My opinion is that these cultivars do not equal Gokô or Samidori for perfumes, but it is true that Saemidori is richer in umami, and therefore dominates the results of the competitions. The general trend this year is a lack of body especially for shaded teas, and in this condition, the quite strong cultivar ji-hikari is just perfect this year. Gyokuro from Asahina – Japanese Tea Sommelier, Friday Roundup: September 10th – September 16th – Tea for Me Plese, Friday Roundup: September 10th - September 16th - Tea for Me Please, Follow Japanese Tea Sommelier on WordPress.com, Thés du Japon / Teas of Japan official fanpage, Senchas from “Nord-Kantô”, second part: Sayama, Senchas from “Nord-Kantô”, first part: Sashima. I've given them both a pretty fair trial, and for me, what I like best about them comes through more in the sencha than the gyokuro. Gyokuro is shaded longer than kabuse tea. The gyokuro set may reappear later (still in limited quantities) before the end of the year. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Preparation and consumption Gyokuro is often referred to as a type of sencha, because the processing is very similar. Gyokuro vs. Sencha Gyokuro is a premium variety of Japanese green tea. The Asahina are also very interesting. Lines of 35 Kg (thus giving only 5-6 kg of aracha), now very rare for sencha, are still very used for gyokuro, we find even for very high-end, in Kyô-Tanabe by example, lines of 18K! If there is no doubt that the gyokuro was invented in Kyoto in the 1830’s, there are several versions as to its precise origin. It spreads very quickly even in Uji. Gyokuro vs. Sencha Some people are a bit confused about whether or not gyokuro has any link to sencha. Green tea has many kinds of style such as Sencha, Gyokuro, Hojicha and so on. It is therefore believed that there is not a single creator name to put on the gyokuro, but rather the product of collective efforts to adapt to the tune of time. Finally, it is worth recalling that the concept of shincha, a new tea, does not apply to gyokuro (or to matcha), harvested and made in the spring, but generally only sold in the autumn after maturation. Rightly said, the Gyokuro tea is a Japanese wonder. Bancha (番茶, ordinary tea) is a Japanese green tea whose main characteristic is that it’s a lower grade than sencha.While the cultivation and processing are identical to sencha, there is a difference in the … Even knowing how to approach it, the gyokuro may seem to be very difficult to access, a bit offensive, and this is not wrong. Why this article? About a century before Gyokuro was born, in 1738, Sencha … Kabusecha. Gyokuro, Kabusecha, Sencha Each year in spring, our tea master sources high quality leaves from excellent Uji producers in the Kyoto prefecture to assemble a comprehensive range of flavorful teas … Although they are both green teas, gyokuro is shade grown, while sencha is grown in the sun. The name "gyokuro" translates as "jewel dew". I think of Sencha as slightly darker than Gyokuro… While gyokuro tea comes from the same plant, camellia sinesis, as tencha and sencha, etc. Nevertheless, the concept is simple, combining the kneading/drying method of the sencha, with the method of cultivation of the tencha. The sencha is our Sencha Yudi from the yabukita cultivar and the Gyokuro is our Gyokuro … Japanese greens aren't part of my daily routine, but I will splurge once in a while on some Gyokuro. Yixing Teapot Pairing or Which Tea for which teapot? I also thought the Asahina, which seems to be a kind of “niche offering,” sounded intriguing and am looking forward to your detailed product description. One gyokuro that was recognized as “Best Gyokuro of 2017” and one sencha. Gyokuro is grown at a lower altitude than sencha, in a misty and rainy climate. The biggest mistake is the one that makes the gyokuro as a superior Japanese tea, in short, to think that the sencha is the average grade Japanese green tea, and the gyokuro the superior … We also speak of an invention of the master of sencha-dô Ogawa Kashin. Genuine Old Zhu Ni teapot for sale (nannoushan impulse purchase), What kind of coating is this in my tetsubin, Yixing Teapot makes roasted tie guan yin tasteless. I've tasted Sencha many times, but have never bought it. I haven´t tried gyokuro yet...but I do have 50g of Yame Gyokuro on it´s way...should arrive sometime next week. On the occasion of their release on Thés du Japon of the 2017 selection of gyokuro, it is good to come back to this type of Japanese tea, whose name is ultra-known by every tea lover but often too misunderstood. Asahina is more confidential (and endangered), but with its own characteristics too. There seems to be a lot of sencha fanatics here but I got the impression that people who prefer gyokuro are underrepresented. With 2 Gyokuro, you really just find one is strictly better than the other. Fukamushi means "Steamed for a long time". It is said that Yamamoto Kahei, the sixth generation of Edo tea merchants, Yamamoto-ya, would have obtained clusters of leaves by kneading with the hand steamed leaves of tencha, and that, infused, would have given a good fragrance and a beautiful color , giving rise to the gyokuro. Direct shading, practicing very early could causes a hardening of the leaves because this method does not allow to regulate the shading. The main water-soluble components of gyokuro are theanine (an amino acid), caffeine, tannin and vitamin C. Theanine is the source of the tea’s flavor, caffeine the source of its bitterness, and tannin the source of its astringency. Shaded at least 20 days, often much more, manually harvested on unpruned plantation for the best, the gyokuro … Origin After plucking, tea leaves go through the same production process as sencha. However, these two types of tea should not and cannot be compared this way. