Natural Black Gyokuro 50g

With an exquisite floral palate, this black tea from Obubu Tea Farms is made from the highest grade of shaded tea leaves. 

Shaded from the sun for three weeks before its spring harvest, the raw material is the highest quality before undergoing black tea processing. This Black Gyokuro also provides a unique opportunity to taste a tea which is new to the world.

• Gyokuro (玉露) – the highest grade Japanese loose leaf tea – is as unique as its name – ‘dew drop’. In contrast to making shaded Sencha, where the covers for blocking direct sunshine are spread directly on the plant, Gyokuro is grown under a special construction that allows more space for air flow and cooler temperatures among the tea leaves. The tea plant is shaded for about three weeks, during which fresh spring tea leaves develop a distinctive rich flavour and sweet smell with all the production of Gyokuro making up only 1% of Japanese Tea each year.
• Black Tea (和紅茶) – another rare Japanese tea which has a shorter history than Gyokuro. It has an oxidation period after the processing which darkens the colour of the tea but not as much as other Black Teas around the world. After the harvest the leaves are first withered before further processing. By the subsequent rolling of the tea leaves, the cell structure is broken down which enhances the following oxidaton process.

As black tea is a recent discovery in Japan only about 300 farmers are producing Koucha throughout the country and is therefore a specialist product. Combined with Gyokuro cultivation this makes this tea an incredibly unique product.