Heavenly Gyokuro - - Harney & Sons Fine Teas
Heavenly Gyokuro - Loose 2 oz. Tin - Harney & Sons Fine Teas
44574

Heavenly Gyokuro

13 reviews
$ 110.00
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Packaging Type:Loose
Unit:2 oz. Tin
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Description

This Gyokuro is hand picked from just outside Uji. Our friend Tsuyoshi uses tea from mountains of Ujitawara and Kyotanbe. This area of central Japan is known to make 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. 


The delicate processing produces a tea that is best enjoyed by brewing the tea in cooler water than normal, 155 degrees for 1-3 minutes. This method of brewing can be a great way to enhance the tea's inherent sweetness and body. 

Ingredients: Green tea.

    Mike's Rating
    1 Briskness
    3 Body
    4 Aroma
     Details: Most Gyokuro is grown in Uji, half an hour south the former Imperial capital of Kyoto. To service 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. Tsuyoshi's family has made and sold tea to the Emperor and his associates since the 1660's, so he knows something about tea. That is why we are pleased to offer this extra special (and expensive) tea.
     Dry Leaves: These leaves are emerald green shiny spindles. This comes from the extra attention taken while making this tea. The dark green comes from the fact that tea grown 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, caused by the extra chlorophyll.
     Aroma: Very spinach, 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 (coats your mouth) than other green teas. This is because of the final weeks spent in shade, which increases the amino acids that create body.
     Brewing Time: 2 to 3 minutes
     Brewing Temp: 160º