First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


Nov 30th, '13, 08:29
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First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Bostonbull » Nov 30th, '13, 08:29

Grabbed a few samples from a local vendor.


Products on order: 
1 x Longjing Shi Feng - $8.50
Dragonwell 1st Grade
2013
Yu Qian
SKU: GR-CH-LSF1G-13
Size: Sample (14 gr)

1 x Gyokuro Jade Dew - $8.50
Uji (Ujitawara), Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
2013
1st Spring Pluck (Ichibancha)
SKU: TGR-JA-GJD-13
Size: Sample (14 gr)

1 x Tou Tian Xiang - $6.50
Imperial Gold Un-roasted Organic
2013
Late Spring Pluck
SKU: TOO-CH-TTX-13
Size: Sample (14 gr)

Dec 2nd, '13, 07:50
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by ClarG » Dec 2nd, '13, 07:50

very nice :)

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Dec 2nd, '13, 09:36
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Teaism » Dec 2nd, '13, 09:36

It is a ski slope, just enjoy it but watch out for boulders, trees and avalance :wink:

Dec 3rd, '13, 08:09
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Bostonbull » Dec 3rd, '13, 08:09

My Gaiwan and samples came in yesterday.

I brewed a nice cup of the Gyokuro this morning. I used a touch too much tea 1g per Oz. Lesson learned.

What a great way to brew tea, and this type of green is incredibly flavorful d clean tasting!

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Dec 3rd, '13, 11:14
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Chip » Dec 3rd, '13, 11:14

Bostonbull wrote:My Gaiwan and samples came in yesterday.

I brewed a nice cup of the Gyokuro this morning. I used a touch too much tea 1g per Oz. Lesson learned.

What a great way to brew tea, and this type of green is incredibly flavorful d clean tasting!
... welllll ...

Many Japanese tea aficionados use 2 grams per ounce or more for Gyokuro. But the Gyokuro has to be worthy of such concentration. Then do small infusions of around 2 ounces +/-.

What temp and how long did you brew? Multiple steeps?

Dec 3rd, '13, 17:57
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Bostonbull » Dec 3rd, '13, 17:57

Made it with water roughly 170*, steeped for 1 min. Tasted very strong to me, only 1 infusion.

This afternoon I did 3g of longjing to 150ml, at roughly 170*, steeped for 1 min each time, got 3 steeps out of it.

I can say I much prefer the longjing to the Gyoruko! What other greens would I enjoy based on this limited info?


Will try the oolong tomorrow.


Tea went cold very quickly in my large coffee cup. Is it the size, material, or both? Any cups out there retain heat for an hour or so? What materials should I be looking at?

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Dec 3rd, '13, 18:25
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Chip » Dec 3rd, '13, 18:25

OK, a few suggestions for good quality Gyokuro brewing. This will not really help mediocre or bad gyokuro. And BTW, Gyokuro is similar to Long Jing in a few respects, both are green teas and both are commonly not the real deal. Often tea sold as Gyokuro is Kabusecha or worse. Brewing Kabuse rich as I outline below will not render desirable results.

2:1 ratio is common around here for brewing good Gyokuro. But if the Gyokuro is exceptional, you can amp it up even more. 3, 4, more grams per ounce ... I am most often in the 2-3 to 1 ratio range.

PREHEAT everything, pot, cups ... you can actually do this as you cool the water down ...

COOLER water, it is not uncommon to go 120-130* or even cooler for the first steep. Then for subsequent steeps, increase temp by 5-10 degrees.

Then you can increase time as well which will result in a deeper flavor profile. 90-120 seconds for the first steep. Try 90. Subsequent steeps, 2nd 10-30, 3rd 60, 4th longer, etc.

Good water! I won't get into this here ...

The Japanese refer to Gyokuro as "precious dew." Therefore, small steeps reign. I am usually in the 1-3 ounce range, 2 is average for me. Obviously small cups are a big help ... and as I already stated, PREHEAT the cups. :mrgreen: I usually make 2 cups, 1 ounce each.

Dec 3rd, '13, 22:09
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Bostonbull » Dec 3rd, '13, 22:09

Is the Gyokuro that Tea Trekker sells of quality? It looks like very fine grass clippings, and is bright deep green. The taste just wasn't there for me, very powerful to the point I had to cut it with some water to enjoy.

Good tips on the heating of everything beforehand, and using the cups as staging vessels for the cooling water.

No small cups on hand, but doesn't mean I can't do smaller ratios in my Gaiwan.

Speaking of, I need one for work. This one is from Bank Tea, any other places to look? I would love one with some people of masks on it from the wood block prints.

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Dec 4th, '13, 11:51
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Chip » Dec 4th, '13, 11:51

Sorry, I cannot comment on Tea Trekker's Gyokuro since I have not tried it. However, I will try to take a look at their site. I remember members generally enjoying their teas.

The first thing I notice is your temp is really high for Gyokuro. Since Gyokuro is shade grown, the components differ from Sencha and you need lower temps to accentuate the sweeter properties of Gyokuro.

Higher temp is likely giving you a blast of bitter caffeine and other components which are mostly non existent at the lower temps I mention previously. Then as you raise the temps over subsequent steeps the caffeine and other bitter components are slowly released ... but it is tolerable.

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Dec 4th, '13, 12:03
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Chip » Dec 4th, '13, 12:03

Looking at the Gyokuro selection http://www.teatrekker.com/uji-gyokuro-jade-dew, the photo may not do it justice, but the leaves do not appear to be as dark of a green as I would expect.

Also, at this price point (30 USD per 4 ounces), I would likely not be very pleased with the results. Usually as I go below 40 USD per 100 grams, I tend not to be enamored by the resulting brew. This is not to say this selection is not a good value, but I just would not have extremely high expectations based on what I expect for a better, more expensive Gyokuro.

Some drinkers may enjoy this, it does come down to personal preferences, and if I am going to go to the time, expense, trouble to brew Gyokuro, it is going to cost more. :mrgreen: I tend to drink Gyokuro on days I want a special experience, treat. If someone wanted an every day Gyokuro, this might work.

Dec 4th, '13, 19:39
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Bostonbull » Dec 4th, '13, 19:39

I'll try it with water from the water cooler hot water spigot then. And let it cool a bit. My temp was hopefully off!

Dec 5th, '13, 16:37
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Bostonbull » Dec 5th, '13, 16:37

Both of these greens taste far better with lower temp water! Amazing the difference it makes. I did a 1:1 on the Gyokuro and it was really good. It did have a spinach taste to it.

The Longjing was delicious as well.

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Dec 5th, '13, 18:00
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Chip » Dec 5th, '13, 18:00

Glad to hear you noticed the differences and that you were able to enjoy the teas more!

Dec 5th, '13, 20:46
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Bostonbull » Dec 5th, '13, 20:46

What other green would you suggest I try?

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Dec 5th, '13, 21:08
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Re: First purchase, this is a slippery slope!

by Chip » Dec 5th, '13, 21:08

Bostonbull wrote:What other green would you suggest I try?
Depends on where you want to explore. Japanese greens are my focus ... passion, but I was all over the map prior to that ... revelation. :mrgreen: Chinese greens are interesting as well ... lots to explore there and the teas are magical to behold.

If you want to try a bunch of exceptional Japanese Sencha, I will be rolling out a new round of "NOTTI" literally any day now. This would allow you to try 3-7 different Sencha that are quite varied ... and really good. :mrgreen: Here is the OTTI/NOTTI forum of TeaChat.

http://www.teachat.com/viewforum.php?f=74

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