Gyokuro Hoshino Seichaen

Tea: Gyokuro Hoshino Seichaen
Vendor: Bassaro
Source: Hoshino Seichaen, Yame, Japan

This was another sample from Bassaro that I got to try out. After the previous sample I was very excited to try this one.

The appearance of the leaves for this gyokuro were quite different than the previous ones. While the other gyokuro had a more matte appearance to the leaves, these have a shinier, more polished look to them. The tea also shared the very dark appearance to the leaves.

The first infusion had a very strong grassy vegetal/flavor to it. The color of the infusion was also a lot lighter than the other gyokuro. This one was still cloudy and a deep shade of green, but not as much so. The flavor of the tea was also very bold, but this one was more of a combination of a vegetal/grassy flavor instead of the more vegetal flavor of the other. The taste is bold and full bodied with a flavor that is an experience for the whole mouth, not just isolated to parts of the tongue. There were also a few hints of seaweed in the taste.

The second infusion was a bit sweeter in flavor, with the sweetness in the initial portion of the flavor, which then tapers into the rich gyokuro flavor. This extraction was more interesting and multidimensional than the previous.

The third infusion still had a strong vegetal flavor, but not as much of a rich gyokuro flavor. It was also starting to build a bit of astringency which hadn't been present in the previous two infusions.

The next infusion the vegetal flavor was starting to taper down a bit and the astringency had climbed to a medium level.

The fifth and final infusion was still as delicious as the first one, simply with a different flavor to it, the flavors were a bit weaker, but it allowed to taste some of the more subtle portions of the flavor instead of being masked by more powerful flavors. At this point though it had mustered a high sense of astringency.

Rating: 10/10

Conclusion: This was another remarkable gyokuro which seemed for a while that it would not stop producing wonderful flavors and more and more infusions. It seemed like this one might be a bit more difficult to brew than the other, but still produced a wonderful cup of tea. Both were excellent teas that I would recommend to anyone.