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Japanese Gyokuro Loose Leaf Green Tea

Regular price CHF 77.00
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43p per cup

Style

Prepare to be utterly astounded.

Gyokuro is the highest grade of Japanese green tea - a shade-grown sencha. This whole leaf green tea is shielded from the sun for a few weeks before being harvested. The slow, deliberate shade growth increases the amino acid L-theanine which has a "feel good" effect on our brains. It also increases the chlorophyll in the tea leaves and creates a sweeter, smoother flavour.

This Gyokuro is grown by the inestimable Sakamoto brothers in Kagoshima, Japan and is comprised solely of the Okumidori cultivar.

Tasting Notes

The complex flavours combine sweetness and umami notes with beautifully balanced vegetal depth.

Cost Per Cup

43p per cup based on 2g of tea per 150ml of water and 6 infusions.

Origin

Sakamoto tea garden, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

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KAGOSHIMA, JAPAN

Sakamoto Tea Garden

A 3rd generation farm run by the two Sakamoto brothers. They moved to fully organic farming thirty years ago, realising that the soil and the tea plants were being ruined by pesticides & herbicides. They believe as we do that "healthy soil creates healthy plants and better tea."

They focus their attention on the soil as much as the intricate crafting of the leaf. You can taste the love and care they take in every aspect of this tea.

The Sakamoto brothers focus intensely on soil health as the key to growing healthy tea plants and making the most delicious tea. They create their own nutrient rich soil mix with natural fertilisers and carefully nestle each new tea plant in 2 metres deep. This allows for the tea plant's roots to fully develop in the soil mix.

The brothers only harvest once a year - the leaves that are pruned from the plant throughout the remainder of the year are used to make an organic fertiliser, and returned to the soil, helping maintain the mineral aroma of the tea leaves.

Gyokuro Shading

Twenty days prior to harvest the tea is shaded in the fields, as is the practice for all gyokuro teas. But the Sakamoto brothers developed a system to do this in three stages.

One layer of shading material is used in the first week and a new layer is added every few days, leaving the plants fully shaded for the very last week. This gently builds the chlorophyll production in the plant, preventing the L-theanine from turning into catechins through reaction with sunlight.

L-theanine is the reason for the umami notes in Gyokuro, and it is responsible for the "feel good" effect on our brains.

Shipping, delivery & more...

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Returns

The Rare Tea Lady believes that our teas are some of the greatest in the world, and that our range and service are second to none.

In the isolated case that you are not completely satisfied with any tea or teaware you purchase from our website, please get in contact with our customer services team to discuss returning your order.*

In most instances we will give you a full refund of the item’s cost excluding postage. We may ask you to return the item to us. Customers in the European Union have a statutory cooling-off period of fourteen days that is not affected by this guarantee, but any tea pouches much remained sealed for this to be in effect.

*We only accept returns/refunds for tea within two months of receipt, because it is impossible for us to know if the tea has been stored correctly.