Japanese Gyokuro Shade-Grown Tea and Its Tea Ceremony Role

Japan — gyokuro developed 1835 by Yamamoto Kahei VI of the Yamamotoyama tea company in Uji, Kyoto; now produced in Uji, Yame, and Okabe regions

Gyokuro (玉露 — 'jade dew') is Japan's highest grade of shade-grown green tea, produced under shading for 20–30 days before harvest in May. Shading the tea plants blocks direct sunlight, which inhibits the conversion of L-theanine (an amino acid with a sweet, umami flavour) to catechins (bitter polyphenols) — the result is a tea with extraordinarily high L-theanine content and minimal bitterness, producing a sweet, umami-rich, deeply complex cup unlike any other tea. The colour of brewed gyokuro is a vivid, opaque yellow-green. Brewing gyokuro requires very low water temperature (50–60°C) and short steep time (90 seconds to 2 minutes) with minimal water quantity — the tea is drunk in small cups as a contemplative experience, not sipped continuously. The umami intensity of correctly brewed gyokuro has been measured at glutamate levels exceeding light dashi. Uji (Kyoto) and Yame (Fukuoka) are the two premier gyokuro production regions, with distinct flavour profiles: Uji gyokuro tends to be more mineral and marine; Yame gyokuro tends to be sweeter and fruitier. After brewing, the spent leaves (gyokuro no ochazuke) can be dressed with shoyu and eaten as a vegetable — L-theanine and chlorophyll provide genuine nutrition.

Sweet, intensely umami, seaweed-like and oceanic with no bitterness; vibrant yellow-green colour; the most complex flavour profile of any Japanese green tea; a contemplative, meditative experience