Gyokuro vs. Sencha Some people are a bit confused about whether or not gyokuro has any link to sencha. The idea of ​​luxury tea, drunk in a very exceptional way, disappears, and one even ends up considering it for everyday use, as a possibility offered among all types of teas. Gyokuro is shaded longer than kabuse tea. 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 … 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. This differs, even from Kabusecha which is a sencha variety grown under shade for one week. Is it because of the price, the taste or something else? Having gyokuro should be a somewhat special occasion, well IMHO. One gyokuro that was recognized as “Best Gyokuro of 2017” and one sencha. Kyôto / Uji has developed many cultivars dedicated to shaded teas, often selected from the seeds of local tea plants “zairai” (these are therefore cultivars in which Yabukita does not enter the genealogy, which is rather rare), for the gyokuro, Gokô and Samidori are the most famous, we can then mention Uji-hikari. About a century before Gyokuro was born, in 1738, Sencha … After harvesting, the production process is hardly different from sencha, with short steaming, and kneading with less pressure, the long shaded leaves being thin and more brittle. However, these two types of tea should not and cannot be compared this way. But the method of cultivation is different. If the gyokuro could be distinguished by its mode of culture, it is still more by its mode of consumption that the gyokuro differs from the sencha. I'm all the way Gyokuro guy, but then I don't buy it that often these days as there are so many other types of tea to drink at stock. Between those produced in Uji, Yame and Asahina, there are important differences. Thank you for a most comprehensive essay. 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. When removed from sunlight, the leaves endure less photosynthesis, keeping strong-flavored amino acids in the plant and giving Gyokuro … 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 … I think of Sencha as slightly darker than Gyokuro… ( Log Out /  Gyokuro vs Sencha. Sencha can have sweetness and quite a bit of umami, but those qualities usually pale in comparison to gyokuro. 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 … Is it possible to remove light scratches from yixing pot? Indeed, if the gyokuro is brew and approached in the same way as a sencha, the result will be very bad, not allowing to appreciate the very special characteristics and qualities of this type of tea very typically Japanese. New ones have emerged since, but it is too early to say what will be their fate. At the very least, your tea vendor should tell you where his gyokuro comes from. By Florent - japaneseteainstructor on September 15, 2017 • ( 8 ). We must learn to appreciate this way of tasting, to savor these few drops of tea, then to contemplate the evolution of aromas on the 4 or 5 infusions that will offer these leaves. 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. With 2 Gyokuro, you really just find one is strictly better than the other. This is one unique variant of green tea with a distinct deviation from the standard sencha tea we know. Rcsm Mahavidhalay | Home; About us. Thank you very much for your comment. Rightly said, the Gyokuro tea is a Japanese wonder. Made from leaves that have not been oxidized. The name "gyokuro" translates as "jewel dew". Yet, more affordable, plantations under arbor but trimmed, with mechanical harvest, also give very good products, sufficiently typical. 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. In the cup, one gets only a few drops of nectar, dense, rich, aromatic, powerful. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The intensity isn't as high. Green tea has many kinds of style such as Sencha, Gyokuro, Hojicha and so on. I bought the Uji-hikari in March and thought I’d go with the Gokô this time (unfortunately, I didn’t realize there was a sampler until it was sold out–you snooze, you lose). 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. 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. By the way, about my 2017 selection gyokuro, my recommendation for this year would be the Uji-hikari. Gyokuro is brewed with temperatures around 122 °F. The Asahina are also very interesting. Compared with sencha, the shade-cultivated gyokuro … 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. The tea is shade-grown for 20 to 30 days. Japanese greens aren't part of my daily routine, but I will splurge once in a while on some Gyokuro. Change ). Gyokuro - Gyokuro … First to explain what the gyokuro really is, to try to get a message about it, to make it better appreciated by a greater number of amateurs. Unlike sencha, which is not shaded at all, gyokuro is normally shaded for about three weeks before plucking. Shading is also sometimes limited to only one layer. Why this article? 