Tohei-san’s Gyokuro

Origin: Okabe, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Cultivar: Saemidori, Gokou, Okumidori and Yabukita
Harvest: May 8-13 2019  & 15-20 2019
Elevation: 110m

Gyokuro (“jade dew”) is the most prestigious and rare shade-grown green tea from Japan. This year we selected gyokuro from two producers in the Okabe region: Tohei-san and Maejima-san. Each teamaker offers an expression of the classic Okabe style, which emphasizes a unique mountain freshness balanced with umami depth. Tohei-san cultivates gyokuro according to the traditional tana method of shading tea bushes with woven straw-thatch mats called komo, which he weaves himself. It is more time-consuming than modern methods, but worth the extra effort. This year, Tohei-san's Gyokuro has a slight peak of brisk mountain freshness and long-lasting umami, with a slight tang of preserved kombu and rich umami with oceanic notes of sea kelp and blue-green algae.