Into the Mouths

Continuing about hand-rolled gyokuro, the shapes are distinctly different. The straightness is similar to machine processed Japanese teas, the twistedness is very apparent and a fair proportion seem to have a small loop at the end, which I’ve never seen otherwise. The colour is dark. Something even more rare are the “mis-shapes” where the leaves have clumped into little balls, “clusters” we are calling them, which look as though they are threaded on skewers, ready for a barbeque. These have the flavour of the hand-rolled at a bearable price, despite their rarity. In addition we shall carry, for the time being at least, one of Yosidau sensei’s gyokuros processed in antique machines.

I remember attending an academic conference on Beverages in Early Modern Japan at SOAS (the School of African and Asian Studies, part of the University of London) a few years ago. There was a presentation of the “other” Japanese tea ritual, using teapots and leaf tea, which is gyokuro even though it is called Senchado (meaning here the way of steeped tea). At the end of the second day of the conference attendees were invited to taste the tea used and we were served, in a tiny cup, a scant teaspoon of rich, thick, gyokuro which was very good indeed.

One of the deliverers of papers at the conference was Professor Steve Owyoung from the USA. He was made a guest for the presentation never having tasted this style of high quality Japanese tea before, despite being a specialist in the history of tea and a fascinating speaker. In his turn, he tasted the tea. Clearly he was astounded and, in one of the high moments of the conference, declared that it was “...like putting a jade bead in your mouth.” We all swooned.

Alex runs east teas in Borough Market, London, Friday 12-6p.m. and Saturday 9-4p.m. Email epoch@eastteas.com.