SerendipiTea Gyokuro, Hoshino, Japan, Green Tea, 4-Ounce Box

by SerendipiTea

Product Features

• Makes approximately 50 cups of tea

Product Description

Green tea is picked then steamed to neutralize active enzymes. After steaming, the leaf is withered then manipulated to achieve the desired leaf finish, then steamed again or pan fired. (Withering is moisture evaporating from the leaf.)

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00117O2E6
• UPC: 615256032080
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,189 in Grocery & Gourmet Food (See Top 100 in Grocery & Gourmet Food)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Chronic" of Green Teas, April 1, 2009

By 

Truth Seeker (L.A.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SerendipiTea Gyokuro, Hoshino, Japan, Green Tea, 4-Ounce Box (Grocery)

I recently took up drinking tea, green and white to be exact. As a newbie I started off with the commercial stuff like Lipton and Celestial Seasonings with pure tea bags. The taste was ok but In all honestly it didn't do anything for me. I began doing a bit of research and found that loose leaf tea was more potent and flavorful due to the fact that they use whole leaves rather than the "dust" leftover they use in tea bags. A bit more research brought me to Japanese green tea which recognized as the best of green teas in the world. I started off drinking Traditional Medicinals Japanese Bancha, then I started drinking their roasted Hojicha. While a bit better than your average Lipton Tea, I knew tea could be better. I started using loose leaf Sencha which was great and before long I came upon drinking Matcha. Matcha is great but it is frothy and mainly comes in powdered form for shakes, desserts or ice cream.
Gyokuro on the other hand is the REAL DEAL. This stuff is truly what a green tea is all about. Very dark greenish bluish color with a strong pleasant aroma. The taste is pure and fresh and simply tastes like "green tea" and not grass. It only takes about 90 seconds steeping time and the brewing temperature just under boiling point. The color of the tea is a very bright clean looking green which tastes as good as it looks. I dare you to open a tea bag of Lipton, Traditional Medicinals or even loose leaf Sencha and compare alongside Gyokuro. You will laugh as the others look like trash compared to Gyokuro, I kid you not. I suggest any real green tea aficionado give it a shot; you wont be disappointed and I can assure you you will never go back to drinking anything less. It is expensive but so well worth it. Serendipitea is a great brand, Hoshino is the place for the best Gyokuro in Japan.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Gyokuro, June 23, 2010

By 

Matthew A. Soldo (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SerendipiTea Gyokuro, Hoshino, Japan, Green Tea, 4-Ounce Box (Grocery)

If you like Gyokuro tea then this is the real deal. It has the delicious 5th flavor that I look for in Gyokuros. I brew it at 140 degrees with filtered tap water (heated by a Zujirushi water kettle), and it is delicious. It will also make delicious iced tea if you brew it with room temperature water and then ice it down.

Other reviews talk about the cheap packaging and they are definitely correct. The plastic bag is extremely flimsy and will tear. I transfer mine to a tea tin or glass container. However I did not notice any plastic flavor imparted to the tea.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor quality Gyokuro. Possibly not even Gyokuro., December 29, 2010

By 

John Joganic - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SerendipiTea Gyokuro, Hoshino, Japan, Green Tea, 4-Ounce Box (Grocery)

It smelled right. It looked right. It tasted awful. I brewed a batch side-by-side with an Adagio Gyokuro, and there was no comparison. The SerendipiTea product was missing all the complex flavors and had a bitter taste. There was nothing smooth or relaxing about it.

For what it's worth, the brittle cellophane packaging was torn, and there was loose tea everywhere in both the tea box as well as the shipping box. By comparison, the Adagio Gyokuro packaging is a heavy sealed plastic bag with an internal zip lock.

If this was ever a Gyokuro, it died somewhere in transit.