First Gyokuro I’ve tried, and it did smell good dry So I though I’d give it a go.
Definitely vegetal and grassy, but I didn’t get any of the smooth buttery flavour that other people seem to. This one turned bitter almost right off the bat, though I think that was due to the staff person using water that was too hot since I didn’t let it steep long at all. It seemed slightly sencha-like to me, but even that didn’t redeem it in the long run.
Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C
1 min, 30 sec