Heaven of Tea

Gyokuro is one of the finest Japanese green teas. And it is unique for several reasons, but the biggest is how the Japanese handle the tea plants just before harvest time. 

A few weeks before the harvest, Gyokuro bushes are covered with bamboo or straw mats to block some of the sunlight from getting to the plants. This causes the plants to stock up on Chlorophyll in the leaves, which makes the leaves a deep, dark green color and fills them with antioxidants, vitamins and amino acids. It takes a healthy tea and boosts the good stuff in a unique way. 

And Gyokuro is also known for a slightly sweet aftertaste that is unique in green teas. If you haven’t tried Gyokuro, I recommend it. It has become a very popular choice throughout the world and is gaining ground in the US. 

But this post is about the steeping. There is confusion because Teavana tins simplify steep temperatures and times in order to make it easy to steep your favorite tea. The perfect way to steep Gyokuro, however, is at a lower temperature than other green teas. Our website puts the steep time at 145 degrees for one to two minutes and this is perfect for Gyokuro. If you steep it according to our general tin, the temperature is 175 degrees for a shorter time of one minute. If you go over a minute, the tea will taste bitter.

So cool down your steaming water and try making Gyokuro at around 145-150 degrees with a steep time just above one minute. It brings out the flavor of the tea perfectly and keeps it from being bitter. 

Remember: our website lists specific steep times and temperatures for each tea. Our tins have to be more general, since we don’t have the room to list all the exceptions.