Karigane Gyokuro Asagiri - From Uji
From Uji, near Kyoto, Uji Karigane Gyokuro "Asagiri" is a high quality blend of first harvest gyokuro leaf and gyokuro stems. Gyokuro is shade grown before harvesting, giving it a greener color and sweeter taste. While this is a very delicious green tea in it's own right, since brewing gyokuro takes practice to perfect we feel this green tea also makes a very good introduction to gyokuro brewing at an economical price point. The added stems add a tartness to this green tea and the combination of the two make this one very tasty Japanese green tea.
It is prepared in exactly the same way as regular gyokuro, meaning more leaf brewed at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. Use 10 grams per 300ml or less of water. Be sure to pre-heat teapot and teacups and brew at 55-60C (131~140F) for 1.5~2 minutes: How to Brew Gyokuro - Step-by-Step Instructions!
Available in 100gm packages.
- Loose Leaf
- Ease of BrewingSomewhat Difficult - May take some practice to get it perfect.
- Net Weight100 g / 3.52 oz
- Growing Region100% Uji
- Year2023
- HarvestFirst and/or Shincha
- BreedYabukita
- ShadingFull Shade (Gyokuro / Matcha)
- SteamingLight
- ColorGreen
- AromaMedium
- TasteSweet
- AstringencyMild
- ClarityClear
- First infusions per Pkg12
- OrganicNein
- Leaf (dry weight grams) to Water (1 fl oz / 30 ml) Ratio (recommended)1.2 g to 1 oz/30 ml
- Brew Temp (℃/℉ - recommended )60℃ (140℉)
- Brew Time (Seconds)150
- NotesA very good introductory gyokuro and delicious in it's own right
- Serge PerecrestNov 28, 2017, 06:34Oily texture, amazing alkaline, sakura tang
- Alessio ColettaSep 26, 2017, 01:21It is very easy to brew, although I would recommend a lower-temperature infusion (around 60°C..). I manage to obtain quite a few infusions from this tea, and I have to admit it is one of my favourite ones! It is does not have any astringency (typical of Sencha), and it is sweet and vegetal.
- Kuang-Yu HsuSep 14, 2017, 02:39Great tasting tea that's easy to brew! I can get two good steepings out of it. The third one on becomes a bit watery. It's definitely a great every day tea.
- Jason WheelerApr 3, 2017, 03:58Great tea for the money! I enjoy this tea as as my daily drinker. I find that you definitely get two quality steeps out of each serving. Enjoy!
- Jens EvensenSep 8, 2016, 02:32A great tea! It is always a right moment to enjoy a cup of Asagiri. Also one of my favourite teas,
- Nick HardersenDez 9, 2014, 06:27This tea is an interesting one. I give it 3 stars due to the fact that I find you must use a ton of leaf to get a good taste out of this tea. The amount of tea needed is just wasteful to be honest. Also, I have found that 2 quality steeps are about as much as you can hope to get out of this one. HOWEVER, when you do brew it correctly, which really has not been very hard, the taste is really phenomenal. The umami is insanely good. If this review was strictly for taste, I would give it 5 stars. But the fact that you have to use quite a lot of leaf (and even then it doesn't hold up well to many re-steeps). I would buy this one again if it was not for this. O-cha's teas are usually phenomenal, I just do not feel this one is worth the money. Just spend a few extra $$ and get some gyokuro. Their Yame gyokuro is great and not much more expensive.
- Milan GerecSep 11, 2014, 18:08Very nice gyokuro. I brew it first with 50°C hot water then 2 more times with 60° and 3rd time with boiling water. You can try one brew with 45° foor 5mins.
- Alexey IskhakovJan 27, 2014, 12:00Exellent tea. It has such sweet taste with a small pitch of acidity, and great aftertaste. No astrigence at all.
It is really hard to brew it with instructions provided on page. So, after some experimenting, I found that the best way to brew it with hot 85-89C water for 20 - 25 seconds. It allow two flushes without losing a taste, and taste is fading on after.
Product questions
- Mai 31, 2016, 10:43
I've been drinking sencha, shincha, kabusecha, and matcha for many years, but I've never tried gyokuro and I'd like to try some. Would this be a good beginner one, or should I go for any of the ones in the higher price range?
Mai 31, 2016, 10:58This would be a very good tea to practice your gyokuro brewing technique with because it does take some practice to get gyokuro brewing down correctly. This tea is also quite good in it's own right, we consider this to be a "sleeper" as many do not recognize it's quality.
<a href="https://www.o-cha.com/uji-gyokuro-shouun.html">Uji Gyokuro Shōun</a> would also be a good starter gyokuro.