Gyokuro, “jade dew”, is the most precious of Japan’s green teas: a few weeks before picking, the tea bushes are covered with shade screens, which slows growth, concentrates the flavours and gives the leaves this deep emerald green. Gyokuro Kansai, which Mariage Frères ranks among its superior green teas, comes from the Kansai region and consists of hand-picked buds.

It is a pure tea, with no additions; it contains none of the allergens that must be declared. The house describes it as low in caffeine, and in our catalogue it carries the Jardin Premier label. The leaves, very beautiful, fine and dark, smell of fresh grass and seaweed when dry.

The liquor is green and silky. The taste is smooth, the aroma delicate and balanced, the bouquet subtle and gentle; the umami is intense, that deep, almost bubbling savour that is the signature of shade-grown teas, combined with a vegetal sweetness and an iodine note. No bitterness, provided the water is not too hot, and a finish that lingers for a long time.

The house reserves it for precious moments and grand fish meals: sashimi, sea bass baked in a salt crust, shellfish. It is drunk plain, from small cups, in small sips, and the leaves can be infused several times, each infusion a little hotter and a little shorter. Once infused, the leaves are eaten in Japan, with a few drops of soy sauce.

Allow 5 g per 200 ml of water at 50 °C and three minutes of steeping: the measure is high, the temperature very low, and that is what makes all the difference. Gyokuro Kansai is weighed and packed to order in our shops in Bordeaux and Nice, from the 5 g sample to the kilo, in a bag designed to preserve its freshness. Store in a cool place, tightly closed.