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“Third tea for March Mad(Hatter)ness! This is for the green tea round, going against Fukujuen’s Uji-Houjicha: Yama-no-Sato. Both teas were little tins that my friend Todd brought me back from a trip...” Read full tasting note
Gyokuro Karigane is mostly made of tea stems, which were sorted from the production line for Gyokuro, premium Japanese green tea. Bitter components in green tea are extracted in hot water. Using Gyokuro Karigane that has less bitter components, you can enjoy the typical flavor and good taste of Gyokuro even if you steep it in slightly hotter water.
Directions (for one serving): Place 3g (about 1 tbsp of tea leaves into the pot. Pour 60ml of hot water (70C). Steep it for one minute. Then pour the tea to the last drop. Please adjust the amount of the tea leaves and steeping time if you like.
Caution! Be careful with hot water. Do not use leftover tea leaves again. Use up the contents as soon as possible. Store in a cool, dry place and avoid other lingering scents.
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Third tea for March Mad(Hatter)ness! This is for the green tea round, going against Fukujuen’s Uji-Houjicha: Yama-no-Sato. Both teas were little tins that my friend Todd brought me back from a trip he took to Japan back in 2018. I still haven’t opened them and they are quite old now, especially for green tea. Oops! (I also couldn’t find any pictures online and had to scrounge out my digital camera to log them…)
I’m shocked and appalled the directions inside the tin said to use 3g per 60ml! Is that how people usually make green tea, or do they just make it that strong in Japan? Zoinks, I only use between 2-3g for western brews between 350-500ml or I just get a bomb of bitterness…
That said, I opted to brew this “my way” and did 3g to a 500ml pot, steeped for 2 minutes in 175F water. The dry leaf had a somewhat sweet, mellow grassy aroma. Brewed, it is deeply vegetal and umami on the nose, with some spinach and ocean air aroma notes. The brew is, thankfully, lacking any bitterness; it starts with a very fresh and sweet grassy taste, then a stronger umami vegetal presence of spinach and peas settles over my tongue (reminds me of the vegetal flavors I get drinking Bi Luo Chun), with a very mild salty seaweed note at the very back of my throat. I haven’t been a fan of gyokuro that have a strong seaweed/oceany taste, but this karigane, while those notes are present, is more gentle. I’m really liking it, actually! It is more on the savory side, but satisfying for a too-early morning, and it is settling down a stomach that also woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
As far as green teas go, this is definitely a nice one. I am quite a fan of houjicha, though, so it’ll be interesting to see how it stacks up to that tea.
Flavors: Ocean Air, Peas, Seaweed, Spinach, Sweet, Sweet, Warm Grass, Umami, Vegetal