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 … Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. It is definition could roughly be apply to tencha. If it’s not stated, then it’s either blended from different regions, or it could even be made outside of Japan (this happens more often than you think). 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. 3 weeks prior to the plucking of … 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! Origin 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 … 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. Fukamushi means "Steamed for a long time". Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Gyokuro is often referred to as a type of sencha, because the processing is very similar. In this video, we see which cold brew green tea is better, a cold brewed Sencha or a cold brewed Gyokuro. ( Log Out /  But these efforts will not be in vain, they will open a new and unprecedented area in the geography of teas. Sencha is another steamed green tea from Japan so they are quite similar. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. It is also grown in the shade… What is Gyokuro Tea? ( Log Out /  It is difficult to define clearly what gyokuro is. The best know places that produce gyokuro are Fukuoka prefecture (especially the city of Yame and surroundings, which produces tea known as Yamecha), Kyoto prefecture (the most popular coming from the city of Uji and surroundings, whose tea is called Ujicha), and Shizuoka prefecture (Shiz… Kabusecha. Compared to the other type of green teas, the … 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. I, however, am a gyokuro fan, but don't find myself drinking it much because of price, quantity and that it goes bad quickly. It would be a shame to do without it because the gyokuro is also finally a condenser of the caracteristics of Japanese teas : green, shaded, steamed, unique rolling method. A typical parameter will be 5g of leaves, 30ml (I say ml, not cl) at 40 or 50 ° C on the 1st infusion, at least 90s. The sencha is our Sencha Yudi from the yabukita cultivar and the Gyokuro is our Gyokuro … In addition, direct contact may damage the leaves; and this method does not constitute protection against frost unlike the shelf type shading. Cultivars will, as always, be an essential element of diversity. Shading with tunnel type or directly placed on the trees are in principle excluded. 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. It is like cheesecake, crazy delicious but not everyday. Even knowing how to approach it, the gyokuro may seem to be very difficult to access, a bit offensive, and this is not wrong. Whatever the preference, the different cultivation area, the cultivars, offer the gyokuro considerable variations, which become obvious when compared, and it is after these efforts of comprehension that one falls in love under the charm of gyokuro, and nothing else in the world of tea (the teas of the world) is comparable. 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. Academic Calendar; College Documentation Preparation and consumption Shaded at least 20 days, often much more, manually harvested on unpruned plantation for the best, the gyokuro … Gyokuro vs. Sencha Gyokuro is a premium variety of Japanese green tea. It is finally there that the essential typical characteristics of the gyokuro emerge. It spreads very quickly even in Uji. Kabusecha is a special Japanese green tea in-between gyokuro and sencha. Shading tea bushes for about 20 days before harvesting raises the level of amino acids and creates umami or a savory flavor. 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. However, many gyokuro from plantations in direct shading will be found on the market, for a very questionable result. Gyokuro is a type of shaded green tea from Japan. The Gokô is very aromatic and typical of Uji gyokuro. The fresh tea leaves … Another thing about Gyokuro is it doesn't show its region as much as Sencha. Green tea becomes a product when the tea-leaf grown in tea garden (tea plantation) is processed. After plucking, tea leaves go through the same production process as sencha. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Sencha is produced much more widely though, and it doesn’t get shaded, so it won't have quite the same refinement of flavour or depth of umami. Wonderful write up on Gyokuro. Fukamushi means "Steamed for a long time". Nevertheless, in many cases shading is longer, sometimes up to a month. 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. Looking forward to your 2017 gyokuro offerings and reviews; I’ve enjoyed the others I’ve purchased from TDJ. Yixing Teapot Pairing or Which Tea for which teapot? Sencha is just a little more easy on the wallet and more a daily drink than Gyo..IMHO. ( Log Out /  Nevertheless, the concept is simple, combining the kneading/drying method of the sencha, with the method of cultivation of the tencha. We also speak of an invention of the master of sencha-dô Ogawa Kashin. Indeed, as with tencha (unmilled raw material for matcha), there is no clearly defined standard. 