Gyokuro Green Tea

Gyokuro is considered one of the finest green teas in Japan, one of the truest expressions of tea craftsmanship on the planet. Gyokuru, made according to exacting specifications that date to Japan's Edo period (1603-1868), offering a pure brew. Achieving a tea as pure and simple as this takes a lot of hard work.

To start with, Gyokuro is produced only from hand-plucked tea grown between March and April when tea bushes flush, pushing up fresh new shoots. Complicating matters, for the first three weeks of production, the bushes are shaded with bamboo and straw, forcing the plants to produce more chlorophyll, deepening the flavor of the leaf. About two weeks after the shading has been removed, the tea is plucked. Extreme care is taken to select only leaves that are smaller than one inch in size. Anything larger and the tea will lose its fragrance and pliable, tender qualities. Next, the leaves are gently bruised and lightly steamed resulting in a fine, dark leaf with pungent depth and luscious green character. Simplicity, as they say, comes at a price.