2011 Gyokuro Gokoh Competition Grade

As I'm gradually finishing drinking last season's teas (and fresh Chinese greens are quickly arriving), there are still at least two extraordinary greens I would like to talk about. Both of them competed in 2011 All National Tea Competition of Japan – the first of them is this Gyokuro.

Made of Gokoh cultivar, it comes from the famous Gyokuro-producing region of Yame in Fukuoka prefecture of southern Japan. Teamountain imported this tea to Europe - and I have purchased it from Slovak shop Nomad.sk few months ago.

I had a chance to drink Competition grade of Gyokuro Gokoh from Teamountain in 2010 as well – see here for a detailed post. However, it is clear on first sight that these two are very different teas – compared to the 2010 version, the 2011 has shorter, smaller leaves, probably a result of deeper steaming. This doesn't take any of the attractiveness these leaves possess - dark-green, shiny and uniform little needles, with beautiful, deep and creamy sweet smell.

Prepared in a traditional manner, big amount of leaves is brewed in very small amount of lukewarm water for a long time. The resulting infusion is yellow in color, opaque and very thick in both smell and taste – there are countless tones in these, from the predominant rich umami to milky sweetness, cream, wild berries and slight undertone of hazelnuts. Despite its typically warm and heavy character, it seems fresher than most traditional Gyokuro teas, especially thanks to the very mild, but still detectable herbal (especially mint) and green nuance – makes drinking this tea on a sunny spring day even more enjoyable. Its aftertaste is long, heavy and mouthfilling, with all of the deepest tones found this tea's taste now even more vivid. It also has a significant effect on mind and body, awakening the senses with its high amount of caffeine concentrated in thick, oily brew – similarly to most good Gyokuro teas, this is a great drink when one really needs to concentrate and stay relaxed at the same time.

One more infusion is made of these leaves with slightly warmer water; the resulting liquid is green and more transparent. Its taste is just a little bit lighter, greener and more refreshing, while it still keeps the rich, creamy sweetness, umami and depth. This infusion once again shows that this Gyokuro Gokoh is slightly more on the vegetal, green side instead of the ripe-fruit character so often found in such traditional high-grade teas – I must say I enjoy this not-so expected character, for a change. Even so, the tea still managed to keep its very traditional, warm character.

The aftertaste of this infusion is long; it might be shorter than before, but still long enough to stay on tongue - even hours after the session.

2011 Horaido Gyokuro Fuuki

The sun is shining as I finally have enough free time for a proper tea session. Other than that, the air is still quite cold – days like these often make me want to drink Gyokuro.

Some of you may remember me talking about the 2010 version of Horaido's Fuuki – I enjoyed it a lot, just as I enjoyed practically all Horaido teas that I've tried up to this day. This traditional, Uji-based shop offers teas, many of which rank among my favorite Japanese-greens every year.

I purchased the 2011 version of Fuuki on my last visit to Brno's Probuzeny Slon teahouse and enjoyed it a couple of times since then, so I guess it's finally time for some notes.

After the package is opened, these typically beautiful, short and shiny dark-green needles emit that amazingly sweet, rich and complex smell so characteristic for a good Kyoto-style Gyokuro. This smell enhances as quite a big amount of these leaves is placed into the preheated Shiboridashi, revealing the pleasantly heavy, milky character.

Using traditional way of preparation, the first infusion is brewed with lukewarm water for four minutes and is yellowish-green in color, thick in consistence and very complex in taste. Within countless tones, umami is naturally the strongest one, followed by sweet milkiness, creaminess and less pronounced (compared to previously described MK Tsubokiri Gyokuro) but still detectable freshness. Next in line is a very interesting tone, reminding me of sweet melon – both yellow and watermelon.

This brew leaves long, heavy aftertaste in mouth, dominated by, once again, umami, noble sweetness and somehow creamy, hazelnut-like nuances.

The following infusion is prepared with a bit warmer water and shorter steeping time, resulting in a greener, less thick and very clear, transparent brew. Its taste is lighter and slightly vegetal, though the noble sweetness and umami remain the predominant tones. The refreshing tone is also significantly enhanced, compared to the previous infusion; so is the green, fruity-like character, now reminiscent of freshly picked green apples and grapes. The aftertaste is shorter, though still very sweet and complex, made of several tones, now especially those of various kinds of fruit.

One more infusion is prepared – with quite hot water and short brewing time, this is a light, nicely sharp ending of a session, now very refreshing, less deep and more straightforward and vegetal, though still practically without any unpleasant tones.

