Gyokuro Hon vs. Kame

[Kentoz]

Hi everyone I just bought some gyo from zencha Hon ultimate gyokuro, can ayone tell me how it stacks up against o-chas kame jiru shi, never tried that one, also what is best advice to brew this gyokuro from zencha thanks

[Oni]

You should use minimum 10 grams (around two tablespoons, but better measure it with a scale), use thermometer, gyokuro really needs thermometer, and 100 - 120 ml water at 50 - 60 C to 10 grams of tea, brew first infusion 2 minutes, second 30 seconds, 3`rd 1 minute maybe 4 1.5 - 2 minutes.

[Chip]

IMO, that is too much leaf. There is a point of diminishing returns that gets rather subjective ... and expensive. I generally brew 1-2 grams gyokuro to 1 ounce water. The better the gyo, the more leaf can be used.

So, I usually brew 3 ounces water (90 ml), 3-6 grams leaf (amount to personal taste and the gyo selection). Otherwise, pretty much agree with Oni although at times I brew shorter first infusion of 1.5 minutes.

Experiment with it and find your own best parameters.

I found this one realllllly requires cooler water than most gyo including Kame from O-Cha. I would pick the Kame over this Yame, but the Kame is the best gyo I have had to date.

[Oni]

P.S. I agree with Chip, my suggestion was assuming you use the best possible gyokuro, for those medium quality that are mid steamed, or deep steamed, use less leaf, if you get it right with a high quality leaf, it is an amazing essence of nature in your cup.

[olivierco]

Both are great but I still prefer the Kame Jiru Shi (and even better the Tsuru Jiru Shi). I usually use 6g and pour 50-55°C water over the leaves so that I obtain about 30-40ml of tea after 80s.

[Tead Off]

IMO, that is too much leaf. There is a point of diminishing returns that gets rather subjective ... and expensive. I generally brew 1-2 grams gyokuro to 1 ounce water. The better the gyo, the more leaf can be used.

So, I usually brew 3 ounces water (90 ml), 3-6 grams leaf (amount to personal taste and the gyo selection). Otherwise, pretty much agree with Oni although at times I brew shorter first infusion of 1.5 minutes.

Experiment with it and find your own best parameters.

I found this one realllllly requires cooler water than most gyo including Kame from O-Cha. I would pick the Kame over this Yame, but the Kame is the best gyo I have had to date.

Ippodo recommends 10g. With high quality Gyo, it can get costly. The amount of umami at 10g is overwhelming to my palate. 7g is a good starting point for me.

[Oni]

They recomend 10 grams to 100 ml water, 5 grams to 50 ml is the same thing, you just need to use those small houhins that horaido teashop sells, I am refering to those banko houhins 60 - 80 ml capacity, if you drink tea alone it is useless to make 100 ml of gyokuro, 40 ml is more than enough for one person.

[Kentoz]

THANK YOU all for your replys on my gyokuro question

[Tead Off]

They recomend 10 grams to 100 ml water, 5 grams to 50 ml is the same thing, you just need to use those small houhins that horaido teashop sells, I am refering to those banko houhins 60 - 80 ml capacity, if you drink tea alone it is useless to make 100 ml of gyokuro, 40 ml is more than enough for one person.

Actually, Ippodo recommends 10g even for a 1 person serving which is 30-40ml.

Have you had Ippodo's Rimpo Gyokuro? If you have, how does it compare to the Hon?

[olivierco]

Have you had Ippodo's Rimpo Gyokuro? If you have, how does it compare to the Hon?

Ippodo is asamushi. I had only their three best grades (Ippoen, Tenka Ichi and Kanro). I don't think I would go for a lower grade than Kanro anyway.
Zencha Hon gyokuro (mid steamed) is different.

[Tead Off]

Have you had Ippodo's Rimpo Gyokuro? If you have, how does it compare to the Hon?

Ippodo is asamushi. I had only their three best grades (Ippoen, Tenka Ichi and Kanro). I don't think I would go for a lower grade than Kanro anyway.
Zencha Hon gyokuro (mid steamed) is different.

How does the Hon comapare with Kanro? I have some Kanro waiting for me but I just opened the Rimpo and it is excellent.

[brlarson]

I'm weighing in on this topic a little late.

If you can swing it, try brewing Zencha's Ultimate gyokuro like this: 10grams of leaf in 50ml of water at 100F for 2 minutes. Brew it in a good pot -- I used a porcelain houhin. Second infusion requires no steeping time, third infusion can use 30 seconds. This is an extravagant way to brew this tea but it's worth doing at least once.

O-Cha's Kame-Jiru-Shi is also exceptional, but its character is different. It is assertive with umami to spare. Follow Olivier's brewing instructions for this tea. (EDIT: I previously wrote about Tsuru-Jiru-Shi which was a mistake as Kame is more assertive. That's what I get for posting so late at night.)

In any event they are all exceptional teas and you would enjoy any of them.

[Oni]

They recomend 10 grams to 100 ml water, 5 grams to 50 ml is the same thing, you just need to use those small houhins that horaido teashop sells, I am refering to those banko houhins 60 - 80 ml capacity, if you drink tea alone it is useless to make 100 ml of gyokuro, 40 ml is more than enough for one person.

Actually, Ippodo recommends 10g even for a 1 person serving which is 30-40ml.

Have you had Ippodo's Rimpo Gyokuro? If you have, how does it compare to the Hon?

They clearly illustrate 3 cups, so that is 100 - 120 ml water, generaly Horaido and zencha recomend 5 grams to 40 - 50 ml water, that is the max concentration, 10 grams do not fit in that banko kyusu anyway.

[olivierco]

Ippodo writes that even for one person you should use 10g of leaves.

If you pour 90ml of water over 10g of gyokuro leaves, you will only get about 40-50ml of gyokuro anyway. I usually get a little more by using only 7g.

As Ippodo's gyokuros are very different from Zencha's Hon gyokuro, it doesn't make much sense to me to compare them.

[Oni]

Yame and Uji have completely diffrent approaches to gyokuro, Uji gyokuro is matured, Yame is fresh, kept in aracha form and finished freshly, like sencha, I remember I read something like this, but since there are only few places that sell yame gyokuro, and high quality yame gyokuro is very rare on the online market, compared to Uji gyokuro, that can be bought from many places, and there are some very high quality examples of it, I really regret that I didn`t try the All Japan tea competition winner Yame gyokuro when I had the opportunity (Bassaro had a limited offer 2 years ago).