100
drank Premium Gyokuro by Ippodo
1194 tasting notes

Decided to break this open for some leisurely weekend sipping. I knew this was expensive when I bought it, but I didn’t realize that one packet only makes three pots (each resteepable). From aroma to mouthfeel to flavor, though, I can see why. The moment I opened it, the most wonderfully intense grassy smell wafted out of the bag. It brews up a deceptively light color, but I got three steeps out of the same leaves in a kyusu and each time the flavor was so robustly grassy and umami that I actually had to go get a piece of cheese to pair it with to help balance it out. I went with a slice of gouda, in case you’re wondering. The mouthfeel was so thick, it was incredible. Between that and the intense umami, it was downright brothy.

I made a salad with the spent leaves. I only had plain sesame oil, not toasted, and didn’t have any sesame seeds to garnish with, but it still came out really tasty! I found it most enjoyable mixed in with the rice, so that the dressing and leaves were well-distributed within the rice. The leaves still had a fair amount of savoriness in them, and the texture was like tiny pieces of cooked spinach, so I’d call this recipe one of the few times I somehow didn’t screw up cooking!

https://www.saveur.com/japanese-green-tea-leaf-salad-recipe/

Flavors: Grass, Umami

Cameron B.

Even though I know it’s coming, it’s a surprise every time when I first take a sip of gyokuro, because it has such intensity of flavor for such a light-colored tea! Not something I drink often, but love that thick, viscous sweet-umami character.

Kaylee

Exactly! I’m always second-guessing whether I brewed it correctly right up until I take that first sip.

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Cameron B.

Even though I know it’s coming, it’s a surprise every time when I first take a sip of gyokuro, because it has such intensity of flavor for such a light-colored tea! Not something I drink often, but love that thick, viscous sweet-umami character.

Kaylee

Exactly! I’m always second-guessing whether I brewed it correctly right up until I take that first sip.

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Geek and nerd (shoutout to GeekSteep). Still trying to get a handle on this whole work/life balance while ALSO succeeding at work thing. I have some chronic illnesses that make that harder. Tea is my respite.

Favorite tea types, in order:
oolongs
green
herbal
white
yellow

Don’t drink:
black
pu’erh

A sampling of tea shops I like:
Te Company
Calabash
Volition
Tea Thoughts
Harney & Sons
Yunomi
Teavivre

RIP Butiki

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