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Tasting Notes: buttered greens, seaweed, steamed vegetables, toasted nuts

Description: Gyokuro, a shade-grown steamed green tea, is Japan’s most premium tea and accounts for less than 1% of the country’s total tea production. It is one of the finest teas in the world. This green tea is ceremonial in nature and crafted with extraordinary care. The umami (pleasant savory taste) of this tea is powerful, layered, and complex. A deeply satisfying tea, Gyokuro is best enjoyed slowly and is often reserved for special occasions.

The leaves are shaded from the sun for three weeks before being plucked, a technique that raises chlorophyll and amino acid levels, most notably L-theanine, which contributes to the tea’s smooth, soft character. At the same time, shading lowers polyphenol content, reducing bitterness and allowing the deep umami notes to shine through. This results in a vivid green leaf and a brew that is both mellow and full-bodied.

The same shading method is also used to produce matcha. While matcha is stone-ground into a fine powder, Gyokuro remains a whole-leaf tea meant to be steeped gently at lower temperatures. The result is a rare tea with brothy richness, vegetal sweetness, and a lingering finish unlike any other.

Ingredients: shade grown green tea from Fukuoka, Japan

Steep Time: steep 1 heaping teaspoon of tea per 8 oz below boiling water, 160-175°F, for 45 seconds to 2 minutes