Gyokuro Yamashiro Shirakawa

玉露 山城 白川

Harvest
May 2023

Origin
Uji, Kyoto

This Gyokuro is from the historic Yamashiro Shirakawa region of Uji, near Kyoto. Yamashiro Shirakawa occupies a very small area. It has a long history of making gyokuro, and has become famous for producing it. This tea is a rare, unblended version of gyokuro, made entirely from the Gokou varietal. Its leaves were harvested by hand in May earlier this year.

Brewing it, we are astonished by the colour of the wet leaves: they shine a rich, emerald green and look extremely opaque, like wet clay. The tea smells, and even tastes, a bit like matcha, with a confronting , fresh ‘greenness.’

The first infusion is not as dense and weighty as Dento Hon gyokuro; this tea has a more slippery and sleek feeling in the mouth. Its taste is complex and perfumed, suggesting flowers and plants of all kinds.

The liquor is chardonnay coloured, and remains so through several infusions. The second infusion still feels heavy with mineral, and its savoury, oceanic qualities come forward. In the third infusion its strong characteristics soften into what feels like a very balanced green tea, and it carries on this way, suspended between its sweet and saline aspects.  

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Brewing guide

Please read our detailed Gyokuro brewing guide here