Country of Origin: Japan
Leaf Appearance: small, dark green
Ingredients: green tea
Steep time: 2 minutes
Water Temperature: 100 degrees
Preparation Method: kyusu
Liquor: pale green
Gyokuro is something I rarely treat myself to but I couldn’t help myself when I visited Cha Do Raku’s booth at a local tea festival. The description of this tea on their site really grabbed me.
“Dainty yet beautiful leaves, described by tea professionals as “bijin”, a beautiful woman.”
I usually use my Breville to heat water for tea but the lowest setting is 160 degrees. I had to watch it like a hawk so that I could turn it off just at the right time. The taste was incredibly delicate so I strongly recommend not drinking this after eating or drinking anything. My first infusion was sweet and subtle with more umami and astringency coming out in the next two rounds. It was vegetal but in a much different way than I’ve experienced with other gyokuro. There was a freshness to it that I really had a hard time describing. The leaves were so incredibly tender that I couldn’t resist eating them after I was finished drinking. There wasn’t any salad dressing on hand so I threw them into an omelet. The result was very delicious. I still have a bit of this tea left so I definitely think I’ll be trying out my favorite brewing method for gyokuro, ice brewing. All you have to do is put ice cubes on top of leaves and let them very slowly melt.
Okuno Gyokuro sample purchased from Cha Do Raku.