Gyokuro Tamahomare opinions and steeping

[Kaytea]

Has anyone ever purchased (or just even tried) Gyokuro Tamahomare?
From what I know it sells normally at $117/100g. But that could only be the Canadian price. I got my hand on a 50g bag recently and am so very very afraid of never understanding how the tea house I used to go to manage to make it perfect every time.

First of all, for those who may not (or may) be familiar with its taste, and this is going to be my personal opinion, I'll share what this tea is for me:

Have you ever been to the sea? My step-dad is from a family of sailors and has been living on the East coast of Canada down in Gaspésie. I have visited this place a few times in my life and the way Gyokuro Tamahomare, given that t is perfectly brewing, reminds me of it's fresh air from the mountains merging with the salty air of the sea. Each sip rolls silkily on my tongue like the green waves coming to roll onto the pebbled beach (might I add that this beach hides some pretty semi-precious gemstones on occasion).

Now, however, I am frustrated because I want to feel that moment again and never get the right steeping method. The only thing is that where I live, the water is hard and we filter it, so it's almost 100% H²O. Some say it doesn't matter, so think it does. I am torn.

I have both a small 80 ml and a 250 ml kyusu for the very purpose of brewing green tea. The former, exclusively for Gyokuro.

The instruction I got with my tea are as follow:
1 tsp/ 250 ml, 70 C and 3-4 minutes.

Now I know for a fact that is not how they make it in the tea house. Those are only the teapot instructions knowing that most people don't have a kyusu teapot.

The Senchado instructions for this tea (found on their website) is 2 tsps / 100 ml, at 70 C for 20 seconds the first and second time, then 40 seconds.

I have tried this method and it falls short. I know this is not even close to the way they do it in the tea house. It is way too short. I can tell by the colour of the brew that isn't even close to that beautiful dark green hue. It's aroma is thin and so is it's taste. Closer to 1 minute with the same leave to water ratio and 70 C gives me something close to it. Close, but no cigar.

I have called them and they told me that indeed, they put way more leaves in their kyusu which range from 80-100 ml (the guy on the phone was uncertain whether they did have as low as 80 ml or not) to 150 ml. He told me he'd get in touch with the person in charge of the website for that, in the meantime, he instructed me to try with 5g for an 80 ml kyushu and up to 30 seconds for the first infusion. He said 5g if I wanted more sweet and 6g if I wanted more robust.

I've been told that every Gyokuro is different (like each is its own prissy diva).

I would be curious to know if any of you guys have seen much difference in the brewing time/method for Gyokuro teas in general and Gyokuro Tamahomare. I am talking here about the steeping methods to reach the full potential of the tea. I don't mind if you prefer it weaker or stronger (and more like sencha), but that is not what I am looking for. I'm looking for that point where you reach balance between the umami, sweetness, herbaceous, marine taste.

I am looking for that nirvana taste. The one that makes you forget the world even exists and at the same time, that everything is in order, in balance. The world is right.
(Hahaha! I understand that might be a bit too much, but once you've had that, you don't want to go back.)

Any input is welcome! Any questions as well...
Oh and tell me what a good gyokuro feels like for you~

[Bef]

Definitly try some bottled water. I'm no gyokuro expert, but I don't think that you can prepare very good tea using water that doesn't contain enough minerals.

[chingwa]

I've never tried this Tamahomare, but for gyokuro in general the instructions that you've been given seem way off. I'll just make a general statement here and say that you can ignore any instructions written on tea bags/containers on how to brew green tea. It's always written for the lowest common denominator and it's always wrong.

For gyokuro I would suggest that you not make it in anything larger than a 150ml kyusu, and 100ml would be more desirable, and your 80ml kyusu would be perfect. The amount of tea would definitely be more than you think... saying teaspoon is very misleading, as actual kitchen teaspoons are quite small and variable... and certainly not an accurate measure of tea. I would just use 3 normal everyday spoonfulls.

To get a true smooth gyokuro flavor, water temperature is very important. It needs to be LOW... around 57-60c (or 135-140f).

From there brew it for 90 seconds. Second steep at 5 seconds (65c). third steep at 45 seconds(70c). Enjoy!

[chingwa]

Oh, and as for describing a good Gyokuro... well that's hard The best I've had have been almost clear, but with a surprisingly thick and smooth flavor. It's like picking up a rock that you expect to be light and sandy but having it weigh far heavier and denser in your hand.

[Kaytea]

[To chingwa] I love your description! Do you remember which Gyokuro it was?

As for the instructions, I also prefer grams, but when trying a tea for the first time, I tend to go for the instructions and see if something needs to be adjusted. Tamahomare being so expensive, I don't feel like I have the luxury to try around so much. By the time I would get it right there wouldn't be much to enjoy anymore!