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. 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. I recommend shiboriodashi for the preparation of gyokuro. A lot of umami certainly, but an umami powerful and tender at the same time, with also many aromas. 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. In Kyoto, some professionals cherish the gyokuro of one or two years. 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. Sencha is just a little more easy on the wallet and more a daily drink than Gyo..IMHO. Simply put, Gyokuro is shade grown green tea to be enjoyed as steeped tea (as opposed to matcha in powder form), using the same post-harvest process as Sencha green tea. Ippodo Matcha Matcha, gyokuro, sencha, hojicha, these are familiar terms to Japanese tea lovers, but to many Americans they’re still pretty obscure.To be honest, I think it’s hard to find really … 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. The shade must in principle be made under a shelf arbor (tana-gake), structure of 180-200cm high allowing shading with synthetic fibers or bamboo shade and straw. Direct shading, practicing very early could causes a hardening of the leaves because this method does not allow to regulate the shading. Many sellers, of which I am a part, prefer to present them as kabuse-cha (shaded very long, more than 20 days). Fukamushi Sencha- Fukamushi Sencha is the same as Sencha but it is steamed two or three times longer. Gyokuro is in da house! Nevertheless, traditional cultivars such as Yabukita (less and less), but also more and more Oku-midori, and especially the star Saemidori are also used. For my part, I take a great pleasure, which I would never have imagined a few years ago. I do not particularly care for the strong umami that is produced by the shading of gyokuro, and I am in the lucky position of actually preferring the cheaper, more abundant tea. 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. 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. It is grown almost exclusively in the Kyoto region. Sencha is the term for traditional green tea in Japan, but this … Thank you for expanding our / my knowledge. Gyokuro tea is a type of shaded green tea made from unique variations of the Camellia sinensis plant. Buying a gyokuro rather than a sencha thinking to be sure to have a quality tea shows a misunderstanding of this kind of tea. We note that the gyokuro is not just a question of umami, but that there is a fascinating depth in the perfumes it develops. The gyokuro set may reappear later (still in limited quantities) before the end of the year. Brewed like a sencha, the gyokuro is then very flat, subtle will say some, but simply without interest. Asahina is more confidential (and endangered), but with its own characteristics too. Everyone has to try many and makes an idea by himself. Definition 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. Call Us-+91-9457657942, +91-9917344428. I haven´t tried gyokuro yet...but I do have 50g of Yame Gyokuro on it´s way...should arrive sometime next week. Gyokuro is slightly sweeter than sencha and has is famous for its crisp, clean taste. The gyokuro certainly possesses a palette of possibilities less wide than the sencha, and there is an effort, a first step to make to go towards him. 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 … Processing as a sencha shaded leaves would have made it possible to use these plantations for new purposes. 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. It is normally best to steep gyokuro … 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. Yet it is generally admit that it is a tea produced in shaded plantation. While gyokuro tea comes from the same plant, camellia sinesis, as tencha and sencha, etc. 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. 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. it is often distinguished by the way the plants are altered pre-harvest. Gyokuro is grown at a lower altitude than sencha, in a misty and rainy climate. Approx. While gyokuro is shaded for approximately three to four weeks, kabuse-cha is shaded for approximately one week. 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). There seems to be a lot of sencha fanatics here but I got the impression that people who prefer gyokuro are underrepresented. Wouldn't a exclusive tea like gyokuro have a bigger following on TC? The idea that sencha is standard, average Japanese tea, and that gyokuro is the superior tea is completely wrong. I've tasted Sencha many times, but have never bought it. Although I’ve been “tea-ing” for quite a few years, I learned a lot from this, including that gyokuro is a relatively young style. You can have two Senchas and compare them and find that they are both good but different. Although they are both green teas, gyokuro is shade grown, while sencha is grown in the sun. 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