HomeGiokuro is considered to be the highest quality green tea in Japan. This Super Flavorful green tea was once reserved for the Emperor, but now is enjoyed by tea connoisseurs all over the world. In this episode, we’re going to take a look at what Gkuro is, how it was discovered, and how it’s made. First, let’s head off to southern Japan to meet a small farmer in the town of Shibushi. Mr. Sakamoto’s family has been growing green tea for generations. When he was just a little boy, he would help his parents tend to the tea fields and harvest the tea. When it was his turn to take over the family business, he decided he wanted to grow tea without the use of pesticides or chemicals. With so much natural beauty in his area of Shibuhi, he wanted to make sure he could grow tea without harming the local ecosystem. He also washed as some of his family members were diagnosed with cancer and believed that the chemicals they were using on the tea fields were partly to blame. It was in 1985 that Mr. Sakamoto decided to shift the tea farm to completely organic production. He has said that this switch also helped him grow stronger tea plants. Without putting chemicals on the tea fields, the earthworms and other insects are able to move around freely and loosen up the soil. This allows the roots to penetrate deeper into the ground and absorb more nutrients. Mr sakamoto also created his own form of organic fertilizer that greatly improves the strength of the tea plants. He will occasionally clip off a small sample of his organic tea planta and compare it with a non-organic tea planta because it was grown in more nutrient dense soil. The organic tea plant is stronger than the non-organic tea plant, so it is able to hold onto its leaves for weeks after is removed from the ground. When we visited the farm of Mr. Sakamoto, we got a chance to sit down and taste a few of his special Geouo teas. These teas are incredibly unique for a few different reasons. First, they have these incredibly dark, thinly rolled, needleshaped tea leaves. These leaves are so tightly rolled that they need a full two minutes to open up and release their flavor into the water. The other aspect that makes your unique is its powerful, sweet and savory flavor. The savory or unami flavor is greatly celebrated in Japanese cuisine. Similar to a hardy miso soup, this tea develops a seaweed flavor as well. Some describe this flavor as savory, salty, and even as a light ocean breeze. The unique sweet and savory flavors come from the high concentration of amino acids in the tea. The amino acid alhenine can create a beautiful, sweet and savory flavor in a green tea. The difference between dry and bitter green teas and sweet and smooth green teas is the concentration of lpheionine to maintain a higher level of ltheine in the tea plant. The tea plant is shaded prior to the harvest. When the tea leaves are exposed to sunlight, they start converting lhenine into catkins, the bitter components of tea. These bitter flavors have to be minimized when it comes to girl, so the plant is cut off from sunlight for at least three weeks leading up to the harvest. During this time, the tea plant also produces more chlorophyll, which turns the tea leaves from a yellowish green into a dark shade green. After being shaded for three weeks, the G. Yokuro tea is ready to be harvested. To make Yokurro, only the top leaves are used. These top leaves are the youngest and most tender, yielding a lighter and sweeter flavor with less bitterness and astringency. The young sprouts are also the highest in nutrients and caffeine, giving them advantages beyond simply their flavor. Of all green teas, gokuro is perhaps the highest in caffeine because of how long it has been shaded. Gourro is also the Hyalin athene, which induces a more calming effect on the brain. This works in synergy with the caffeine to create a relaxed but alert feeling that many people enjoy for long periods of work, study, or meditation. Rather than getting a crash or jitters after drinking it. Gokuro can give you long-lasting energy throughout the day. Organic Yokuro is far less common than non-organickuro. The reason for this is that the farmer needs to keep the tea plants alive for three weeks without much sunlight. Most tea farmers accomplish this with a heavier use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. While this may lead to a short-term improvement in growth, it can degrade the health of the soil and ecosystem over time. Luckily organic, your farmers like Mr. Sakamoto are able to grow incredible quality green tea without the use of chemicals. The organic Yokuro from Mr. Sakamoto is healthy, great tasting, and it’s produced using more sustainable methods. Of course, all this innovation around Gokurdo production took many years to develop. When green tea was first grown in Japan, there was very little known about it. Let’s take a brief trip to