Gyokuro Kin

I received a sample of this from Mercuryhime , thank you! I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to brew this one up – it’s such an appealing dark green, and I’m fairly certain that gyokuros have that intense vegetal, beany flavour that I adore (like Laoshan green!)

Sure enough, the aroma from this one brewed is absolutely delightful! Potent and like steamed green beans, I feel like I could almost chew the tea! The colour of the brew is also a fantastic bright green (although the colour fades as the tea sits). Mmmm, yup, this one is delicious. Beany yet grassy and strong. Unfortunately, I think I gave it 15 seconds too long, which has caused some bitterness :( but it’s still pretty good.

Thanks Mercuryhime! This one’s totally up my alley! :D

So it seems that the disgustingly humid New York summer has officially begun. For that reason, I currently have two different teas cold brewing in the fridge. I had a liter of Swampwater in the fridge two days ago. Most of it was consumed in one day. Now I’m looking for a more traditional flavor. Mmmm gyokuro to the rescue. So delicious. So unbelievably refreshing and quick to cold brew. It might be because the leaves are a bit cut up but this was ready for drinking in less than an hour of cold brewing. The leaves had turned a lovely bright green. Sniffing the wet leaves, you’d swear you’re holding a handful of fresh bruised leaves. So green and vibrant! And the color! Japanese tea makers know how to make tea beautiful!

And even though this was a cold brew steeped for under an hour, the flavor was all there! Green and sweet and and smooth. It’s a bit vegetal and slightly oceanic.

My husband, drawn in by the bright green liquid, eagerly took a sip and made a disgusted face. “Is this Japanese green tea? Why are they always so seaweedy?” haha I happen to love the oceanic aspect but he pretty much hates all Japanese greens. So while I think this tea is lovely, it’s not for those who aren’t fond of oceanic flavors. :)

Also, since the first glass was cold brewed so quickly, I used the same leaves for another glass of cold brewing. This second glass is lightly flavored and more of a yellow green but the taste is still refreshing and delicious. I get more of a minerally/vitaminy flavor now. I love this!

Next cold brew in my fridge: a pitcher of 52 Teas’ Cantaloupe White tea. Can’t wait to get to that one!

Excuse me Gyokuro, where have you been hiding all my tea-drinking life? My first Gyokuro and, needless to say, I am happily in love.

This is my second time drinking it and tinkering around with the steeping time and temperature. The first time I killed it on the second steep by following Den’s instructions (180* at 30 sec). I should have known better from reading about Gyokuro and its low temperature preference, but sometimes I like finding out these things myself (and wasting expensive tea in the meantime).

This cup I brewed is deliciously buttery and sweet. Even onto the third infusion it’s holding onto flavor. I didn’t think I enjoyed sweetness in tea, especially green, but this is a different kind of sweetness- a mellow, buttery and grassy one. The first infusion was vegetal and grassy. The second infusion was probably my favorite, highlighting the buttery taste I can’t get enough of. The third was like the second, but less potent.

Steeping notes: 3oz. with 2 g
1. 145* at 90 sec.
2. 160* at 60 sec.
3. 170* at 90 sec.

I usually choose a strong black tea for my morning cup, but we were out of town all weekend and don’t have any milk in the fridge, so I’m happily settling with this green tea instead. It gives me a chance to get to some of my green tea samples, like this one is from Mercuryhime. The dry leaves smell slightly sweet and grassy. The tea itself has a vegetal aroma. I usually tend to choose flavored green teas, so this one was bit of a surprise to me. It has a fresh seaweed flavor with a sweet finish. There is a a strong vegetal aftertaste that reminds me of one of my favorite snacks, SnapPea Crisps. I have no idea if you’re suppose to add sweetener to this tea, but I tried it with a little sugar. You can still taste the vegetal notes, and it just brought out more of the sweetness in the flavor. I don’t know that this is a tea that I would drink every day, since I mostly prefer strong black teas, but it was fun to try it! And I’m amazed at all of the flavors that come out of steeping this one for just 1.5 minutes! Thanks, Mercuryhime, for the sample!

