Tea Review: Gyokuro

Gyokuro
Gift/Mystery Tea
Type: Green
Origin: Japan
Product Description: Not available.

Temperature: 140° F
Amount: 3 grams
Steeping Time: 2 minutes

The dry leaf aroma is sweet, fresh and green, with pepper and marine notes.

The infusion is a pale golden-green with an aroma that is sweet, nutty, vegetal green, and savory.

The taste is savory umami, nutty, and green, smooth with no astringency, followed by a long savory green finish.

I had great results with three infusions and believe this tea would continue to provide good results through more infusions.  The first steeping was pale with a savory flavor and no astringency.  The second steeping was deeper in color with a crisp green and mildly astringent flavor.  The third steeping had the deeper color of the second steeping, but returned to the savory umami and low astringency found in the first.

This tea was a generous gift from a friend who did not have any of the production information.  Along with several other mystery teas in my collection, I wanted to carry on with a tasting and share the results here.  It's quite interesting to be able to approach teas like this with no preconceptions or expectations.