Gyokuro Yame
Yame is one of the most important Gyokuro-growing regions in Japan, which produces between 40-50% of all Gyokuro. Yame is an ancient tea culture area established by a Buddhist monk who planted tea seeds in 1423 AD. Today, Yame Gyokuro is prized for its balance of sweet, umami and fresh flavors, complemented with low bitterness and pleasantly light astringency. This top grade of Yame Gyokuro has an elegant, fresh green and bright, somewhat milky lemon yellow infusion color. Use enough tea and brew with skill to find the stimulating evergreen, sweet and umami flavors that this tea offers. One serving makes three wonderfully rich infusions.
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Gyokuro Yame
Gyokuro is the most precious green tea from Japan. Gyokuro has flavor, health benefits, energy and artisan processing unlike any other tea in the world. The oldest Gyokuro cultivation area is located in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, and much of the best quality Gyokuro comes from Uji’s neighboring towns. The unique character of Gyokuro depends on skilled artisan farmers who practice frame- and straw-shading of tea bushes, as well as traditional fertilization techniques developed over many generations. Furthermore, a select group of tea bush varietals and a special curing process of the made tea are the keys to Gyokuro’s exquisite character.
Characteristics of Gyokuro
Gyokuro, known as (Precious) Jade Dew Drop, has a pale green, almost clear infusion color with a very thick flavor and mouthfeel. True Gyokuro has a very distinct umami flavor and sweet aftertaste without bitterness or astringency. Umami is one of the basic six flavors: sweet, sour, salty, umami, bitter and spicy. Umami is often translated from Japanese as “savory” and is the basic flavor found in much of Japanese cuisine. Gyokuro has the reputation of containing the most umami flavor of all tea. (Learn more about Umami here: Wikipedia: Umami.)
The flavor of Gyokuro is developed by artisan farming techniques of shading the sun’s light and providing specific nutrition geared toward the tea bush variety and the unique growing conditions of a shaded tea garden. Tea bushes thrive on sunlight, and shading creates a stressful environment for the tea bush. The proper shading and fertilization of a Gyokuro garden is essential and directly impacts the quality and flavor of Gyokuro.
Gyokuro gardens are shaded by frame and straw. The shading duration varies by season and region. In Uji and in neighboring towns, the shading lasts for 30-40 days, whereas in Yame gardens and further north in Shizuoka’s Okabe area, the shading lasts for only 20 days. Uji teas are generally more umami and less brisk than teas from Yame or Okabe for various reasons. Shading, the selected tea bush varietal and the elevation of the various regions contribute to the differences found in each region’s Gyokuro.
The shading starts at first bud sight in April and is completed sometime in May. During the last 5-8 days of shading, not to exceed 8 days, farmers add a second layer of straw, which acts as a double shade, blocking out about 90% of the sun’s rays. The shading forces the tea bush to search for light, making it work overtime to produce more chlorophyll. Chlorophyll, a pigment that gives green tealeaves their color, acts as a photoreceptor in the leaf, much like a solar panel, to facilitate photosynthesis, whereby the plant converts sunlight and carbon dioxide into its life energy.
The tea bush must digest abundant nitrogen from soil in order to produce chlorophyll. Artisan farmers have developed very unique composting and fertilization techniques that maximize the availability of nitrogen in the soil for the stressed Gyokuro tea bushes to eat during shading. Special recipes and preparation methods for fertilizers include various blends that may contain but are not limited to the following: composted bonemeal, manures, organic green materials, fish, seaweed, straw, pressed oil seeds and the waste of soya beans. Gyokuro plants have quite a diet. Each Gyokuro-producing family has its own secret compost and fertilizer recipe and fertilization schedule.
The result of the artisan farmers’ care during the stressful shading period is a strong and vivid green tea plant with juicy buds and tender leaves. The shading of the tea bushes and the proper fertilization of the soil create Gyokuro’s unique flavor and mouth feel.
Sunlight is the energy used by the tea plant to grow its leaves. The shading of the tea bushes blocks the sunlight and facilitates very slow growth of the 1st flush leaf and bud. At the start of 1st flush spring harvest, the immature tealeaves and buds have abundant levels of the amino acids including L-theanine. Amino acids in tea are related to the umami flavor and rich mouthfeel found in spring tea. The amino acid L-theanine has many health benefits (learn more about L-theanine here: Wikipedia: Umami). As the season progresses and the tealeaves and buds mature, the L-theanine in the leaf is converted to catechin (learn more about catechins here: Wikipedia: Catechin). Tea catechins are a natural antioxidant in tea that creates a sharp, brisk, astringent property often associated with green tea. As the season progresses from spring to summer, the sunlight gets stronger and the weather becomes hotter. This causes tealeaves to mature faster. As the sunlight gets stronger and weather gets hotter, the content of L-theanine in the leaf decreases while the content of catechins increase. This is why the most tender, less astringent teas are plucked in the early spring when the sunlight is shrouded in cool mists and the leaves grow at a slower rate.
In the case of Gyokuro, shading minimizes the conversion of L-theanine to catechin by keeping the tealeaves and bud sets in a slow-growing state of immaturity that are harvested at the peak time—when L-theanine and caffeine are peaked and catechin is at the right balance—so Gyokuro has a smooth mouthfeel with rich umami and sweet flavors. Gyokuro is devoid of bitterness or sharpness with a flavor unlike any other tea. Gyokuro has the highest content of L-theanine of any leaf tea, rivaled only by the powdered green tea known as Matcha.
The consumption of L-theanine has been linked to increased alpha brain wave production and is considered a natural antidepressant and stress reliever. Studies in Japan have linked the consumption of L-theanine to a strengthened immune system. L-theanine is often added to energy drinks and is known to give a 6-hour boost of sustainable energy. A few strong cups of Gyokuro offer a much more sustainable source of energy than any coffee or energy drink without the sugar, added chemicals or the caffeine crash.
There are specific tea bush varietals best suited for Gyokuro and the stressful shading process, including Asahi, Oku Midori, Sa Midori, Sae Midori, Yabukita and the Goko variety. Gyokuro farmers and experts believe that Goko is one of the best varietals for Gyokuro. Goko varietal can absorb more nitrogen from the soils than other varietals, resulting in higher contents of amino acids and L-theanine in Gyokuro made from Goko bushes.