Whenever I see "teaspoon" measures, I always use a special tea teaspoon that is most likely the same as a baking teaspoon. I always assume that's what they mean.

I'll try with more tea in the 80ml as you mentioned! In time I'll invest in yet another kyusu (we have 4, but most are above 150 ml). I will search on the forum, I believe some people did mention some nice places to shop online for teawares.

Thank you so much for your input!

[To Bef] As for the bottled water, I don't want to spend too much money on that and I think most of them are crappier than what comes out of the faucet! (I've tasted some low quality bottled water from relatives who are too afraid to drink from the faucet when it's actually safe.)
But I thought about it. Another thing I've heard is that you can add a "mineralizer" to your filtering system, giving back minerals. We're not there yet, but I guess we should consider it more seriously. Our water is not 100% H²O but near it. It still manages to taste smooth and sweet so I assumed for a long time that was good enough for my tea. Then again, I keep hearing people say it doesn't matter so much (very little difference) while others argue it does make a difference. It's hard to be sure when I'm no expert on the subject... I'd have to try the exact same tea with the exact same brewing method but with the 2 different waters. That could be fun!

[theredbaron]

[To Bef] As for the bottled water, I don't want to spend too much money on that and I think most of them are crappier than what comes out of the faucet! (I've tasted some low quality bottled water from relatives who are too afraid to drink from the faucet when it's actually safe.)

Water is after the tea the most important ingredient. Bad water will destroy the best tea. The better the tea - the more important the water quality. Unless you have access to great mountain spring water, you will have to use bottled water. Usually you have to experiment with different available waters, but generally speaking safe bets are Volvic and Fiji and both are widely available.
When you spend more than 100 $ on tea, why risk destroying it by saving a few dollar on water?

Chingwa has given you already the best starting point on how to brew Gyuokuro (you may even go to 2 minutes for the first brew). From there you will have to experiment on what suits you best, such as slight variations in amount of tea, or adjustments in brewing time. A repetition of the taste experience only comes through practice and experience.

[chingwa]

Water is a highly variable... uh... variable. Where I live I seem to do fine with filtered tap water. Sometimes I boil the water up to 2 minutes to help evaporate any chlorinated taste, but in general it's pretty good as is.

If you don't have good water at home, you probably have little choice but to experiment with different bottled waters. As theredbaron mentioned, I consistently hear good things about Volvic.

The next thing to consider is how you are boiling the water. stainless steel kettles can sometimes give an off taste to the water. People say glass kettles are better (though I haven't used them myself). If you really get into making sencha at home I'd recommend getting an iron tetsubin kettle down the road... it really rounds out the flavor of the water, and thus the tea. This is a somewhat luxurious accessory though.

[Bef]

The next thing to consider is how you are boiling the water. stainless steel kettles can sometimes give an off taste to the water. People say glass kettles are better (though I haven't used them myself). If you really get into making sencha at home I'd recommend getting an iron tetsubin kettle down the road... it really rounds out the flavor of the water, and thus the tea. This is a somewhat luxurious accessory though.

Really not sure if boiling water in stainless would change its taste. Otherwise stainless wouldn't be recommended for cooking - while it's generally considered as neutral/non-reactive. I'm no expert in this though, just thinking out loud...

[theredbaron]

The next thing to consider is how you are boiling the water. stainless steel kettles can sometimes give an off taste to the water. People say glass kettles are better (though I haven't used them myself). If you really get into making sencha at home I'd recommend getting an iron tetsubin kettle down the road... it really rounds out the flavor of the water, and thus the tea. This is a somewhat luxurious accessory though.

Really not sure if boiling water in stainless would change its taste. Otherwise stainless wouldn't be recommended for cooking - while it's generally considered as neutral/non-reactive. I'm no expert in this though, just thinking out loud...

The vessel in which water for tea is boiled is a whole discussion by itself. Even the heat source is deemed as important (charcoal best, Alcohol flame good, electric not so good). And so are the different stages of boiling water.
In terms of kettle, stainless is usually considered as not the preferred material. There are huge debates over the best material. Many prefer Japanese iron kettles). But good ones can be very expensive. And if you look over at Hojo - he also discusses pairing between different brands of iron kettles and teapots. Then others prefer silver kettles. But that is then really expensive.
Traditionally Chinese have used clay kettles, which are also considered to be very good.

I personally have a compromise solution - i use Chinese clay kettles over alcohol flame. It's the best solution regarding time/effort/quality and price. Charcoal would just take too much time. I live in a at times extremely hot/humid climate where an iron kettle would rust away faster than you could blink. And the thousands a silver kettle would cost... next life .

[Kaytea]

I would be pretty limited in my choice of kettles as I have an induction cooktop. So for me it's no doubt metals which attract magnets (ferromagnetic).

