3 fine examples of Uji Gyokuro are before us for tasting and comparison. I think they are quite different from each other and yet show their similar kinship as well. I won't share my thoughts here, giving everyone a chance to at least receive them first. However, I am sure Olivier and I will offer some brewing suggestions to get you started.
Links:
F: O-Cha Gyokuro Fujitsubo
G: O-Cha Gyokuro Gyoku Hou
K: Hibiki-an Kuradshi Super Premium
I find most gyokuro are pretty adaptable to various brewing parameters. Temperature is pretty critical however. They can be brewed strong, concentrated, using up to 2 grams per ounce of water IF the gyokuro is good enough. Finer gyokuro is often brewed in smaller vessels and smaller steeps, 2-4 ounces. I generally do 4 grams per 2 ounces for the finest gyokuro for a really amazing gyokuro experience. I did find the Gyoku Hou to be a little bitey with this much leaf and backed off to 1.5 grams per ounce.
PREHEAT EVERYTHING. Temperature. 130-140* for finer gyokuro, unless using less leaf and shorter brews times. The kuradashi seemed to shine at 130* but was slightly bitey at 135-140* so go low!
Time, 90-120 seconds, some may want to brew longer. The kuradashi seemed to like it at 90.
There is no reason why you cannot get 3-5 steeps. I sometimes go further, or will eat the gyokuro leaves, a tradition of not wasting the precious leaf in Japan. Olivier and I seem to differ slightly on how we brew successive steeps, so I am thinking either way will work pretty equally.
I go around 10* F hotter for each steep. 15-30 seconds, 30-60 seconds, 1-2 minutes, 2 minutes, etc.
Enjoy your tastings and comparisons. Post your thoughts here. Thanks!
Dec 3rd, '08, 09:51
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November's Great Gyokuro Gomparison!
Last edited by Chip on Dec 4th, '08, 16:19, edited 1 time in total.
I've had 2 steeps of F so far. I may shock some, but I still do not own a scale and I ended up dumping the entire packet in. We'll be taking this one for 4 rounds at least. First time I covered it with 2-3 oz of water, which was more than enough to cover the leaf. Poured out into a cup for the other worldly taste of "thick" gyokuro. Sal has compared this to Chicken Soup. I don't see it.
Water temp was about 130.
On the second round, I increased the temp to 140 and did a better job of heating the cups (using water at 180 for the heat). I also used 4-5 oz of total water, this is much closer to my normal "every day" gyokuro drinking with Den's Gyokuro Kin. It still tastes good this way, but like Den's, I find the steep must be shorter than the earlier brew with less water. Strangely, the half-pot sized brew seems to get a "bite" more readily than a 2 oz infusion.
Many thanks to Chip, Oliver, and the letters S and P for bringing us this tasting.
* Serving Suggestion
Water temp was about 130.
On the second round, I increased the temp to 140 and did a better job of heating the cups (using water at 180 for the heat). I also used 4-5 oz of total water, this is much closer to my normal "every day" gyokuro drinking with Den's Gyokuro Kin. It still tastes good this way, but like Den's, I find the steep must be shorter than the earlier brew with less water. Strangely, the half-pot sized brew seems to get a "bite" more readily than a 2 oz infusion.
Many thanks to Chip, Oliver, and the letters S and P for bringing us this tasting.
* Serving Suggestion
Dec 3rd, '08, 22:52
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The chicken soup refers to the 2 high quality gyokuro that I have had. I have not tasted the F. If the F also tastes like chicken, that may say more about me than about the tea!brandon wrote: Sal has compared this to Chicken Soup. I don't see it.
For those Windows users who are into Alternate Lifestyles, the "temp°" symbol is "ALT + 0176" (the 0176 has to be on the number pad, not the numbers across the top of the keyboard.) Mac users: you are on your own!
Funny!brandon wrote: Many thanks to Chip, Oliver, and the letters S and P for bringing us this tasting ...
