Sencha vs gyokuro, what you like more?

[Xell]

Since i started drinking japanese green tea i've noticed one thing. Most japanese actually don't really like gyokuro, they prefer high grade sencha. My wife is no exception and she says, that gyokuro has too soft taste. It's interesting, what people here like. I guess that westerns will like gyokuro more

[IPT]

I wish I knew! I haven't had either. Yet.

[bryan_drinks_tea]

IMO, a good sencha is all one needs.

[Nenugal]

Difficult question, I wouldn't want to be without either, but if forced to choose, perhaps a good sencha would win.

[auhckw]

Both are good tea. It depends on how much you willing to spend

[IPT]

Oh, I should mention that it is a problem I have every intention of taking care of this year.

[entropyembrace]

When I want green tea I find myself reaching for sencha or matcha fairly equally often and gyo only rarely.

I do like the gyo...but I find it takes more attention to brew than either sencha or matcha....

Also in some way it´s not always satisfying...it gives a really strong sour, umami, veggie flavour the first 2 or 3 infusions then it trails off to sweet tea water really fast. And I brew it in small 120ml infusions because it demands a high leaf to water ratio and even "cheap" gyo is expensive compared to sencha...sooo I end wanting more but not wanting to clean out the pot and brew another round of it with fresh leaves.

[debunix]

Have only tried 2 different gyokuro, but preferred several senchas to both of them. Still pretty new to japanese greens, though.

[Xell]

Both are good tea. It depends on how much you willing to spend

That's the point here, even when people can afford both without a problem, they still prefer sencha. I like gyokuro more than sencha, but of course it's not usual daily tea and i don't drink gyokuro together with food.


Quite interesting to see, that not always more expensive is better =)

[Chip]

Prefer ... hmmm. Like, hmmm ... I like both pretty equally.

However ...

In brewed Japanese teas, I prefer sencha 90% of the time. I prefer gyokuro 10% of the time.

I prefer sencha in a wide price range from very affordable to high end. I generally prefer gyokuro in the more high end price range.

I prefer the sweet/bitter balance of sencha. But sometimes I prefer the sweet mellowness of gyokuro.

I prefer a larger steep and thus sencha. On a special occasion I prefer a smaller steep of a more precious tea and thus gyokuro.

I prefer both, but like I said, I prefer to have sencha 90% of the time and reserve the gyokuro for those special 10% moments!

[bryan293]

I also find my self reaching for sencha more often than gyokuro. Gyokuro is more of an occasional treat whereas sencha is something I drink almost every day. I can't really pick a favorite though, as each has its own merits.

[togei]

I have drunk sencha for the past couple of years. This year the fields around my house were covered to make gyokuro cha so I am drinking gyokuro this year. I prefer the sencha version of the tea personally.
Dave

[Fredrik]

Sencha, I like my tea hotter and in bigger volume.

[tortoise]

I haven't sampled enough gyokuro to really say with accuracy. I can say I prefer Sencha because it's cheaper. Gyokuro is prohibitively expensive to drink with any regularity for me. Also, my wife hates Gyokuro. Like, makes her want to spit it out --hates. So it doesn't make any sense for me to buy it. It's a marvel to me how people can be all about coffee, particularly espresso, but can't get on board with Gyokuro.

I like what I've had, which has been in the cheaper range. I really like how thick and brothy the ones I've tried are. It is particularly nice in the early morning.

But, alack, I cast my vote for Sencha. Gyokuro, while good, isn't good enough to justify it's prices, IMO.

[Tead Off]

Funny, my wife doesn't like sencha, but, she's not big on Japanese teas in general. (She's Chinese, shh).

Unlike many posters here, I prefer gyokuro, but, this year, I have not had 1 gyokuro that I liked as well as 2009's production. Even Ippodo's kanro doesn't hold up this year to last year's model. Big, big disappointment to me.