Hibiki-an Gyokuro Superior

Next up in the package from Hibiki-an is their superior grade gyokuro. Gyokuro is a green tea produced by shading the leaves before picking, resulting in reduced astringency and bitterness with increased sweetness (when compared to a sencha). I purchased this as part of a tasting set (yay for economising), but it can be purchased on its own for US$35 per 200g (7.05oz). The 100g from the tasting set has lasted me almost a month, so you certainly get a lot of tea. I should also mention that some reviews on the Hibiki-an website noted that there was little difference between 'superior' and 'premium' grades. Looking elsewhere, other reviewers usually gave the premium tea between 0.5 and 1 points more (on a ten point scale) than the superior grade. Hopefully at a later stage, I'll test to see whether the difference is real or imagined.

Brewing Instructions: Use 8 grams of tea in water at 65 degrees celsius for 1.5 to 2 minutes.

Leaf Appearance: Deep green with a touch of emerald; there is a mixture of larger and broken-up leaves. I think I only found one small stem in the packet, but otherwise it's all leaves.

Dry Aroma: A rich grassy, seaweed smell immediately emmanates from the packet as soon as you open it. Yum.

The lighting doesn't do the colour justice -
it's a light, fairly clear grass-green.

Brewed Aroma: Again, mild seaweed and grass notes dominated.

Flavour: Smooth, savoury and semi-sweet (not like a sugary, obvious sweetness - it's much milder), with those seaweed-umami flavours lingering extensively. Depending on whether you've brewed it a little longer or not, you may have vague hints of bitterness on the edges of your tongue, which add to the complexity. 

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 - this is a flavoursome tea with some complexity to it, and is certainly one to have in the collection. If this is your first 'proper' green tea, it will be a revelation and I strongly recommend it; if not, then you'll definitely enjoy it all the same.

A note on multiple steepings: Both the first and second steeps are excellent, with the third being somewhat milder but still pleasant. The flavour really drops off after the third steep however, so it seems to be best to stop there.