All About Gyokuro

As part of our Yame Tea Festival, we are happy to add a top-quality gyokuro to our tea lineup: Gyokuro Imperial! Let's take a closer look at this spectacular Japanese green tea.

What is gyokuro?

Gyokuro is a highly-regarded green tea known for its rich umami flavors and lingering silky mouthfeel. It is made using only the youngest leaves and buds of the first flush of tea growth. The tea leaves are harvested from April to mid-May.

Gyokuro was first developed by Kahei Yamamoto in 1835 in Uji. The story is that he noticed on one of his trips to Uji that the tea from a certain farmer far excelled in quality compared to other sencha, and he made it his mission to replicate the results. They then identified the secret was shading the leaves, which was originally done to protect the tea leaves from damage from frost, but it was found that there was a connection between shade-growing and better flavor. From there, techniques were further developed through a collective effort of merchants and farmers to produce the tea we identify as gyokuro today. 

How is gyokuro made? 

Although gyokuro was first developed in Uji, Yame is now recognized as the top region for it, producing about half of the total output. Besides quantity, the quality of Yame is often recognized as superior. In fact, it snagged Japan’s top tea prize in the prestigious National Tea Competition for 12 consecutive years!

Tea bushes for gyokuro are covered with mats made of natural materials like reed, or yoshizu, blocking the direct sun in early April. They are covered for at least 16 days before harvest.

Leaves are plucked either by hand or scissors, steamed to prevent oxidization, dried, rolled, and then shaped into needle-like form.

Why shade-growing?

Shade-growing produces less astringent and sweeter tea by preventing amino acids from transforming into more bitter catechin. It also increases the umami notes caused by L-theanine, which is greater preserved with shade-growing.

Another benefit of shade-growing is that it creates a pleasant and distinct seaweed-like scent known as hifuku kaori, which is produced by dimethyl sulfide that occurs the longer a tea is shade-grown. Lastly, shaded tea plants produce more chlorophyll to photosynthesize with less sunlight, resulting in a vibrant dark green color. The leaves also tend to be softer and more delicate, which facilitates the processing of fine tea.

Shade-growing methods

There are two types of shade-growing or oishitaen: using natural fibers or synthetic materials. 

Traditional shading techniques are almost exclusively used for ceiling coverings and are not applied to bushes directly. Organic materials like straw, reeds, and bamboo are used. Farmers gradually enhance the level of shading by adding more straw during the shading period. This method requires extra care and labor. Because of the greater cost of production, it is generally used for premium gyokuro and tencha (the base for matcha). It is a preferred method of Yame farmers.

Shade-growing with synthetic materials is generally the same process. Synthetic mats are produced that provide shade that can more easily be installed and reused over the plants. One technique uses the mats directly on the bushes as well. 

While the natural oishitaen is harder to maintain, it is thought to provide benefits for the end product: enhanced airflow for the tea bushes, a unique aroma that is embedded in the tea’s flavor, added mineral benefits from the natural materials during rainfall, and more effective shading. And even though the natural coverings are not reusable, they can be used as natural fertilizer to nourish the tea bushes. 

Our Gyokuro Imperial

Our new Yame Gyokuro Imperial is made from bushes that are covered for over 16 days (usually around 20) with natural straw mats and using traditional methods. It is a blend of Yabukita and Saemidori bushes, resulting in a lovely, silky-smooth tea with rich and complex umami, nutty, vegetal, and lightly sweet notes that linger!