Gyokuro

A young monk once asked the wise tea master Lao Cha: 

— Sensei, how can we make green tea not only to be fresh and healthy but also delicately sweet?

— In the early Spring, when the tea bushes start to wake up from their long winter sleep, and the first tea leaves just begin to appear, make sure to shade them from the sun. Then the roots will start extracting more valuable nutrients from the soil to feed the leaves. The tea made from these very leaves will be gentle and sweet. This tea will be worthy of the Gods. You will call it Gyokuro.

After a short break, our acclaimed Gyokuro from Hoshino is back!

Gyokuro is rightfully regarded as the highest grade of Japanese tea. It is made only with the first flush leaves. The tea's special processing results in a tea with a sweet, mild flavor and fresh, flowery-green aroma. Gyokuro tea bushes are being shaded from direct sunlight for 20 days prior to harvesting. This makes the tea plant stack on theanine which gives Gyokuro tea leaves their sweetness. Afterward, the leaves are immediately steamed, dried, and carefully rolled into distinctive shapes resembling pine needles. 

The main Gyokuro-producing region in Japan is Shizuoka Prefecture. However, our Gyokuro comes from Hoshino, Fukuoka. The reason for such unconventional choice is the exceptional quality and excellent taste of this Gyokuro tea, and environmentally friendly growing ethics of the family that is growing and processing the tea.

       1g per 1oz/30ml 

  135-145℉ / 55-65℃ for the first infusion; 170ºF  / 75ºC for subsequent infusions 

 2min for the first infusion; then 30-45sec for subsequent infusions