* Serving Suggestion
... and thanks for the review. I'll let you know if I find a chicken.In my cup: Ed's Hachiju-hachiya. Very unique and delightful sencha.
Re: November's Great Gyokuro Gomparison!
Here is a linkChip wrote:
K: Hibiki-an Kuradshi Super Premium, unfortunately, this is not longer available to link.
Re: November's Great Gyokuro Gomparison!
Indeed.Chip wrote:Olivier and I seem to differ slightly on how we brew successive steeps, so I am thinking either way will work pretty equally.
I am quite lazy so I keep temperature between 135°F and 140°F for all steeps. (All preheated of course). In fact I don't use my thermometer for gyokuro as I am able to feel when the water temperature is around 135-140°F. (Above 140°F it becomes to hot to handle for me.)
I start with a 90s first steep, than a short second steep (10-15s) and I approximatively double the length each time, depending on the strength of the steep.
Dec 4th, '08, 18:30
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I have tasted all of these at least once (along with recent tastings of Den's Gyokuro Kin and Ippodo's Gyokuro Kanro). K is currently my favorite, and I am surprised to learn that it is from Hibiki-an.
I did not pay very much attention to the letters other than my own assumptions, F being by far the most expensive, the hibiki-an bag being from ... hibiki-an, and the two generic bags coming from o-cha. Turns out at least one of these assumptions was wrong on closer inspection, as K is the kuradashi super premium.
This is interesting because I have always been at odds with the Fuka Gang, favoring Hibiki-an offerings highly over O-Cha. My favorite shincha of the year was also "Farmer's Shincha", or Aracha, and I am looking at some Farmer's Choice Baozhong from this years harvest in Taiwan. Perhaps I have pedestrian tastes. Or just side with the men and women who are closest to the tea leaves.
(I suppose the already lengthy dissertation above deserves one additional fact for those outside the Fuka Gang... Kevin at O-Cha is an American living in Japan sourcing his tea from farmers and shops around the country for the American and European market... Hibiki-an is a web shop run by a farmer in Uji, Japan who I believe sells his own produce exclusively)
Lastly, this is really starting to grow on me.
I did not pay very much attention to the letters other than my own assumptions, F being by far the most expensive, the hibiki-an bag being from ... hibiki-an, and the two generic bags coming from o-cha. Turns out at least one of these assumptions was wrong on closer inspection, as K is the kuradashi super premium.
This is interesting because I have always been at odds with the Fuka Gang, favoring Hibiki-an offerings highly over O-Cha. My favorite shincha of the year was also "Farmer's Shincha", or Aracha, and I am looking at some Farmer's Choice Baozhong from this years harvest in Taiwan. Perhaps I have pedestrian tastes. Or just side with the men and women who are closest to the tea leaves.
(I suppose the already lengthy dissertation above deserves one additional fact for those outside the Fuka Gang... Kevin at O-Cha is an American living in Japan sourcing his tea from farmers and shops around the country for the American and European market... Hibiki-an is a web shop run by a farmer in Uji, Japan who I believe sells his own produce exclusively)
Lastly, this is really starting to grow on me.
$130 is one of the cheapest gyokuro sets I've seen anywhere.
My favorite is yours already, I believe - a Hokujo as seen at AN, but without the Mokage decoration. I have been tempted to ask Toru if he could procure a duplicate, as Hokujo is the finest in the land. I also very much like the Setsudo, but it is prohibitively expensive.
My favorite is yours already, I believe - a Hokujo as seen at AN, but without the Mokage decoration. I have been tempted to ask Toru if he could procure a duplicate, as Hokujo is the finest in the land. I also very much like the Setsudo, but it is prohibitively expensive.
Mine was about 90€ (without any cup). As I bought it from a french store I think that it wouldn't be too expensive buying it from Toru.brandon wrote:$130 is one of the cheapest gyokuro sets I've seen anywhere.
My favorite is yours already, I believe - a Hokujo as seen at AN, but without the Mokage decoration. I have been tempted to ask Toru if he could procure a duplicate, as Hokujo is the finest in the land.