As for investing in an iron tetsubin kettle, even though I don't like Sencha teas (Sencha as in the category sold under the name Sencha, not the category that includes Gyokuro and Tencha), I might consider it. But finding a good one, one that is meant to boil water and reasonable priced is a challenge (I believe I've seen some at teavana, but they are way over in terms of price (claiming it's the best quality in the world should tip you off) and they are glazed inside which is most likely not okay for using over a cooktop).

The water at home is not bad per se, it has a little chlorine like most potable water coming from a tap, but has a higher amount of calcium which would most likely interfere with the taste of the tea and is a big no-no for me as I've seen the residues it leaves after only one use (mother-in-law put tap water in my kettle!). I will look into the mineralizer that can be added.

Maybe I would buy Fiji or Volvic water for the Gyokuro, but it wouldn't make sense for me to do this for all the tea I drink at home. We're heavy tea drinkers and it would totally render the filtering system (which we love a lot, even the cats get to drink it.) obsolete. And we save a whole lot of money not buying water.
As a matter of fact, we never buy water if we can avoid it. I always found it ridiculous that people would buy water when there is potable water available.
But for special teas, I guess it would make sense. I did try the Fiji water once and it tastes good and sweet. It also tastes a lot like our water... So if a few minerals more is the way to go for my H²O, I might go for that mineralizer in the long run.

[entropyembrace]

It looks like they gave you generic sencha brewing suggestions for gyokuro. I doubt they really know that much about the tea which kind of indicates that you've probably overspent on it too...

Anyway gyokuro brewing is not hard but you need some patience to let the water cool. Use lots of leaf in a very small vessel and water that really only feels warm.

Another teachat member, Adam made a video last year showing gyokuro brewing if you want to see how to do it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRmfT8L-cdU

[chingwa]

If you have an induction cooktop then you're halfway to the tetsubin experience already!

I only would consider buying one if you fall really deep into the japanese green tea hole. They are useful for most japanese greens... sencha for sure, but even more so for more delicate variants like gyokuro. You won't find a proper tetsubin at Teavana... they sell fancy paperweights.

You could try adding activated charcoal blocks to whatever container you use to hold your filtered water, for extra absorption. Also allowing the water to sit for a few hours before using in your kettle can help with chlorine and chemical-ish taste, though I rarely do this myself.

Really not sure if boiling water in stainless would change its taste. Otherwise stainless wouldn't be recommended for cookin

Big difference between cooking with flavorfull food and boiling water to use with a subtle flavored tea. Obviously water from a stainless steel kettle is still wet and you can drink it, but we're talkin' about maximizing tea flavor here You should try the comparison yourself, it can be quite fun if nothing else. For myself I was pretty shocked at the difference between stainless steel and iron.

[theredbaron]

But for special teas, I guess it would make sense. I did try the Fiji water once and it tastes good and sweet. It also tastes a lot like our water... So if a few minerals more is the way to go for my H²O, I might go for that mineralizer in the long run.

When you buy high quality teas for a lot of money saving a few bucks on water makes no sense. These teas rise and fall with the water. While your average breakfast teas are perfectly alright with almost any water, the taste that makes a top quality tea so expensive will simply not come out with anything but the best water.

As to kettles and stoves - you do not need to limit yourself what you have in your kitchen. The kitchen is for cooking, and tea or tea equipment are not really supposed to be in your kitchen. I, for example, have an alcohol burner at my tea space on which i boil my water.

Also, you are not anymore limited to local tea shops (and all i have seen from or about teavana makes me cringe) - the internet is a wide space where you can shop all over the world.

[Bef]

Maybe I would buy Fiji or Volvic water for the Gyokuro, but it wouldn't make sense for me to do this for all the tea I drink at home.

Indeed. I think you live in Canada/QC. The country that has the greatest water reserve. In my opinion, it doesn't make any sense to import water from Fiji, like we couldn't find any good water on our part of the globe...

[Bef]

Regarding the other posts....

Boiling water in high quality (i.e. L-grade) stainless steel won't modify its taste. Stainless steel is used in the whole food preparation and transformation processes. Just think about some of the fine and subtle wines that stay in stainless containers for years (even though they are more acid than tea, and stay there for years instead of just boiling for 2 minutes)...

That being said, I *guess* that non-stainless metal (as in a tetsubin) *might* affect the taste of water, since they use reactive metals. But even there, I would be surprised if having water to spend 2 minutes in a metal container would modify its taste (what about having this same water in the same container for a whole week - 5040 times longer that the 2 minutes heating session - how would it taste!?)

Also, I don't see how heating water with electricity, charcoal, alcool or any other matter might modify its taste. 90°C water is 90°C water, no matter your heat soure... no?

Just thinking out loud...