Eating some (or, in many cases, all) of the the spare leaves has became almost a routine part of my sessions with Gyokuros – these beautiful, still lively green leaves are no exception. Lacking bitterness, their mild sweet taste and lightness is a calming experience, prolonging the noticeably awakening, though, at the same time, mind-calming effect.

2011 Tsubokiri Gyokuro by Marukyu Koyamaen

First of all, I would like to apologize – this blog was on an unexplained hiatus since the end of September. Among things that kept me busy is the fact that I have moved to a beautiful little village near Bratislava – this way, I can still keep close to the city, while the pluses are obvious – a garden, nature, calmness... drinking tea here during the warmer months is definitely going to be a wonderful experience. Then came Christmas and all things related to it – pleasant, but time-consuming.

I bought this Gyokuro back in November and enjoyed it a few times since then. As the package already indicates, it isn't a part of Uji's famous Marukyu Koyamaen's standard offering – Tsubokiri is a seasonal collection of teas released after Kuchikiri no Gi ceremony in October and sold only during October and November. Luckily, I was able to get one package of such Gyuokuro from Bratislava's Teatrade.sk store.

I've already talked about traditional storage and ripening of high-grade Japanese teas as well as the Kuchikiri no Gi ceremony last year with Horaido teas. Personally, I'm looking forward to such teas a lot every year – spring offering of Shincha is definitely amazing amazing, but autumn is my favorite season of Japanese tea; season when some of the best teas are released to the market.

These dark-green leaves are slightly more fragmented, short and reminiscent of short needles (or pins), indicating a medium-deep steaming (chumushi). Quite typically for many Uji-style Gyokuro teas, their appearance is a bit less shiny than that of high-grade Sencha.

Smell of these leaves is a joy; sweet, noble, deep and, at the same time, still notably fresh. As they are placed into the preheated Shiboridashi, more and more tones keep showing up – tones I would expect from a really good traditional Uji Gyokuro and, especially, one from Marukyu Koyamaen, as their Gyokuro teas seem to be characteristic enough to be distinguished from other producers (hard to explain, though).

As with all higher-grade Gyokuro, I've chosen the traditional way of preparation – big amount of leaves, small volume of lukewarm water and long steeping times.

This gives me three interesting infusions, first of which is greenish-yellow in color, just slightly opaque and very aromatic. Its taste is heavy, rich and full of nuances; milky, sweet tones and umami, pine-like forest freshness and ripe fruit. The aftertaste is long and mouthfilling, very deep and sweet without traces of bitterness. This taste really is noble and special – this is one of those teas that you can feel in your mouth hours after you've finished drinking it – maybe even all day long. Similarly most traditional Gyokuros stored until autumn, Tsubokiri has a significant body-warming effect as well as a vivid awakening one, waking up the senses and enhancing mind's ability to focus. And with such a tea, it is definitely important to completely focus on the session itself.

The second infusion, prepared with slightly hotter water and shorter brewing time, is greener in color and more transparent. Now, the taste is a little lighter than before, though still very deep and sweet; the milky tone, umami and sweetness are accompanied by more pronounced, sharper note of fruit (especially grapes and pears) and a very slight spiciness. The aftertaste, though, is still predominantly sweet and milky – and, seemingly, even vivider and longer than that of the first infusion.

One more brew is prepared – while this one may be the lightest and not that deep at all compared to its predecessors, it appears to be a very pleasant refreshment after two very heavy infusions. This one is sharper, lighter and somehow fresher, with shorter aftertaste and tones of nuts, spices and fruit.

Uji has been my favorite tea-producing area for years and this tea once again proved to remind me why I am so fond of it. A traditional, ripened Gyokuro of this kind is a tea worth special opportunities – at least in my eyes.

2010 Gyokuro Gokoh Competition Grade

The sun magically returned the day after my last post and has been shining ever since, reviving my demand of Japanese green tea. To celebrate the fact, I decided to drink something really special today – out of all competition grade greens in 2010 Teamountain offering, this one seemed to be the most promising.

Picked in Yame, Fukuoka, one of the most famous Gyokuro-producing regions of Japan in May, this tea was made of Gokoh cultivar, which is considered the most suitable for Gyokuro. Just like the previously mentioned Gyokuro Saemidori, it competed in last year's National Tea Competition of Japan. This is the last sample kindly sent by Martin Spimr of Teamountain with my order; a sample which I'd been sparing for quite a long time, waiting for the right moment to open it.