-Dry blend has long, small, flat green tea leaves.
-Dry leaves smell slightly sweet and grassy. Tea liquor aroma is vegetal.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium greenish yellow color.
-Fresh seaweed flavor with a sweet finish. Strong vegetal aftertaste.
-Best with the smallest amount of sweetener.
-Good tea. Flavor is reminiscent of SnapPea Crisps.

My first gyokuro! What an experience! Such a beautiful tea with that lush emerald colour. Isn’t that colour “in” right now in fashion?

I made sure I was very awake for this tea so I didn’t mess up steeping. Overall, very good mix of buttery, sweet and veg – but I didn’t like the astringency, as I’m not a fan of astringency at all.

Cold steep? MAGICAL!

With that said, I really don’t know what to rate this tea as.

Full review on my blog, the oolong owl. I took lots of pics!
http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/gyokuro-kin-from-dens-tea-tea-review/

Sipdown from the HH teabox! Sadly, I think this one was affected by other teas in the box, leaving it undrinkable. (No rating because of that.) It was about 90 seconds with very cooled water. Sometimes the sandwich bags do that. Hopefully none of the other teas are like that! The only reason teaboxes aren’t fun (except, you know, if they get lost). But I had another Den’s tea the other day that was PERFECT so I know Den’s teas are good. I invested in some of these though: http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-3-5×5-Ziplock-Stand-Up-Pouches-Bags-SUP-AA-Clear-Silver-/310658911232?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4854b6cc00 I put a tea that I could smell through THREE sandwich bags into this one and a couple days later, I can not smell this tea through this pouch at all. A good investment! And especially great for teabox samples!

My new favorite snack is edamame. It’s green, healthy, and delicious.

At first sniff of this tea, I was worried I had dropped a bean or 2 into my cup. It smells almost identical to my edamame. Can this be true?? Liquid edamame?? I am amazed at how much it even tastes like it too. How intriguing.

Den’s Gyokuro Kin was my eye-opening introduction to what “real” green tea could be. After I finished my first 50g a couple months back, I waited for my houhin to arrive before I broke into my new packages. I’m still working on getting my timing and leaf ratio correct, but it’s a great choice for anyone looking for an affordable “daily gyokuro.”

First steep (145*; 90secs): Delightful! Even though it soaked for a good minute and a half, the tea has a light, grassy emerald color and a lot of sweetness. Love the umami, the taste of freshly steamed vegetables, and the smooth mouthfeel afterwards. The flavor lingers slightly, but is usually gone by the time I finish brewing up the next cup.

Second (165*; 60 secs): A gorgeous color that’s closer to the jade you might find in a fukamushi sencha, but with a lot more umami and very little astringency. This is my favorite cup — slightly buttery, wholly vegetal, and a joy to sip and “take in.” There wasn’t as much of that smooth mouthfeel I get from the first one, but I love the flavor of this cup!

Third (175/ 2+ mins): A little longer than I usually steep it for, but it still turned out OK. By now, the bright umami flavor is starting to get a bit diluted, but I can still taste what I liked about the last two cups with a burst of astringency.

Fourth (Boiling; 5+ mins): Final steep this time. Still green, but more bitter up front/astringent in its finish. Very little of that vegetal umami taste remains, but it has more of that “bitter freshness” I enjoy in sencha. I could never get four cups out of my kyusu, but the smaller size of the houhin seems to “stretch it out” a lot.

In summation: not as varied and nuanced as higher-end gyokuro, but a tasty alternative to Karigane blends for the price.

Oh my good golly gosh! This tea is fantastic. It is a lot sweeter than I thought it would be. The grassy/vegetal flavor just glides across my tongue. Absolutely no bitterness, but just a hint of astringency.

The color of this tea is a beautiful bright green. It makes me impatient for spring to arrive…

I think I am going to cheat on my buddy, Sencha, and hangout more with Gyokuro today.

This is the third of the three teas that I recently purchased from Den’s tea and this is by far my favorite of the three. Of course that is a slightly unfair comparison because the other two were senchas, and I am a much bigger fan of gyokuro, but I felt that the two senchas really did not have that much flavor.

Regardless, this gyokuro has the sweet/bitter combination that you expect out of a gyokuro, but it also has an interesting note of pine tree after the initial burst of flavor.