2024 Gyokuro Tohei - Option: 500 g

This masterful Gyokuro was made by renowned master Tohei Maeshima, a farmer living in Okabe, Shizuoka Prefecture. Mr. Maeshima has been very famous in Japan and abroad for many years for the exceptional quality of his Gyokuro tea, which he has been producing in the traditional way for several decades. In addition to the completely manual processing, his Gyokuro is known for its traditional shading with rice mats for at least 21 days before harvest. Mr. Tohei grows his own rice and makes rice mats like tea farmers did in the old days.

Mr. Maeshima tunes the flavor of his Gyokuro tea with a combination of Yabukita, Saemidori, Gokou, and Okumidori cultivars, while the recipe is fine-tuned with each harvest to take into account the characteristics of the tea just harvested. The result is a potion with an extraordinary dose of umami, a balanced ratio of vegetable flavor, a thick to gooey texture and a sweet taste with notes of fatty hazelnuts. Many Gyokuro tea lovers agree that Mr. Maeshima makes the best Gyokuro in Japan.

How to enjoy Gyokuro "the tsuyucha way" according to Mr. Maeshima?

First infusion

1. Prepare a bowl with a lid, put 4-5 grams of Gyokuro tea in it.
2. Pour about 20ml of hot water into the Yuzamashi (Japanese hot water cooling bowl) and let it cool down to about 40°C.
3. Carefully pour the cooled water into the bowl. Pour the water on the inner side of the bowl so it runs underneath the leaves. Circle around the bowl.
4. Cover the bowl with a lid and wait two and a half minutes.
5. Create a gap between the bowl and the lid and you can start sipping the "Jade Dew" through it. Just a few drops and you will feel the distinct taste of umami like dashi or nori and its lingering aftertaste that does not fade away even after a long time.

Second and third infusion
Use the same method as for the first infusion, but add a little more water and slightly gradually increase its temperature. You can extend the steeping time, it is almost impossible to over-steep the tea at such a low temperature.

Tohei likes to say that "Sencha is for quenching thirst and Gyokuro is for calming the soul". Tea should not be used to quench thirst, that's what water is for, but to enjoy the power of the present moment. Tea, with its aroma and taste, is a medium that can convey this.

Eat your Gyokuro
After the two or three infusions, pour some ponzu (Ponzu ポン酢 - citrus soy sauce) over the leaves, add some dried bonito flakes (Katsuobushi 鰹節 - steamed, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna) and mix well. It is the best to enjoy it as ohitashi.