Organic Gyokuro Green Tea

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Smooth, Spinach, Vegetal, Butter, Green, Seaweed
Sold in
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Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Jason
Average preparation
155 °F / 68 °C 1 min, 45 sec 8 g 7 oz / 218 ml

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9 Tasting Notes View all

From Arbor Teas

Our organic Gyokuro (pronounced gyo-KUR-o) represents the pinnacle of Japanese green teas. It is shaded prior to harvesting, which stresses the tea plant, resulting in higher chlorophyll content. In the cup, this creates a fuller-body and bolder vegetal quality. In addition, the light green infusion exhibits a sweet and nutty flavor that is less bitter than our Sencha. Unlike many “Japanese” green teas available in the United States, this organic Gyokuro is actually grown in Japan.

Sustainability is a cornerstone of Arbor Teas’ business philosophy. In addition to offering an exclusively organic selection of teas, they recently became the first tea company to offer their whole catalog in 100% backyard compostable packaging. They’ve also carbon-offset the entire supply chain of their products, from origin to the customer, making Arbor Teas the greenest option for Earth-conscious tea drinkers, and one of few tea companies recognized by Green America.

About Arbor Teas View company

We’re tea enthusiasts with a lot of passion. Passion for top quality tea, the environment, fair trade, and our community. We started Arbor Teas in Ann Arbor, Michigan, intent on creating a tea company as passionate as we are. Our passion is reflected in every aspect of Arbor Teas. You’ll certainly notice it in the exceptional collection of teas we offer - one of the largest catalogs of USDA certified organic teas around, nearly three-quarters of which are Fair Trade Certified®.

9 Tasting Notes

100
2816 tasting notes

I was very excited to try this after my new found appreciation for Japanese green tea…

When I opened my sample package to smell the leaves are so fresh it is like smelling a bunch of spinach. I brewed this up in my glass mug for about 2 minutes using cooled boiling water.

I have to say I am in heaven! This is a beautiful greenish gold color with slight “bubbles” in the brew. It has such a creamy mouthfeel, it is VERY buttery, slightly grassy and creamy. Truly delicious. Another tea I would rate at 500 if I could because it sort of blows the other teas straight out of the water. I only got a sample of this stuff, and YES it is expensive but I am getting more. It would be very expensive for an every day tea but nice to drink on the weekends or when you needed a pick me up. It is very energizing and refreshing. A++++

note: I got four steeps out of it before I gave up and put the leaves in a smoothie. they are so mild you can eat them with no problem.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Charles Thomas Draper

I got a sample of this from butiki. I know it’s one of the worlds greatest teas….

TeaBrat

nice! I hope you like it. mine was fantastic…

Charles Thomas Draper

36.50 for 5 ounces is not bad for a super premium

TeaBrat

I have def. seen more expensive ones – I have no idea if they are better or not.

ScottTeaMan

I love bubbly, frothy teas like that…..YUMMY! I agree, for a tea of this quality, that is a really good deal for 5 oz-especially if you really enjoy it like you do Amy.

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557 tasting notes

Thanks to Teavivre I have a lot of new samples and a lovely little gaiwan to try out. I figured I would try it on something that I know first.

Wow! Bitter! Either I used way too much leaf or this was not a good first tea to try with this method. Or a little of both. I tried five steeps of this, each with a shorter and shorter steep time getting down to pouring out the steeps as soon as I got the little bowl covered. Still bitter, bitter, bitter.

Not the teas fault, just my inexperience.

On the other hand, the gaiwan was really easy to use. It is the perfect size for my hands and it wasn’t awkward at all to use. And it is amazingly fast to clean up. I didn’t even spill any water anywhere. As soon as I figure out the right tea to use and the right steeping times, this little thing might be my new best friend.

I’m going to try an oolong next as soon as I research a little bit about leaf amounts and steeping times. The bigger leaves should be easier to handle in the gaiwan than the small leaves in this green. (I thought the leaves were bigger, but no! They are small.)

TeaBrat

How hot was your water?

MegWesley

It had just started to make a light noise, so barely starting to bubble. The normal temperature I make my green teas.

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100
23 tasting notes

Delicious, calming. Sweet and vegetal, best gyokuro I’ve ever tasted.

Preparation
150 °F / 65 °C 1 min, 0 sec
TeaBrat

yes, I loved this one too!!!!!!

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85
523 tasting notes

I tried brewing this that past couple of times according to ‘traditional’ methods (using more leaf per oz, 160-150deg water, 90sec) and it seemes to produce a more bitter cup than when I originally brewed it at 175 for 2 min with less leaf. It’s been a while since that first cup, so I am going to have to try again to see if it makes the difference. It’s still really good, even with the bitterness. I like it better than sencha for sure.

EDIT: I just re-steeped the leaves after a few hours. I used 150deg water like the first time (I meant to use hotter, but I let it cool too long). I let the leaves steep for 60 seconds (an arbitrary choice) and the final product was a lot less bitter than the first cup. This is probably the first time that a second steeping has turned out better than the first for me.

I think gyokuro is going to take a lot of experimentation to get it just right all the time. But I look forward to the task :)

Preparation
150 °F / 65 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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80
135 tasting notes

This is a very nice gyokuro! It has a light-ish vegetal taste, not as bitter as spinach, but with less roundness than you might expect for the type of taste it is. It’s not thin, though, and has a reasonable amount of complexity.

The web page for this tea doesn’t contain information on the individual farm on which it was grown – just that it is in Kagoshima prefecture – so I don’t know if it was grown under straw or plastic for shade. Some people claim there’s a noticeable difference in taste depending on how gyokuro is shaded, but my experience is too limited to confirm or deny that. If I develop such a distinguishing ability, I might revisit this tea to see if I can guess how it was grown.

Flavors: Smooth, Spinach, Vegetal

Preparation
155 °F / 68 °C 1 min, 45 sec 8 g 7 OZ / 200 ML

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89
22 tasting notes

This tea appears to be a very high quality Gyokuro. Color is deep green, leaves are mostly full, flattened needles, there is some breakage, but that is no doubt due to the extremely fragile almost crystalline nature of the gyokuro needles, and not an actual knock on the quality of the tea itself. The color of the brew is spot on classic gyokuro, just a beautiful light green, almost highlighter green, its quite amazing.

Flavors on this are as follows:

Uni (sea urchin)
Rocky seaweed
Edamame/Snow peas
Sweet
Grain

Thick mouth feel with lingering subtle sweetness.

I found this tea to be quite enjoyable. It does tend to have a shellfish (or as many other describe, seaweed) flavor profile that is very prevalent in the first brew, but mellows out later. Personally I like it quite a bit and tend to handle these types of flavors like a boss, but I could see how it might not suite some folks. The likening to the taste of uni is quite remarkable, owing no doubt to the high theanine content – a mark of a high quality and properly grown gyokuro. There is almost no astringency at all, especially brewed at low temperatures.

Brew this one low low temperature, close to body temperature for 90-120 seconds and you will be amazed at how well it turns out. Good for about 3 steeps before it starts to lose the the magic.

Preparation
140 °F / 60 °C 1 min, 45 sec

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