These leaves are unusually beautiful even for a good Gyokuro – very uniform and even, quite long needles, plastic on touch and with typically blueish-green shine. Their smell is rich, sweet, deep and milky, sophisticated and wide, with notes ranging from sweet cream and milk to ripe fruit and pines.

Traditional way of preparation is a must for such tea – water is therefore cooled down to 50°C and carefully poured on the whole sample.

After four minutes of brewing, the first infusion is ready; it has unusually transparent, clear yellow color and slightly oily consistency, accompanied by humble, sweet smell of fruit and vanilla. The first sip is almost a shock for tongue - this taste is unbelievable, extremely rich and heavy with dominant tones of milk, sweetness and umami, the richest and vividest umami I've experienced in tea for a long time. This Gyokuro is quite warm in character, yet still possess a fresh, almost “mountainous” nuance of conifers and pines, accompanied by pure, relaxing feeling of a walk in the woods. As if it still weren't enough, the liquor further contains hints of various sweet, ripe fruit, most notably plums and pears.

The second infusion is prepared with a bit warmer water and shorter brewing time, resulting in a light-greenish yellow brew, which is now predominantly fruity in taste, a bit lighter and still very clear and refined. Out of many kinds of fruit this tea resembles, plums are still the most outstanding, followed by pears, apples and even pineapple. This infusion is atypically smooth for a second brew of Gyokuro, which usually brings a bit of spiciness and sharpness to the tea – not in this case, however, this tea seems to keep its noble sweetness much longer than anything else.

This brew is followed by long, mouthfilling aftertaste with vivid sweetness, umami and creamy milkiness.

Thank you, Martin, for sending this sample and for an opportunity to try such an amazing tea.

2010 Gyokuro Saemidori Competition Grade

The sun is shining once again in Bratislava (melting all the snow so there likely won't be any on Christmas, but oh well, what can we do) – after such a long time, it really is a nice alternative to the cold, cloudy days, during which I usually tend to lack natural light a lot.

Not to mention, that such sunny day seems to be ideal for good Gyokuro.

A sample of this tea was kindly sent by Martin Spimr of Teamountain. This Gyokuro originates in Yame, Fukuoka (quite a famous Gyokuro-producing region) is made of Saemidori breed and competed in National Tea Competition of Japan, about which I've already talked in a post about prized Tamaryokucha and about which Hibiki-an recently published an article as well.

Right as the silver package is opened, amazingly rich, heavy smell pops out and fills my nose with fresh tones of fruit, creamy milkiness, pines and intense sweetness. This aroma belongs to beautifully uniform, short needle-like leaves which are very dark-green in color, almost blue-green and possess the typical plastic shine.

Such competition Gyokuro truly deserves special treatment – just as with all teas of this kind of such high grade, I decided to use the traditional way of preparation. Whole sample is therefore poured into the small preheated shiboridashi, even boosting the already intensive, vivid smell of these leaves.

Water is then let cooling down for the first infusion until it reaches the point of 50 degrees Celsius.

The first infusion is then brewed for four minutes; the result is yellow in color and deep, creamy and fruity in smell. It's very thick and has oily consistency, hitting the tongue with rich taste full of various nuances - intensive milkiness, noble sweetness, vivid umami, pears, plums, and hazelnuts. As most Gyokuros, this tea seems to be warm in character, lacking the floral freshness and something I would call “the feeling of spring”. It's just as mouth-filling and sated as a good, thick chicken-soup and seems to have a significant impact on stomach. The aftertaste is mainly milky and nutty, very long and, in some way, dry.

A bit warmer water is used for the second infusion, which is also brewed for shorter time. Its color is now yellowish green with typical opaqueness and heavy, deep taste, now dominated by tones of ripe fruit, followed by rich umami note, sweet creaminess and milk. The aftertaste lingers on tongue for even longer time than in the previous infusion, though it seems to be lighter, less concentrated and not so mouth-filling.

The third infusion is once again prepared with small amount of a bit hotter water, is light-green in color and much lighter, yet sharper on tongue. This brew is mainly fruity, with nuances resembling pears and plums just like those in the first infusion, with milky and creamy tones slowly receding. The aftertaste is quite short in this case; light, warm and calm, lacking the vivid sharpness found in the infusion itself.

These leaves still seem so lively and full of energy after the last brew – as always, some of them are eaten just as the sun goes down. They lack any bitterness, being gently sweet and mild.

haven't found any Christmas-related candleholder at the moment, but...

