit of umami or mushroomy flavor, which makes the tea more craveable. There is only a bit of astringency on the trailing end of an occasional sip.

The package suggested eating the used leaves, but I ate some of the leaves dry. They were pretty tasty. The leaves have a sweetness to their smell and are very tender. Just one or two is enough to give you a pretty good bit of flavor. Try more than a few at once and it may be too intense for some, but I enjoyed that too. The used leaves were also nice to eat, though much more mild.

Multiple steeps work all right, the flavor stays nice. No tannins taking over or anything like that, but the flavor isn’t really enhanced by it. I am at my third steep now, and it’s pretty muted but still enjoyable. There is a lingering sweetness after each sip.

I don’t really have anything negative to say about this tea. I have not had many Japanese greens recently, but this is my current favorite green tea that I can name. At close to $.50/gram, it was very pricey, but I wanted to try a Gyokuro and was not disappointed.

Always delicious and always refreshing, Great hot days. I always get this iced extra strong. It is even better that I get this FREE since I am the Mayor of my local TeaGschwendner on FourSquare. Yay!

I tried this for the first time a few days ago and if I had rated it then, it would be close to the very bottom. After reading up on gyokuros, I realized that my water temp was probably too high which resulted in a nasty cup of stewed grass clippings. I watched my kettle today and pulled the water off the heat when it first started to steam, before it started to slightly bubble. I let the tea have a short steep and TAH DAH!! Success. This tea says it has notes of seaweed and honeydew melon, which I totally get but luckily my cup is on the honeydew melon side of things. It is a very light, but full-bodied tea that is truly interesting. I rather like this and plan to see how many infusions this will allow – as long as I don’t mess up the water temp again.

love this tea. Bright, light green elegance with a nice sweet taste.

Ein herrlicher Japan Grüntee. Weich und fruchtig. Eben Umami

A beautiful Japanese green tea. Soft and fruity. Just Umami

This tea is a calm Japanese green. Getting a light vegetal aroma (spinach-like). Very subtle, alongside a lightly citrus background (between a under-ripe peach and an clementine). The taste is equally as light. Chartreuse in color. Not as creamy as some other Japanese greens I have partaken in, the Gyokuro’s body has some lingering astringency that dries the mouth as it coats the mouth (unami); however, there is little if any briskness (pucker). Overall, this tea is pleasing with a mellow flavor and medium body (fuller than what you encounter with most greens).

(Caution: brew at 60°C)

I bought one cup of this in TeaGschwender’s Chicago store, and both my friend and I agreed it was both bitter and quite possibly the worst green tea we have ever had. That said, I notice that the other reviews here tend to be fairly high, so possibly the guy making it either oversteeped it or used water that was too hot (though if that is the case that would be be very frustrating, to spend $5 on a single cup and have the guy in the company’s own store make it wrong)

Another contender for my morning cup(s) of gyokuro. Much better than the Hibiki-an organic but still missing that bright green flavor of, yes, Teavana’s (conventional).

More bland than bitter, the flavor nevertheless is more like kale or another bitter green. Too bad too as TG’s service is wonderful and I’ve got so many fond memories of their shop in Heidelberg. I was sort of hoping this would be “the one”.

I loved this one too. Mild, yet green taste, ideal for the morning.

My favorite Green Tea! One of the best green tea that I can find here in Brazil. It has a delicious flavor of Prunus persica var. nucipersica. Water temperature: 55 to 60ºC. Infusion time: less than 2min. It’s possible to prepare this tea twice, using the same leafs.