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[personal profile] gurdymonkey

I know, I wasn't going to order more tea - but I did. Honestly, as vices go, it's not a bad one to have.

My tea order arrived last night. I was mildly alarmed that the box felt soggy - probably got wet leaving distribution center in Pennsylvania. Fortunately, the teas were packaged in sealed foil. The pretty pink box with camelia blossoms on it is Ippodo's limited spring release Nodoka Matcha. The white packet is one of their gyokuro teas. 

What is gyokuro? It's a Japanese green tea. Tea flavor is affected by several things, (a) terroir (e.g., environmental factors such as climate, weather, soil and water), (b) when it's picked, and (c) how it's processed after it's harvested. Gyokuro's flavor is manipulated before harvesting by artificially shading the tea plants for 20 days or more before  picking. 

https://japaneseteasommelier.wordpress.com/2017/09/15/understanding-gyokuro/ explains the process and includes photos of the shading arrangements. 

One of the reasons I'd never had it before is that all that extra care is reflected in the price. In the past I'd been reluctant to buy something I hadn't tried before. On the other hand, "jade dew" is so poetic - and I'm a sucker for poetic. Plus all those Japan travel shows with people oohing and ahhing over their first taste of this stuff. 

However, I'm now on Ippodo's mailing list and they were running a special on the spring matcha - and if I added another thing to my order the shipping would be free. Based on the sencha and hojicha I'd gotten from Ippodo last month, I decided to pull the trigger on a 50g packet of one of their gyokuro varieties. 

Gyokuro is considered a delicate tea. My kettle's lowest setting is 160F, however, Ippodo recommended brewing at 140F. I was less precise with measurements, as I used the little hohin, but it's probably close to 8g/80ml if I had to guess. I cooled the water down old-school style by pouring into a room temperature Pyrex measuring cup, then pouring into another cup (also room temp), then pouring over the leaves in the hohin. First and second steeps were about 90 seconds. 

Scent out of the packet was classic Japanese green, very refreshing. As for the flavor, if you've ever had a decent sencha, dial the astringency all the way down and leave the vegetal umami* flavor. There was a hint of sweetness on the finish. Went really nicely with a slice of buttered rye toast. 

Still delicious cold - not surprisingly the second steep went cold pretty quickly while I was putting this post together. 

If you're not crazy about green tea, pass this by unless you can taste it first. It's an expensive specialy tea that fills a particular niche. However, once the pandemic lifts, if you have a local tea shop that has it and offers tastings, that would be a good way to check it out. 

I'm probably going to get a few more steeps and be sipping on this one all day. 

I realized I use the term umami a fair bit when describing Japanese teas. So what is it? 

Pronounced like "Oooh, mommy!" Dictionary.com describes it as a strong, meaty taste imparted by glutamate and other amino acids: often considered to be one of the basic taste sensations, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. I just heard John Townsend refer to something as 'food flavored" in one of his historical cooking videos. It's kind of like that - you'll know it when you taste it. Specifically with green teas, I associate it with a strong spinach-like scent and flavor. Umami is also associated with soy preparations like soy sauce and miso. 

All that said, taste is extremely subjective. You and I could taste the same item and pick up on completely different sensations. 

Date: 2021-02-07 02:49 pm (UTC)
danabren: DC17 (Default)
From: [personal profile] danabren
I read this entire entry, go me!

It is now solidified that I am not a tea snob, but your journey is interesting.

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