Heavenly Gyokuro - - Harney & Sons Fine Teas
Heavenly Gyokuro - Loose 2 oz. Tin - Harney & Sons Fine Teas
$ 3.33
PER CUP
44574

Heavenly Gyokuro

$ 60.00
Packaging Type:Loose
Unit:2 oz. Tin
Quantity:
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Description

This Gyokuro is hand-picked from just outside Uji. Our friend Tsuyoshi uses tea from the mountains of Ujitawara and Kyotanbe. This area of central Japan is known to have the best shade-grown Gyokuro. Towards the end of the growing season, the plants are gradually covered. This stress makes the plant adjust by adding more green-appearing chlorophyll. What makes this tea Heavenly is the mixture of mouth-filling umami and a very distinctive spinach-like aroma.

Most Gyokuro are grown in Uji, half an hour south of the former imperial capital of Kyoto. To meet the demands of the Emperor and other members of the aristocracy, there were large tea fields and many tea factories built around Kyoto. It was in the twilight of the Edo era that shade-grown teas were commercialized.

Ingredients: Green tea.

    Mike's Rating
    1 Briskness
    3 Body
    4 Aroma
     Details: One of our Japanese purveyors, Tsuyoshi, and his family have been making and selling tea to the Emperor and his associates since the 1660s, so he knows something about tea.
     Dry Leaves: These leaves are emerald green with shiny spindles. This comes from the extra attention taken while making this tea. The dark green comes from the fact that tea grows in increasing shade, so the plant compensates by making extra chlorophyll. The spindles are shiny because they are processed in hot machines that straighten out the leaves, which are then buffed by the heat.
     Liquor: A lovely pale green is caused by the extra chlorophyll.
     Aroma: Very spinachy and seaweedy. Dark and decidedly vegetal, with none of the lemon sheen of sencha.
     Flavors: The lush green flavor of the freshest steamed spinach, the cooked flavor of lightly toasted walnuts, and a very slight note of sulfur Filling and sustaining.
     Caffeine Level: Caffeinated
     Body: Medium-bodied. Overall, it is much fuller-bodied (it coats your mouth) than other green teas. This is because of the final weeks spent in shade, which increase the amino acids that create the body.
     Brewing Time: 2 to 3 minutes
     Brewing Temp: 155º