Teavana’s Gyokuro Imperial Review

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Green Tea Review Description:

• Tea name: Gyokuro Imperial
  
• Distributor: Teavana
• Harvest: N/A
• Origin: N/A
• Packaging: Store-Bought (regular tea bagging)
• Net Weight: 2oz (56 grams) minimum
• Distributor Description: “The finest of Japanese teas, Gyokuro bushes are covered for several weeks before harvest with bamboo or straw shades to increase the chlorophyll content of the leaves. The results of this transformation are the renowned dark green leaves with high concentrations of Antioxidants, vitamins and amino acids. Celebrated for its emerald green infusion and sweet aftertaste.“

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I have not tried any other teas from Teavana, but I am definitely a Gyokuro fan after tasting Den’s Teas Gyokuro Suimei 2008 Shincha. This is tea from their location in the Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, CA. Since I was in the area and they had the Gyokuro Imperial in stock (which is their best Japanese green tea), I decided to check it out. Here is how my experience turned out:

Aroma

• This particular gyokuro’s aroma is strong. Right when you pop the bag open you get a very strong veggie aroma.

Appearance (Leaves)

• The leaves are very slender and pointy. It possesses a dark tint as you would find with most gyokuros. Appears to be high quality.

Taste

• This gyokuro turned out to be extremely astringent when using proper brewing parameters for temperature, tea amount, and water amount.
• The tea has a very green body, that isnt necessarily rich, but more in between light and rich.
• The roll off is very harsh using the parameters below.
• Too astringent for my taste. I like gyokuros with smooth roll offs, instead this left my tongue feeling too dry for my pleasure.
• The astringent feeling remains on your tongue for a while.
• Some bitterness was tasted.

Brewing Parameters Used

First Attempt

• Water amount: 4 oz
• 1st infusion: 120 second steep, 146F water temperature. Generated a moderate veggie flavor that is apparent to the tongue. However, at roll off, it was too astringent for me. It was extremely harsh and I didn’t like the tea at all.
• 2nd infusion: 60 second steep, 135F water temperature. Generated a taste that was even more astringent than before. This is weird because the tea was actually brewed at a lower temperature than before! This means I must have steeped it too long for my taste. Either way, the body was a little bit richer than before, with a more apparent veggie taste, but the astringency at roll-off was much harsher than before. Was not a pleasant experience.
• 3rd infusion: 150 second steep, 135F water temperature. Generated a taste similar of that of the first infusion. Astringency even at 135F was too harsh for me.

Second Attempt

• Water amount: 4 oz
• 1st infusion: 120 second steep, 145F water temperature. Same as the first attempt. Very astringent and not a pleasant drinking experience under my standards.
• 2nd infusion: 60 second steep, 125F water temperature. This generated a taste that was more pleasant, but the temperature is much too low to provide a great tea experience. The astringency went away with this temperature.
• 3rd infusion: did not attempt

Conclusion

This is a gyokuro that really puzzled me. I had high expectations when I first came upon it but I found that it was very astringent for my taste. I like mildly astringent teas and sweet-ending teas so this is maybe why it was unpleasant for me (however, it states in their site that this is a tea with a sweet taste, which I did not find). When brewing any green tea, astringency generally reduces as the temperature is lowered. It didn’t happen in this case until under 130F (take note that gyokuro usually brews well between 140F-160F).

Either the tea is old, been poorly stored, or just poor quality because it was generally bitter tasting. It had that body, but along with the green taste was some bitterness. Teas generally taste bitter when improperly brewed, especially when using water of too high a temperature. Obviously I did not use “too high” of a temperature in brewing this tea. In fact I stayed between 120-150, which is at worst, too low of a temperature to brew this tea at.

Again, this is from the store. If anyone goes there, they can ask for a possible taste test to compare with me. I may order another one at a later time from their online web-site to see if I can give it another chance.

Overall, I must say I was displeased with this experience. I have not tried Teavana’s other teas, but this particular tea was not as pleasing as I thought it’d be. I will give Teavana another chance with possibly other teas or other locations, but for the Gyokuro Imperial being their “best” green tea, I was not impressed.

I should have asked about when the leaves were harvested, how long it’s been exposed to the light and air (they have big canisters that they show customers frequently and do not put away promptly). I also should have asked about where it was harvested, but it’s too late for that.

My conclusion: TASTE IT YOURSELF, BUT I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT if you have my sort of taste.

~ by Bryan P on July 24, 2008.