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Thank you for a most comprehensive essay. it is often distinguished by the way the plants are altered pre-harvest. Thank you very much for your comment. It is like cheesecake, crazy delicious but not everyday. One understands that one should not be a piker, nor on the quality of the gyokuro itself, nor the amount of leaves used, nor on time pass to enjoy this espresso Japanese tea. To take advantage in the cup of these characteristics, the gyokuro is infused very concentrated, with very lukewarm water to further minimize astringency in favor of the umami. Gyokuro is brewed with temperatures around 122 °F. In this definition, sencha is the unshaded tea leaf that contrasts with the umami-rich shaded tea leaves that are gyokuro (shaded about 20 days) and kabusecha (shaded for 10-14 days). ( Log Out /  When removed from sunlight, the leaves endure less photosynthesis, keeping strong-flavored amino acids in the plant and giving Gyokuro … Rcsm Mahavidhalay | Home; About us. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Fukamushi means "Steamed for a long time". Gyokuro - Gyokuro … The process for Gyokuro green tea is similar to Sencha, except that about 3 weeks prior to harvest the tea leaves are hidden from sunlight. Indeed, as with tencha (unmilled raw material for matcha), there is no clearly defined standard. Definition: “GYOKURO – 玉露 – While the processing is the same as sencha, gyokuro is cultivated by shading for approximately three weeks prior to harvest.Various agricultural techniques … The tea is shade-grown for 20 to 30 days. Gyokuro tea is a type of shaded green tea made from unique variations of the Camellia sinensis plant. I love a good Gyo but they arent cheap so, for me, its more of a special occasion tea..while sencha on the … Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. But also so that those who choose to buy some do not do it for the wrong reasons, and can appreciate it at its true value. The idea that sencha is standard, average Japanese tea, and that gyokuro is the superior tea is completely wrong. Wonderful write up on Gyokuro. The Gokô is very aromatic and typical of Uji gyokuro. What is Gyokuro Tea? If those of Yame are the most awarded at the competitions recently (the aspect of the leaves has an influence), I prefer those of Uji, which seem to me the most typical on the aromatic point of view. Its production method aims to minimize the tannins in the leaves in favor of amino acids, to obtain a tea very rich in umami, with very little astringency, and finally a very sweet, mellow, and greenish fragrance very typical of the long shaded teas. Made by tea master Koga san, this award -winning dento hon gyokuro (traditionally made gyokuro with leaves shaded by rice straw) and this unique sencha … While gyokuro is shaded for approximately three to four weeks, kabuse-cha is shaded for approximately one week. The fresh tea leaves … When the second leaves sprout, shading begins, with the light cut off at 80-85%, and then after 10 days, a second layer (ni-ju-kake) filters 95% of the light, for another 10 days. Green tea becomes a product when the tea-leaf grown in tea garden (tea plantation) is processed. By the way, about my 2017 selection gyokuro, my recommendation for this year would be the Uji-hikari. Shading with tunnel type or directly placed on the trees are in principle excluded. Or the producer of tencha from Uji Matsubayashi Shohei, whose hoiro (the heated table used for tea drying) was destroyed in a fire, would have turned his leaves to a sencha producer, and would have called this tea gyokuro. Call Us-+91-9457657942, +91-9917344428. It is appreciated in a different way, by which I mean that its method of preparation makes it something that places it in a special field. In order to remain in a very strict definition, the tea-plants are natural shape bush formation (unsharpened, uncut) “shizen-shitate”, and consequently the harvest can only be manual, and a second harvest is excluded. Is it because of the price, the taste or something else? Sencha is just a little more easy on the wallet and more a daily drink than Gyo..IMHO. In the cup, one gets only a few drops of nectar, dense, rich, aromatic, powerful. As I have already said, the gyokuro initially requires efforts, first of all to adapt to its method of consumption, but also to discovery, it is necessary to drink a certain number of them in order to better understand its depth. Made from leaves that have not been oxidized. Between those produced in Uji, Yame and Asahina, there are important differences. Wouldn't a exclusive tea like gyokuro have a bigger following on TC? Differences Between Gyokuro (Jade Dew) and Matcha Teas Also known as jade dew, gyokuro comes from the same plant as sensha, though the plant must be shielded from sunlight while … The biggest mistake is the one that makes the gyokuro as a superior Japanese tea, in short, to think that the sencha is the average grade Japanese green tea, and the gyokuro the superior grade quality. I love a good Gyo but they arent cheap so, for me, its more of a special occasion tea..while sencha on the other hand is everday thing for me. Brewed like a sencha, the gyokuro is then very flat, subtle will say some, but simply without interest. But these efforts will not be in vain, they will open a new and unprecedented area in the geography of teas. It must be said that it was an era of great financial difficulties for the ruling class of the warriors, the main consumers of tencha / matcha, and that it was thus necessary to find new markets, and thus to create novelty. Is it possible to remove light scratches from yixing pot? Looking forward to your 2017 gyokuro offerings and reviews; I’ve enjoyed the others I’ve purchased from TDJ. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Kabusecha is a special Japanese green tea in-between gyokuro and sencha. But the method of cultivation is different. By Florent - japaneseteainstructor on September 15, 2017 • ( 8 ). Is too early to say what will be their fate tried gyokuro yet... but I will splurge in! 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