Four days left until Christmas; as I'm not sure whether I will post anything in the next few days or not, I would like to wish all the tea-lovers out there Merry Christmas, filled with a lot of good mood and, of course, good tea.

2010 Horaido Gyokuro Fuuki

This is the second of 2010 Horaido teas, which were traditionally processed and stored until October in Kyoto, mentioned on my blog. After beginning with Sencha, I've chosen to try Gyokuro Fuuki – of three Horaido Gyokuros I got from Peter Stanik, this is the middle grade. According to Horaido description, citing, “High grade Gyokuro. With fine rich taste and aroma. We recommend this tea for the first try to Gyokuro. It is very popular Gyokuro in our shop.” though this by any means is not my first Gyokuro, it, for a reason which remains unknown to me, was the first one to subconsciously catch my attention among these samples.

The package reveals leaves which are very dark, almost blueish-green in appearance, shiny and shorter than Asamushi Sencha leaves; typical appearance for high grade Gyokuro. Their smell is rich, heavily deep and just like sweet milk cream with decent tones of blackberries, ribes and even caramel.

I decided to prepare this tea in a traditional way, as, in my opinion, it really deserves this kind of treatment. This means that quite a big amount of leaves is brewed in minimal amount of 45-50 Celsius degrees lukewarm water (Horaido even recommends 40 degrees) for two to five minutes. I choose the middle way, brewing it for four minutes, preparing two infusions.

The first infusion, being yellow in color is, up to the expectations, very thick, having a consistency comparable to that of oil. The taste is heavily intense, hitting tongue in the first second with all of its numerous tones and nuances, most vivid of which are deep sweetness, milkiness, nuttiness similar to that of almonds and a note of ripe fruit; all kinds of fruit. It has all the qualities typical for traditionally stored Gyokuro, with freshness replaced by deep, noble fullness and absolutely no bitterness. It however still is somehow lighter in character than most regular types of Gyokuro, or at least seems so to me – possibly the reason why Horaido recommends it as a “starter” Gyokuro for those who don't have much experience with this type of tea yet (though I believe it would be a “cultural shock” to such person even so – Gyokuro always seems to be). Still, this lighter character definitely isn't a minus, but instead just makes this tea more distinct and impressive.

The second infusion is brewed in water which is a bit warmer than the first one (55 degrees) and even smaller in cubage – just enough to cover the leaves. It seems greener in color, is less thick in consistency as well as taste, which is lighter, more flowery yet still creamy, sweet and deep with long aftertaste, which can be characterized as the umami itself – it's often said that Gyokuro is the embodiment of this taste and I cannot disagree.

After the session, I suddenly felt very hungry – another thing typical for Gyokuro and one of the reasons Japanese almost always serve something sweet with tea. These teas have a big impact on tummy and should never be consumed on empty stomach – this pertains all Japanese teas, but can be especially noticeable on Gyokuro and Matcha.

My mind hasn't been so calm – calm and vigilant at once - for a long time; another impact of this, without any doubts, beautiful tea, which brightened this beautiful, sunny autumnal day even more.

Another tea tasting event

I've just returned from the teahouse in which two previous tastings, one of Meng Ding teas and the other of WuYi oolongs took place.

This time, the tasting was especially interesting for me, as Japanese teas, more accurately those produced by Marukyu Koyamaen, were the theme.

I don't remember how many kinds of tea we drunk; I took photos of just those that caught my attention the most. I guess there were about six teas, both hot and cold (as Marukyu Koyamaen produces one Sencha specially adapted for brewing as ice tea). It was really great and refreshing to switch between hot and cold teas, as the sun was shining and the weather was... truly summer.

We had two grades of fresh Shincha, one or two Gyokuros, one Sencha (or two?) and one Konacha, if I remember right.

This is packaging of one single Shincha - the lower grade produced by Koyamaen. This somehow reminded me of a conversation we had with Matt under this post on his blog.

I enjoyed just touching that hand made paper, small brochure in Japanese and all the other proofs of true art of packaging nations like Japan and Korea illustrate.

And this is what you find after opening the package.

In the end, we drank this tea - tea that somehow stood aside of others.

This is the highest grade of Gyokuro produced by Marukyu Koyamaen, Chitose no Homare.

Just a reference, cost of this tea is 12,285yen for 90 gram package - that's something about 110 euro.

Very nice experience.