KiwiDelight Send Message

221 Followers / 205 Following

KiwiDelight drank Gyokuro Kin by Den's Tea

371 tasting notes

To my surprise, this tea came as a complimentary sample, and I am sure glad it did. I have had only one opportunity to drink gyokuro before, and it was for only one sip – a “just to try” kind of thing.

The dry leaves are lovely. Emerald green. Seaweed aroma. Wet, they are even more beautiful. Darkened in color, smelling of grass. The aroma of the tea is grassy as well. The bright green liquor is clear (save for the leaf particles). The flavor is medium-bodied, and both bitter and sweet.

During the second infusion, the leaves expanded more. The flavor was more full-bodied and flavorful. While it was a more bitter (not overly so), the aftertaste was sweeter. Because of this quality, I prefer the second infusion to the first.

This gyokuro is not only a pleasure to drink, but a beautiful tea as well. It is for anyone who aesthetically appreciates tea.

Preparation

160 °F / 71 °C 1 min, 30 sec

I Like This

1 likes

0 comments

People who liked this

Profile

Bio

I began drinking tea because its complexity fascinated me. I love learning about its history, its manufacturing processes, and its place in various cultures.

Japanese greens were my first love and gateway into the world.

My favorite teas are leafhopper oolongs, pu’erh (shou and sheng), and masala chai. My favorite herbal tisanes are spear/peppermint, lavender and chrysanthemum.

I’m currently exploring pu’erh, and any Chinese and Taiwanese teas in general. I’m not much into flavored teas, unlike when I first started. The only teas I truly dislike are fruity tisanes and the ones that have too much fruit. I do like hisbiscus, especially iced.

I like to write nature essays. I’m a birdwatcher as well as a tea enthusiast. The kiwi is one of my favorite birds. I also like Tolkien, Ancient Egypt, and exercising.

IMPORTANT NOTE, PLEASE READ: After two and a half years of having an account here, I will no longer will provide numerical ratings as an addition to the review because the American school system has skewed my thoughts on numbers out of a hundred and the colors throw me off. Curses! My words are more than sufficient. If I really like what I have, I will “recommend”, and if I don’t, “not recommended”.

Key for past ratings:

96-100 I adore absolutely everything about it. A permanent addition to my stash.

90-95 Superb quality and extremely enjoyable, but not something I’d necessarily like to have in my stash (might have to do with personal tastes, depending on what I say in the tasting note).

80-89 Delicious! Pleased with the overall quality.

70-79 Simply, I like it. There are qualities that I find good, but there also are things that aren’t, hence a lower rating that I would have otherwise like to put.

60-69 Overall “meh”. Not necessarily bad, but not necessarily good.

0-59 No.

If there is no rating: I don’t feel experienced enough to rate the tea, or said tea just goes beyond rating (in a positive way).