Kurihara Tea #19: Competition Grade Heritage Gyokuro Green Tea, 2018 Gold Medal Winner, Special AKI

The 2019 harvest of this gyokuro received the Minister's Award (the top prize) at the 2019 Fukuoka Tea Competition. The prize awarded at the Prefectural and National levels if there are over 100 entries for any single category (and only farmers are allowed to enter). Unfortunately, the winning micro-lot was used for the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019, and unavailable.

Gyokuro tea is grown beneath shading, cutting out some 85% of the sunlight. This allows the leaves to mature without obtaining bitterness. The results is an ultra delicate green tea with an extremely sweet and complex taste profile.

The Kurihara family's Heritage Gyokuro is grown beneath traditional, handmade bamboo and/or straw shading. The moisture that drips from this natural shading flavors the tea -- a return to the past with this gourmet tea.

This specific product is an ultra small batch of about 10kg produced specifically to enter into the Gyokuro category of the All Japan Tea Competition, open to farmers nationwide who have competed and placed highly at regional competitions. In 2018, farmer Akio Kurihara won the gold medal prize, placing 4th overall nationwide for this gyokuro.

FLAVOR GUIDE 

SAVORINESS (umami)

★★★★★

SWEETNESS (amami)

★★★★★

ASTRINGENCY (shibumi)

-

FRAGANCE

Fills the air with umami.

BREWED LEAVES

Great for salads! Used leaves should be steeped 3-4 times before using eating. Top with soy sauce and bonito flakes, or your own salad dressing.

Product Info

• Ingredients: Green tea
• Cultivar: Saemidori
• Harvest: June
• Region: Yabemura Village, Yame City, Fukuoka

Vendor Info

• Name: Kurihara Tea Farm
• Type: Family-owned business, tea farm, tea factory
• Members: Kippei, Yuji, and Akio Kurihara (Father and sons)
• Location: 4236 Kita Yabe, Yabe-mura, Yame-shi, Fukuoka Prefecture 834-1401, JAPAN
• Size: About 3 hectares total across several fields
• Altitude of tea fields: 300 - 700 meters