Thomas Richmond
October 2017
One of the highest quality teas I have ever tasted, definitely top shelf grade- clean marine kelp/seaweed with fresh vegetal notes and an intense umami savory punch. Well worth the expense , very uplifting, positive tea :)
I compared 3 similarly priced Gyokuro varieties: Gyokuro Ureshinocha, Gyokuro Premier, and Yame Gyokura Grade 1. I found the Gyokuro Premier and Yame Gyokuro Grade 1 to be indistinguishable from each other. Both of these varieties yielded tea with a richer and better flavor than Gyokuro Ureshinocha. In all case, I heated 8 oz of water to 130F and steeped with 1 tsp of tea leaves for 1 minute.
Stephane Dudart
March 2016
With a dense green color and intense and sweet fresh grass to the taste WITHOUT theine aftertaste. Wonderful tea. Smell it when you open the bag...
Derekarmstrong
August 2015
Really fragrant, and subtle yet rich at the same time. Don't brew more than three minutes, about two finger pinches per small pot (2 cups). Delicious, my daily tea, I keep a lot on my shelf. Also, for those concerned about the nuclear accident, Yame is VERY FAR away, it's south of Jeju island South Korea. I can't give up my green teas from Japan (they taste different from anywhere else), and Yame is the best for me, and also very worry-free.
When made properly the way I like it I haven't come across green tea this good ever! I like the water to be around 60-65 degrees before steeping the leaves. The taste is wonderfully sweet with green tea's unique umami flavour. I can't get enough of this tea. If you like your green tea buy this. You will not be disappointed. A little goes a long way so don't afraid of the price. 5 stars.
Slightly bitter to me. I prefer the Gyojuro Premier.
Mohamad Beydoun
March 2023
This shit taste like boiled seaweed. Smells like boiled seaweed. Even after I added like 250ml of jasmine tea and watered it down. *THIS IS HIGH QUALITY BUT I PUT 1 STAR BECAUSE WHEN I WAS CHECKING THE REVIEWS I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE TEA RATING NOT THE QUALITY RATING WHICH WAS MISLEADING* I was convinced it would taste sweet and a little grassy. This is girthy Atlantic seaweed. I'm still gonna finish the whole 100g though. It's not the teas fault. I'm pretty sure I just jumped to conclusions when I bought it.
I don't know if this gyokuro is misclassified as Grade 1, or if I was just really unlucky and received an old/stale batch (although the tea was properly vacuum sealed). There is no aroma, almost no colour, and pretty much no flavour. It isn't really an improvement over just drinking hot water, though the second infusion is a very slight improvement over the first. The senchas I ordered at the same time are wonderful (I will write separate, very positive reviews for those), but I am at a loss as to why a premium price is being charged for this insipid gyokuro.
