Gyokuro Imperial

SIPDOWN!

Thanks to Raritea for this sample. Now i’m not huge fan of straight greens but this one is for sure one that I could keep around for when i’m in the mood for a straight green. There’s a sweetness behind the vegetal notes that I find appealing. Thank you Raritea for this tea that i otherwise never would have tried :)

Thanks to Raritea for a sample of this one! Unfortunately, although I knowingly wrote 1 tsp on the bag, I clearly put 1.5 into it, so this is not yet a sipdown :(

Ahhh, this is tasty. Vegetal and chewy, if tea can have a texture! It’s also kind of mariney and brothy, neither of which overpower one another, which works really well. Actually, it tastes kind of like the salted, flavoured seaweed snacks I like to eat. But, less seaweedy.

Overall, pretty good! I was worried that my 45s infusion would be too long, but it was just perfect here, and I’m glad I didn’t use more tea!

Depending on the price, this would be a tea I’d consider buying in the future, although I’m likely to go elsewhere for a gyokuro. Would definitely drink it if offered though, as long as I was in a green tea mood (I find that I must be in the mood for vegetal greens, otherwise I don’t particularly enjoy them).

Thanks Raritea!

Loose
Appearance: long fine leaf, dark forest green
Aroma when Dry: buttery, smooth, sweet (eastern)
After water is first poured: buttery, smooth, creamy, sweet (eastern)
At end of first steep: even smooth vegital
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: clear
Staple? Type likey, would use brand again
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first?: smooth, brothy, salt seaweed note close
As it cools?: gets rich, creamy, salty, brothy
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)?
Lingers? Yes, sweet, silky, vegital, brothy notes, hints of salt

Second Steep(5 min):
At first: lightly sour vegital, sweet buttery close
As it cools?: gets a cloying sweet, sour vegital note

This poor tea…

I killed it with both steeping time and hot water. My mom still loved it, but I thought it was too astringent for me. She said “it tastes like spinach water” and, as she is someone who totally drinks spinach water on occasion, I guess that’s not a bad thing. :)

Before it cooled and became too astringent, though, I thought the thick brothy texture was tasty. The dry leaf looked like grass clippings and it reminded me of spring. I can’t wait until it actually is spring again!

I used 0.8 tablespoons for 375 ml of water.

Thick and brothy. Savoury. Highly vegetal (spinach) with a pleasant astringency. Hints of roasted flavour. Mild complementary sweetness.

Well, I went into my local Teavana for the last time yesterday. I really wanted a cup of tea so I stopped in while my husband and I were shopping and I wanted to try this tea to go. Well, from the start they were on me about buying it. I passed, to go would be fine.

I’ll save the rest of the story for a blog post later…I’m still steamed over the whole trip and it had nothing to do with me, but another customer. Anyway, this tea is probably one of the few straight teas they still carry. I had it iced and found it to have the usual veggie taste to it that most greens have (I’m growing to like them), but there was also a natural sweetness to this one too which I enjoyed. I would get this tea again from another source in the future.

I was in the mood for some green tea love today. I’ve steeped it twice and it’s still pretty amazing. Love the grassy taste of this tea, not bitter at all.

This gyokuro is on sale right now at Teavana for 75% off, so if you’re thinking of trying it, now is the time. Only $5 for 2 oz. I stocked up. This has always been one of my favorite gyokuros. I have branched out since I discovered this tea — in the past year or so I’ve tried a lot of different Japanese greens — but I still like this. If you brew it correctly it’s flavorful and gives you that really “green” green tea experience.

Thank you to whoever sent me this! Trying to work through all of my samples. It’s nice. Just kind of a typical green tea. Nice vegetal notes and a nice sweet note in the aftertaste :]

Here’s what justifies the price:

$20 for 2 ounces. Seems really out of proportion, right? Well, as opposed to 1 teaspoon for eight ounces, you use half a teaspoon. This effectively cuts the price in half in relation to how teavana prices their tea. By using only half the amount of tea than usual, you have to attribute that to the price. In relation to everything else: only ten bucks for 2oz. Extremely fair considering the quality.

I just bought this tea today and I can’t get enough of it. It has a very vegetal and grassy flavor with a wonderful scent. The flavor is so unique to me that I can’t compare it to anything else. For an extra kick, I tried adding Teavana’s Morrocan Mint to it and it is a match made in heaven. Next I’m gonna try adding in jasmine and see how that goes :D