I haven’t had much Gyokuro in recent years. I prepared this one in my first session with it with the following parameters:
50ml/40°C/2.5min
80ml/40°C/1.5min
110ml/50°C/30s
130ml/55°C/1.5min
160ml/55°C/5min
It was also a bit of a test session, since later in the week I organized a tea party with a focus on Japanese teas, and this is one of the teas that I brewed up there. The above preparation was a bit too heavy early on tbh, but the tea holds up well to these high leaf/water ratios.
As one would expect, it gives a thick liquor with a super long aftertaste. The first infusion is an umami feast – very brothy with a sweet finish. The second one is much more balanced with a very oily texture and additional bitter and grassy flavours. Later steeps are then progressively more vegetal and bitter with much less umami.
Flavors: Bitter, Broth, Grass, Saline, Sweet, Thick, Umami, Vegetal
