Gyokuro Imperial

SIPDOWN!

Thanks to Raritea for this sample. Now i’m not huge fan of straight greens but this one is for sure one that I could keep around for when i’m in the mood for a straight green. There’s a sweetness behind the vegetal notes that I find appealing. Thank you Raritea for this tea that i otherwise never would have tried :)

Thanks to Raritea for a sample of this one! Unfortunately, although I knowingly wrote 1 tsp on the bag, I clearly put 1.5 into it, so this is not yet a sipdown :(

Ahhh, this is tasty. Vegetal and chewy, if tea can have a texture! It’s also kind of mariney and brothy, neither of which overpower one another, which works really well. Actually, it tastes kind of like the salted, flavoured seaweed snacks I like to eat. But, less seaweedy.

Overall, pretty good! I was worried that my 45s infusion would be too long, but it was just perfect here, and I’m glad I didn’t use more tea!

Depending on the price, this would be a tea I’d consider buying in the future, although I’m likely to go elsewhere for a gyokuro. Would definitely drink it if offered though, as long as I was in a green tea mood (I find that I must be in the mood for vegetal greens, otherwise I don’t particularly enjoy them).

Thanks Raritea!

Loose
Appearance: long fine leaf, dark forest green
Aroma when Dry: buttery, smooth, sweet (eastern)
After water is first poured: buttery, smooth, creamy, sweet (eastern)
At end of first steep: even smooth vegital
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: clear
Staple? Type likey, would use brand again
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first?: smooth, brothy, salt seaweed note close
As it cools?: gets rich, creamy, salty, brothy
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)?
Lingers? Yes, sweet, silky, vegital, brothy notes, hints of salt

Second Steep(5 min):
At first: lightly sour vegital, sweet buttery close
As it cools?: gets a cloying sweet, sour vegital note

This poor tea…

I killed it with both steeping time and hot water. My mom still loved it, but I thought it was too astringent for me. She said “it tastes like spinach water” and, as she is someone who totally drinks spinach water on occasion, I guess that’s not a bad thing. :)

Before it cooled and became too astringent, though, I thought the thick brothy texture was tasty. The dry leaf looked like grass clippings and it reminded me of spring. I can’t wait until it actually is spring again!

I used 0.8 tablespoons for 375 ml of water.

Thick and brothy. Savoury. Highly vegetal (spinach) with a pleasant astringency. Hints of roasted flavour. Mild complementary sweetness.

Well, I went into my local Teavana for the last time yesterday. I really wanted a cup of tea so I stopped in while my husband and I were shopping and I wanted to try this tea to go. Well, from the start they were on me about buying it. I passed, to go would be fine.

I’ll save the rest of the story for a blog post later…I’m still steamed over the whole trip and it had nothing to do with me, but another customer. Anyway, this tea is probably one of the few straight teas they still carry. I had it iced and found it to have the usual veggie taste to it that most greens have (I’m growing to like them), but there was also a natural sweetness to this one too which I enjoyed. I would get this tea again from another source in the future.

Here’s what justifies the price:

$20 for 2 ounces. Seems really out of proportion, right? Well, as opposed to 1 teaspoon for eight ounces, you use half a teaspoon. This effectively cuts the price in half in relation to how teavana prices their tea. By using only half the amount of tea than usual, you have to attribute that to the price. In relation to everything else: only ten bucks for 2oz. Extremely fair considering the quality.

I just bought this tea today and I can’t get enough of it. It has a very vegetal and grassy flavor with a wonderful scent. The flavor is so unique to me that I can’t compare it to anything else. For an extra kick, I tried adding Teavana’s Morrocan Mint to it and it is a match made in heaven. Next I’m gonna try adding in jasmine and see how that goes :D

I tried this in the store on my last pass through the local mall. It’s a fairly standard tasting green tea. Mild and grassy. Nothing jumps out at me as good or bad. It’s just normal.

Thus, it’s getting a middle of the ground rating, only slightly above average (average being 50). If you like green tea, you’ll probably like this. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy some. A hot free sample in the store suits me just fine. :)

My stepbrother got me this for Christmas (he definitely got taken by the pushy salespeople, tin and all!). I’ve always wanted to try this but could never justify spending that much, however I love this! It is extremely grassy and vegetal which I absolutely love. This is the perfect green tea.

Grassy and Vegetal are definitely two of the words that can be used to describe this tea.
One of my favorites, I like to steep it for either 45 seconds, or 2 minutes using 175 degree Fahrenheit water. Interestingly enough, if you steep the Gyokuro for 45 seconds, it manages to produce a strong flavor, while keeping the bitter qualities of tannin’s completely out of the mixture. Any longer than 45 seconds, and the tannin’s flavor is obvious; however, at 2 minutes, the bitterness once again diminishes and you are left with an even stronger flavor than with 45 seconds, while still managing to escape the tannin’s flavor. I have also tried Gyokuro iced, though I much prefer the traditional flavors hot.

Gyokuro is a lovely escape into a grassy field on a dew filled morning. I would highly recommend this tea to any green tea lover, with a special spot for Vegetation. I also believe that Matcha powder is made from crushed young Gyokuro leaves.

