Description

Gyokuro Kagoshima is a top-class Japanese green tea, also known as “Dew of a Pearl.” The tea bushes are covered with bamboo mats three weeks before harvesting. The fine tea leaves have a deep green, slightly glossy color and offer a strong flavor with a hint of sweetness. An impressive green tea with a beautiful balance of mildness and typical Japanese sharpness.

Gyokuro is the most premium Japanese tea and is traditionally brewed in a Kyusu.

Details:

• Region: Kirishima, Kagoshima
• Harvest time: early May
• Cultivar: Yabukita
• Steaming: short – Asamushi – 30 seconds
• Shade: for 3 weeks

Japanese shade tea

Gyokuro (which means “precious dew”) is the highest quality tea produced in Japan. This tea is harvested only once a year, at the end of May or the beginning of June. Traditionally, when the new shoots are about 2 cm long, tea farmers place a straw canopy over the tea plants for 10 days. After that period, they add more straw to the canopies and keep the tea plants covered for another 11 days. In total, the tea plants grow in the shade for 21 days. The canopies filter up to 90 percent of the sunlight, causing the tea to develop a unique flavor that the Japanese call “the taste of the shade.” Tea farmers pay close attention to their Gyokuro tea plants to foster the development of this delicate, rich flavor. Gyokuro is considered one of the most flavorful teas in the world.

Some sources claim that the cultivation of tea plants in the shade dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. However, the first Gyokuro tea was officially produced in 1835 in Uji by Kahei Yamamoto.

The infusion of Gyokuro is low in tannins and very complex and aromatic. It has a smooth, velvety texture with delicate aromas. The leaves are intensely emerald green and captivate the senses with their finesse and depth.

Ingredients

Japanese green tea