Uji, the site of japan’s green tea renaissance. In medieval Japan, the primary way to consume tea was in powdered form. Of course, this powdered match tea is still popular today, but in modern Japan loose leaf tea is king. Seiche is by far the most common way to consume green tea in Japan, but the switch was made relatively recently in 1700 and 38. A tea farmer by the name Nagata Shen and Uji Tamara developed the steaming method. After tea leaves are picked, they can then be steamed in order to lock in their fresh vegetable flavors and prevent them from oxidizing into a black tea. With this steaming method, the tea leaves could be prepared without being grounded to match. This gave rise to the preparation of tea in a teapot rather than the bowl that had been commonly used in the tea ceremony. For this reason. Nagata Sorin is considered to be the father of Japanese green tea. His childhood home is now a popular tourist attraction, and there is even a nearby shrine built in his honor. After loose leaf green tea became more common in Japan, many different farmers began experimenting with new methods of growing in production. Farmers used to cover the tea plants to protect them from the cold, but they soon learned that by cutting them off from sunlight they actually became sweeter and smoother. Once these amino acid rich leaves were taken through the steaming process, a farmer by the name Yamamoto Kahne noticed a green residue left by the tea leaves and decided to name the tea Gurro, meaning Jade do. People soon fell in love with this super sweet and flavorful green tea, and it even became the tea of choice for the emperor, who loved how the tea maintained and even improved its flavor with age. Once Gilurro was discovered, people soon built specialized machines to produce this legendary tea. Producing yokurro can be a quite long, labor-intensive process. First, the leaves are shaded for three weeks prior to the harvest to improve their sweet and savory flavor. Then the top three leaves are harvested and immediately gathered up to be processed. This pile of freshly picked tea leaves needs to be separated so that it can be processed evenly without overloading the conveyor belt. Next the leaves need to be steamed. This is perhaps the most important step in the production of Japanese green tea. Once the leaves are picked, the enzymes in the leaf will naturally start to oxidize the tea, which will turn it into a black tea in order to lock in these more grassy and vegetable notes that Japanese green teas are known for. These enzymes need to be deactivated with heat after the leaves have been steamed. They will then go through a few different stages of drying. In order for the leaves to infuse properly, they need to have an incredibly low moisture content around four to seven percent. This is accomplished through a series of small ovens that heat the tea leaves at a very low temperature so that the flavor is not affected, but the leaves dry evenly. While the leaves are still pliable, they can be rolled into these characteristic needle shapes. These machines are important because they give Gokuro its famous pine needle shape. These tightly rolled leaves protect a lot of the flavors until they are ready to be released into the water all at once. Once the leaves are dried completely, the your is ready to be sold. When preparing this special green tea, it is important to use a very low temperature around 60 degrees Celsius or 100 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. A smaller amount of water and a longer brewing time of about two minutes. This creates a dense, powerful infusion. When it comes to Gilokuro, it’s not just about the flavor, but the texture as well. A good Giokuro is heavy on the palette and you can really feel the weight of it gliding over your tongue. This tea is meant to be enjoyed in small sips, so you can really savor each and every drop. If you are interested in trying guru for yourself, we would really appreciate if you tried some of the Yokuro from Mr. Sakamoto. There are currently three Giokuro teas at Neotesez. Dot com. First we have the Yokuro Ciammasume, a powerful savory Yokuro from the Yabukita cultivar. Then we have the Gokuro Sasahime, a more nuanced giokuro made from combining light and sweet saori leaves, smooth and fruity okumidori leaves, and strong and savory yabukita leaves. Finally, we have the master’s tea, the Gokurro Cha Mejinin. This tea is made purely from the Siniddoi cultivar, one of the most sought after tea varieties in Japan. This tea is extremely sweet with no bitterness and nice, warm caramel notes. No matter which two you choose, it will help support our mission to bring quality, sustainable green tea to the world. It also helps us support talented farmers like Mr. S. Sakamoto as he continues to transform the way green tea is produced. Thank you all so much for your support, we’ll see you next time.
