Gyokuro: Our Brewing Guide

To truly experience this unique and fascinating tea, you will need to give it some special attention in the brewing process... 

Here is our guide to maximizing your enjoyment of gyokuro. It is actually very simple and straightforward, we promise!

 

First, you'll want to use a small glass or a ceramic teapot. It could be a kyusu or even a gaiwan. 

Here at the bar, we use 3g of gyokuro for a serving.

 

 

Gyokuro is intended to be an intense experience, especially in the first infusion. Only a bit of water is used to brew it. Think of it like preparing a concentrated elixir. 

 

We use approximately 35ml of water in the first and second infusion. Then almost double that, 60ml of water, for the third infusion, and a bit more, around 75ml, for the fourth.

 

The water temperature for brewing gyokuro is very important. We suggest 50 degrees celsius for the first two infusions, then 60 degrees for the third, and 70 degrees for the fourth.

Key to making high-impact gyokuro is the infusion time. The first two infusions are quite long, in the lower temperature water - roughly a minute and a half!

The third infusion can rest in the water for up to 2 minutes, and the fourth infusion can be up to 3 minutes. 

 

The first two infusions of any gyokuro will be the most amazing. The dense elixir that runs off of the tea leaves needs to be thoroughly experienced, enjoyed and savoured. What you may initially miss in quantity, you will find more than made up for in density and concentration of flavour. 

 

 

If you follow our brewing guide, we are sure you will succeed in reproducing the traditional method for experiencing gyokuro. 

We hope you will enjoy experimenting with brewing this amazing tea at home, noticing the effects that your method has on its taste, and on its incredibly unique mouthfeel.