Yame Dentou Hon Gyokuro - Saemidori by Kuma san

About Gyokuro:
Gyokuro is known as the king of Japanese green tea, due to the extended shading period before harvest (16-30 days) and the extra care and attention paid during growing, harvesting, and processing. The shading process is very stressful for the tea plant and can cause damage or disease if not done with enough care. Furthermore, many high grade gyokuro are hand-picked rather than scissors or machine cut, and hand processed to avoid damage during what can usually be quite rigorous drying and rolling processes. The amino acids inside the tea - responsible for umami and sweetness - change into catechins under direct sunlight, so shading tea can achieve much higher amino acid levels, which can be isolated in terms of flavour by brewing the tea with low temperature water. There is nowhere more famous in Japan for producing high quality gyokuro than Yame, Fukuoka. In annual nationwide competitions it is not uncommon to see 25-28 out of the highest 30 scoring gyokuro being from Yame. So much so, that Yame has its own government registered growing technique called Yame Dentou Hon Gyokuro. The standards that farmers must meet are stringent and regulated. It was registered on 22nd December 2015, just about 6 months before we opened Cha-ology.

About Yame Dentou Hon Gyokuro:
Must be grown naturally (shizentate)
Must begin shading when 1.5 - 2 new leaf buds are showing
Must shade for at least 16 days
Shading must block at least 95% light (side cover as well as top cover)
Shading material must be rice straw
Must be hand picked
Must be assessed and accepted by the local Yame tea co-operative to be able to use this name

All photos were taken by us in person during one of our visits to Kuma san and his cousin Nakatani san. Above you can see some photos from the exact same tea field that this Tencha is grown in! It shares the field with Kuma san’s Yame Dentou Hon Gyokuro.

Notes for this particular tea:
This Saemidori Yame Dentou Hon Gyokuro is from the 2024 harvest, and was submitted to the 78th annual national tea fair (chahinpyoukai), where it placed 9th out of 100 submissions with 194 out of 200 marks. It was produced in Jouyoumachi, Yame, in Fukuoka prefecture by Kuma san, a third generation tea farmer and producer, the very same tea in Kuma san’s award winning field that won first prize with 200/200 marks at the 71st chahinpyoukai in 2017. The leaves are shaded with traditional rice straw (honzu saibai), and hand picked in the first and only harvest of the year. The taste profile of this tea is complex first and foremost. It has the strength and intensity in umami that can be expected of a Yame Dentou Hon Gyokuro, but depth and nuance in the bright, fresh, sweet flavours that remind us somewhat of chestnuts (maybe because there are chestnut trees overlooking the field), with a fruitiness in the sweetness. The experience this tea offers is not one that you would expect from tea, and we hope you treasure it.

2024 Annual National Tea Fair (78th Chahinpyoukai) Scoring:
Appearance: 40/40
Aroma: 61/65
Liquid Colour: 30/30
Deliciousness: 63/65
Total: 194/200

Japanese green tea is best prepared with soft water, to enjoy the complexity of flavour. Please experiment when brewing tea as personal preference plays a large part in brewin. The four variables to test are; amount of tea, amount of water, temperature of water, and duration of each infusion.

After your final infusion, the leaves still have a lot to give and it would be a shame to waste the hard work of the farmers and producers. Consider eating them with ponzu (citrus based soy sauce), with sea salt, on their own, or any of the previous suggestions over rice. 

A good starting point can be found below:

Cold to hot brewing guide for sipping:
Gyokuro 10 grams
Water 50ml
First infusion 20°C for 120sec
Second infusion 65°C for 40sec (pre-heat your cup with hot water first for this infusion)
Third infusion 75°C for 20sec
Fourth infusion 85°C for 10sec

Cold brewing guide:
Gyokuro 10 grams
Water 300-600ml @ 5-20°C* (more water = more refreshing & less intense)
Duration 14 hours in the fridge
*We find that using room temperature water for cold brewing gives the best flavour, but pre-chilled or ice water works very well too.

Storage:
Store in a cold environment (6-10°C) and avoid exposure to light, air, heat, moisture and strong smells - these will degrade your tea. Once opened, standard loose leaf steamed tea is best consumed within 4-6 weeks, high grade steamed Japanese green tea like this is best enjoyed immediately after opening.