Gyokuro "Yame"

When I first visited Lupicia’s retail store in Century City mall, I was quickly intrigued by the beautiful look of this Gyokuro (Lupicia has small samples of each tea the store carries so you can see, smell, and even touch them). I came back to the store this past weekend but I was a little unsure whether to buy the tea at this time or later, as it is a little expensive. Thankfully one of the attendants gave me a small sample for me to try. The sample was enough for about 3 cups of tea.

The dry leaf of this tea is lovely to look at. Made up of fine vividly green colored needles with almost no sign of damage. This has been one the the most preserved Gyokuro I’ve ever had, having very few broken pieces or dust. The aroma of the dry leaves is almost entrancing, having a super sweet aroma with fresh grassy undertones.

I brewed this tea in a Japanese Kyusu following the directions written by the attendant on the sample pouch. I used 160F water and 1 1/2 min steep time.

My first cup gave me a bright almost neon green color with a subtly sweet aroma. The taste was extraordinarily sweet with zero astringency or bitterness and a very delicate soothing green hint. My second cup remained mostly the same but with an almost unnoticeable lighter taste.

The wet leaf had a sweet boiled veggie like aroma and had a very bright green color to the leaves, almost like if they had been picked a few minutes ago.

Overall, I fell in love with this Gyokuro. Very high quality and super sweet, the sample convinced me of getting the the full 50 grams sold at Lupicia (that is, until I finish off some of the other Gyokuro’s I have).