Gyokuro Yamashiro

Iced Latte!

…yes, you read that right. The #SeptemberSipdown prompt yesterday was to make a tea you dislike in a creative way & this might just be my least favourite tea that DAVIDsTEA carries. It’s not that I have a distaste for DT’s Gyokuro in particular, but in general I just really dislike straight green teas – and of all the different straight green teas out there both Sencha and Gyokuro are really right at the top of my list.

I don’t think my creativity was really out there with this prompt, but it is true that a lot of people would find it VERY blasphemous to make a Gyokuro as a latte – let alone an iced latte. In fact, a lot of people I work with in the tea lab were very perturbed to see me making this as an iced latte. I did toss in some raspberries though, to fancy it up a bit and hopefully introduce some flavours to make this more palatable.

I’m sad to report that even in iced latte form, I still really dislike this tea. I tried though, and that’s the important part! It’s okay to not enjoy things, but tastes do change over time so a check in every once in a while can be good too.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

I didn’t have a lot of luck with this one.

I used an 8 gram sample and multiple infusions of 200 mL.

The temperature range was 140F to 160F or 50 to 60C.

I doubt that I could have drank this tea without sugar. All I got was sourness out of the leaves.

The leaves are edible, and it would be a shame not to eat them.

Brewed Leaves:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIX_jEHBxzh/

It’s rare for me to find a green tea I like this much. I steeped this for only one minute and was rewarded with no bitterness, zero grassyness and a wonderful buttery flavour. It has a green leafy vegetable broth flavour, like spinach, brussel sprouts or fiddleheads. It’s on the pricey side, but I used my Frequent Steeper points to try it and will likely do so again in the future. A nice break from my usual taste of sweet teas.

It’s been a while since I’ve brewed this one and for my afternoon brew I chose this over my usual Sencha.

This tea steeps a magnificent emerald green from its small dark leaves and it steeps fast. All it needed was 75 seconds at 70c. I’ve heard that you should steep at an even lower temperature (65-68). This tea is fragile!

Flavor and aroma are incredible. The taste of seaweed may be too much for some but I love it (smells and tastes like ocean) there are other notes that linger for a long time here – mellow floral sweetness, evergreen, forest earth. Sublime tea!

It appears that I have enough Frequent Steepster points for a free 150g of one type of Davids Tea, or three 50g of different flavours. It is so hard to pick whether I want to buy more of my favourites or try something new from them! Eek. Leaning toward the latter.

Anyhow… Gyokuro Yamashiro. Wow, what a vegetal green!! Like other reviewers have said, it is vegetal enough to be reminiscent of garden veggies. No “grassiness” to it for those who dislike that about greens. It’s a good in-between for meals because of the flavour. I agree with another reviewer that its flavour is indeed less spring-like and crisp (as many senchas are) than it is autumnal – if that makes sense. It doesn’t refresh you in the same way as other senchas do for that reason – rather more warming and savoury, like cooked vegetables. It isn’t bitter at all- more buttery, actually, than any other green I’ve had. Basically – buttery veggies? It’s a nice change from my usual grassy green. It’s a lot better than it sounds — trust me!

As to how I got a hold of it: I received 150g of this as a Christmas gift — but was floored when I saw the price for that amount! It’s certainly a premium tea. A lovely cup, but best that I save it for special occasions and drink more inexpensive senchas on the regular.

mmm, let me see I just brewed a cup now. It is a very pale green color almost the color of light grass. It smells very vegetal, its creamy, grassy, and earthy. It is a must for morning for me. I really do enjoy having a pure tea like this one as it is much more focused on the flavour of the tea rather than other components that are added. I would recommend this to any tea connoisseur is loves pure green teas. It is much different than anything I have had and is delicate I would say.

This is my go-to green tea

Holy crap, I went into David’s looking for a new green tea and this was recommended. Super expensive, but so so delicious. It’s really everything I’ve ever wanted in a green tea. It’s earthy, sweet, I do pick up the buttery notes, and not in your face with bitterness. It’s completely relaxing and makes me wish I had something to pair it with. I do not regret buying my tiny 30g bag but I don’t think I’ll go higher and it’s definitely going to stay as a treat when I really need a pick me up.

Lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of Mighty Leaf’s flavoured black teas in the morning, which are quite assertive and dynamic bold Chinese blacks. Or David’s Buttered Rum, my favourite way to start the day: sweet, buttery, bathed in coconut.

After last night’s disappointment from David’s fall collection, I needed an uplifting change.

And how lovely a change this is.

Artichoke or young green bean green scent and flavour. Light. Tasty. A bit grassy.

Pale yellow green in my clear glass cup.

I do not have a way to measure the temperature of the water, so my approach to steeping green teas, without scorching them, is this: I boil the water and then walk away for a few minutes. Maybe four or five minutes. Then I come back and steep the tea briefly briefly. Two minutes perhaps.

Not an exact science, but it works.

I like this tea a lot. Clean and unmuddied. Several dimensions of taste and depth. Perfect for moments such as these.

This tea is a little weird, but good. It was my first high quality green tea and at first I wasn’t sure about the taste but now, a year later, I enjoy it. It is a shame it is so pricey. The dry leaves smell like alfalfa and it tastes like vegetebles. Interesting flavours.