Favorite Green Tea
This Gyokuro is my favorite green tea. I usually steep it 3 times. It has a fantastic aroma and flavor. Much better that the select version.
Our organic Gyokuro (pronounced gyo-KUR-o) represents the pinnacle of organic Japanese green tea. Grown in the Kagoshima Prefecture of Japan, our Gyokuro is shaded prior to harvesting, which stresses the tea plant, resulting in a higher chlorophyll content. In the cup, this creates a fuller body and bolder vegetal quality. In addition, the light electric green infusion exhibits a sweet and nutty flavor that is smoother and less bitter than our organic Sencha. As is customary with most Japanese teas, our organic Gyokuro exhibits mixed grading consisting of both small and larger leaf pieces and very fine particles to create a full and brothy cup that, according to Japanese tea culture, creates a harmonious infusion revealing the full breadth of the leaf.
Brewing Gyokuro like any other green tea can produce a fantastic cup, no doubt, but the traditional method really highlights the beautiful umami qualities this tea is known for. We recommend steeping one teaspoon of Gyokuro in 8 oz of water heated to 158 degrees F (or lower) for only one minute. After that, steep one or two more times, extending the steeping time slightly with each subsequent infusion.
Ingredients: organic Japanese green tea
Kagoshima is a prefecture on the island of Kyushu, in Southern Japan which boasts a chain of active and inactive volcanoes that add to the soil content. Kagoshima is the second largest producer of green tea in Japan, and tea has been growing here since the 1300s. However, much of the world never experiences organic tea from Kagoshima because green tea is so popular in Japan that most tea grown in Japan is consumed in Japan; very little is exported. Within Japan, Kagoshima is the furthest distance from the Fukushima disaster. For those concerned with the implications of the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster, we continue to have our organic teas from Japan independently tested for radiation.
"When I open a bag of Gyokuro I can smell the cool ocean air. Even though I have never been to Japan, I can only imagine that this is what standing on the beach and watching the waves crash, would smell like."
"While it's a bit pricey for everyday drinking, this tea is a wonderful indulgence for the true green tea lover."
"I'm always amazed by just how vegetal this organic green tea is! I pick out notes of kale and kelp."
This Gyokuro is my favorite green tea. I usually steep it 3 times. It has a fantastic aroma and flavor. Much better that the select version.
this is my every day favorite tea! i did not know it was from kagoshima where i spent cherished time. i cold brew it in a tea thermos and refill it multiple times. cold brewed it never gets bitter. it is always perfect. i am mostly cold brewing my teas now. most, not all ...a perfect tea!
Now, you'll hear that this wonderful tea is delicious, smells wonderful, has great "mouth feel", yada, yada. And, yep, that's all true. But some of us like to drink tea as -- how do the Sufis put it? -- an enabling factor. When you want to get your head into a particular place, perhaps because you've got something complex and "polyvalent" to explore or to decide, that's when gyokuro comes into its own. Like Arbor's excellent sencha, it's more of a "medium-length flight": a tea that gets you "into the zone" for a few hours, and then takes you down easy. Different people respond to a tea in different ways. Myself, I find that sencha is "clean and clear, get-stuff-done" tea, while gyokuro opens up a few extra doors. While in the zone...well, if tea is more than a kick in the pants for you, then gyokuro demonstrates why sometimes "the good stuff" is worth it.
I'll preface this with the fact I've had exceptionally high quality award winning Gyokuro before so I'm aware of the quality difference. That said though this is a fine budget option because not every cup needs to cost you a lot of money. The basic profile and experience are there and as someone who's not a tea snob I enjoyed this Gyokuro as well as the ones that for triple the price.
I'm learning so much about tea, and Gyokuro is the Cadillac of teas! It's so nice and smooth, and Arbor Teas service has been outstanding every time. Awesome!
Airtight storage containers in two sizes featuring interior plunger to expel air
High quality matcha with a thick vegetal taste and minimal bitterness