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

Heavenly Gyokuro

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

Heavenly Gyokuro is hand-picked just outside of Uji, Japan. Our friend Tsuyoshi uses tea from the Ujitawara and Kyotanbe mountains. This area of central Japan is known to have the best shade-grown Gyokuro. The plants gradually receive cover towards the end of the growing season. This stress forces the plant to react by adding more green-appearing chlorophyll. The combination of mouth-filling umami and a very distinctive spinach-like aroma is what makes this tea heavenly.

Uji, located 30 minutes south of Kyoto, is the primary location for growing Gyokuro. 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. The twilight of the Edo era saw the commercialization of shade-grown teas.

    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 shiny emerald green spindles. Growing the tea in increasing amounts of shade contributes to the dark green color. The plant compensates for the shade by making extra chlorophyll. Hot machines process the leaves into shiny spindles, straightening them out and buffing them with heat.
     Liquor: The extra chlorophyll produces a lovely pale green.
     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 (it coats your mouth) than other green teas. The plants receive shade during their final weeks of growth, which boosts the production of amino acids that form the body.
     Brewing Time: 1 to 3 minutes
     Brewing Temp: 155º