I’m not going to rate this one. This is the only Gyokuro I’ve tried, so I have no idea how it compares to other Gyokuros. I really enjoy this tea, though!

So I also got this from the Heavenly Sale, because who’s not going to jump on $5 Gyokuro?

Yep. It tastes very much like spinach. It’s really grassy and vegetal tasting. Actually, it’s almost filling in a way. I didn’t understand how some people could describe a tea as “meaty” until today, but it’s true. The tea has substance.

The aftertaste is kind of sweet and I tasted some slight bitterness while it was hot, but as it cooled the bitterness went away.

It smelled and tasted kind of like any Green Tea Ice Cream I’d ever had except not as sweet as that. I suppose adding honey might bring it close, but I kind of like it the way it is without additives.

This one’s a keeper… at least until something better comes along…

This tea has a really great taste to it, full of thick, vegetal, kelpy goodness. The first steep is always exploding with robust green flavors and smooth, sweet aromas whether it’s steeped Western or gong fu style. However, if you’re looking for a tea with resonance, and great flavor throughout steeps, it’s certainly not this one. With four grams of leaf in a small gaiwan, and the first two steeps 3 seconds and 6 seconds respectively, the next steeps always seem to be uncannily weak, even when the time is increased significantly. A great deal of the interesting flavors and aromas giving this tea such a great profile at first simply disappear and leave you wondering whether you imagined the flavors previously, leaving the taste simple, watery, and boring. However, if you brew this gyokuro Western style with a shorter first steep, you can get a respectable and tasty second infusion.

The liquor’s flavor is sweet, very kelpy, buttery, and quite vegetal, giving off aromas of steamed veggies and freshly mowed grass. The mouthfeel of this tea is extremely smooth, and oh so thick—almost milk-like. It somewhat reminds me of a Jin Xuan oolong, only with a much deeper “green” flavor and far more astringency. I sometimes catch a subtle whisp of smoky flavors that seem to drift in during the second steep that adds character and further complexity. Yet, while full and rich, the flavor is fleeting. It only lasts for the remainder of the sip before fading quickly and leaving barely a hint of an aftertaste. While incredibly subtle, the aftertaste is almost exactly like the aroma of the dry leaf, which is awesome and intoxicating: herbaceous, very sweet, kelpy, and powerfully “green.”

Finally, I absolutely love the leaves of this tea. They truly are a beautiful shade of deep, vibrant green.

I don’t drink a great many green teas, however luthien convinced me to try a few new ones and to pay more careful attention to the brewing times and water temps. This tea in particular seems sensitive to time and temperature. The unsweetened flavor is very nice, mild and ’vegetal, and not acidic at all to my taste buds (which is one of my usual complaints about green teas). It smells lovely to my nose, a bit like dry cut grass.

My favorite tea and a treat to have every now and then (too expensive to drink every day) – I’ve steeped this many times and found that temperature for this green tea’s critical if you want to maintain the complex, sweet flavor. For those who want to re-steep this, it’s possible to steep for 30 sec-1 min longer for that second cup while maintaining the same temperature.

Amount used: 1.5 tsp (best if you want to steep twice with a stronger flavor)

Dry tea: Fragrant, grassy, slightly sweet aroma; appears like dark-green grass clippings

Method: Avoid boiling the water since that will alter the flavor of the tea; if temperature’s between 160-180 degrees, cool it off by waiting or adding cool, filtered water in increments til it reaches about 155 degrees. Pour some cool, filtered water on top of the leaves in the basket before steeping which should bring the temperature down to 150 degrees. Steep until 90 sec passes, using the remaining 5-10 seconds to flash steep.

The tea itself: Jade-green/green color liquid (the color reminded me of matcha green tea); Lovely sweet, grassy aroma. Complex, grassy, buttery, sweet flavor and has an aftertaste that sits well on the palate.

Second steep: the color is a lighter green than the first steep, the flavor will be more neutral but maintain the buttery sweetness. This tea will be a lighter tea to drink with a nice aroma.

Thanks to T.C. for this sample! Brews up yellow-green and very slightly cloudy (that could be from the broken leaf). Aroma is highly vegetal and sweet, as is the flavor. I used to get these vegetable chips that were basically flash-fried green beans, carrot and other assorted root veggies. This is basically the same flavor profile: a sweet, beany broth. Spinach notes as well. I want to pair it with a slice of salty buttered toast.

Delicious mild, grassy, and vegetal. I make this one double strong and ice it. Although it does taste nice hot as well I just much rather prefer it cold and unsweetened. I only really drink this one hot when I am not feeling well.

drank it cold-brewed. took out the bitterness

Fresh air, sweet spring grass, clean earth, the ocean: this is a tea I love. It just tastes so, so good.

I’ve sampled several gyokuros, and so far this is my favorite. It has a depth of flavor some others seem to lack. It almost has a “chocolately,” dense sort of scent in the tin. I brew this at about 155 for two minutes only, otherwise it does turn bitter. But brewed properly, it yields a flavorful yet delicate, savory, vegetal cup. The price point of this gyokuro is more comfortable than some others I’ve found. In my experience, the second infusion is not as rich; the third is very good, then after that it loses flavor.