Japan Gyokuro - Green Tea

Jade green, fine needles, intense, sweet taste that fills the mouth with umami - Gyokuro is one of the highest quality Japanese green teas and lives up to its name meaning "noble dewdrop".

In order to develop its bright green color and its delicate sweetness, it is shaded by 90% for 21 days before harvest. This stimulates the production of chlorophyll and reduces tannins. In the cup, it is characterized by its strong color, its fresh, spicy aroma and its velvety sweetness.

Leaf: Deep green, needle-shaped tea leaves.

Infusion: Delicate green-yellowish color, opaque.

Aroma: Very fresh, sweet and grassy. The aroma of Gyokuro is very complex, with a vegetal sweetness reminiscent of sweet corn, and creamy. Compared to the grassy Sencha, Gyokuro is also green, but sweeter and creamier.

The taste: The Gyokuro is very intense, sweet, with a floral note and a deep umami feeling that fills the mouth. Gyokuro tea feels creamy, almost like butter. Sencha and Gyokuro are both more green-vegetable, but the Gyokuro is much richer.

Picking time: Spring

Oxidation: 0 %

Japanese Gyokuro is harvested in the spring when the new, fresh leaves appear. But before harvesting - and this is a special feature of Gyokuro tea - farmers set up a shade system over the plants and ensure that the tea bushes are fully exposed to the sun for 21 days, which causes a major change in taste in the finished teacup.

Where does the change in taste come from?

To compensate for the sudden lack of sunlight, plants are forced to produce more chlorophyll - a compound responsible for the plant's deep green color. Because photosynthesis is reduced, more compounds are also retained, including the amino acid L-theanine, which is responsible for the rich umami flavor in the cup. Because of this, Gyokuro tea has an almost opaque infusion and an amazingly rich, deep, round and sweet flavor, making it the best Japanese tea.