Comments on: Review 83: Teavana’s Gyokuro Imperial

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:21:59 +0000

Japanese greens are my favorite teas and ” Gyokuro Imperial” from Teavana seems to be the best I have tasted. Also excellent is a tea called Sumibi Meijin “Imperial Silver” that I bought online from Chado Tea House.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:08:23 +0000

Hi James,

Now that you’ve seen the review, how did it compare to your experience?

By: James Warden

James Warden — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:14:46 +0000

Hi Jason, I just received my Gyokuro from Teas Etc. and had my first cup, thank you for mentioning this brand !

My taste isn’t acute enough to compare it to the Teavana Gyokuro but I can say it is equally enjoyable. Although the bag recommends brewing at 170 F for two minutes, I prefer to keep it mellow at 150 F for one minute and squeezing three brews out of the one set of leaves.

Looking forward to hearing your views on this tea . . .

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 21:36:38 +0000

Good point James. I’ve seen others do this, and have done it myself before. I omitted this step in the video because I felt the need to balance ease of prep with taste experience. I’ll be sure to seek you out for your impressions of the Gyokuro Jade Dew as well.

By: James Warden

James Warden — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:38:43 +0000

While I wait for my water to heat, I let the tea leaves sit in a small amount of cool water. The Gyokuro seems more susceptible to shock from water that is too hot, than from other teas. I feel this introduces the tea to the hot water in a gentle fashion that lessens unpleasant flavors and allows for multiple brews from the same leaves.

I see a tasting of the Gyokuro Jade Dew is coming up and just happily ordered some!

By: Jason Witt

Jason Witt — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:02:46 +0000

I’m not surprised Teavana’s Gyokuro doesn’t get too low a score on this review because they seem to do Japanese tea pretty well. I’ve been drinking their Sencha which right now only costs about $40 a lb. It’s an everyday tea for me and I’m repeatedly impressed by its quality for the price.