Thank you for all your help.

I think I'm going to go with the My Weigh i500. It's a little more versatile in the kitchen since it can handle a little over 1 lb.

http://www.rightonscales.com/web/i500.htm

By the way. On that link it says the scale you have is accurate to .1g.

Well, I found mine at Upton...but I would prefer one like this 300-Z from right on scales...it is cheaper too at 20 bucks or less...

Mine has the higher resolution...but I could live with .1 gram resolution...no problem.

Rule of thumb: Gyokuro is one gram of leaf to each ounce of water. Ryan came up with that and it's right on the money.

I would highly recommend a "My Weight" scale brand. The scale is of very high quality, attractive and easy to operate. The best tenet about all My Weigh scales however is that it carries an unconditional 30 year warranty. I own the My Weigh i2600 that stopped operating a month ago. I packed the scale and sent it to the My Weigh service department in AZ and a week later a brand new i2600 shipped air Priority mail was waiting for me at my doorstep (They even sent me the newer version i2600 totally redesigned).

Gyokuro is very hard to master but that is the challenge and the art of tea consumption. I use very similar parameters as posted here but I firmly believe the key with gyokuro is to keep your pot and cup pre-heated. I boil water in two pots - one pot with tap water for heating and one with pure spring water for tea. Use a nice Yuzamashi that Kevin sells to quickly get your tea water to temp while everything is heating up. When spring is at right temperature simply toss pre-heat water and slip in your 7.5g leaf into 225ml water at 138-140 degrees for 2 minutes (time it too!). When time is up pour the liquid from your Tokanome very s l o w l y, put on your favorite Monk or Ella tune and enjoy your green moment. Quite frankly, I don't know of anything closer to being in heaven!

I know this is an old thread, but I got results similar to the original poster after following the gyokuro instructions in this thread. I've got all the tools: digital scale, digital thermometer, electric kettle, stopwatch. I made gyokuro as follows:

4g leaf / 4oz water / 140F temp / 2min steep / everything preheated

Half the flavor was what I like about gyokuro when I brew it using a much lower leaf to water ratio, the other half of the flavor was nauseating. It actually made me feel sick to my stomach. I've gotten similar results with any green tea I try to make by using a more leaf, less time method.

I've been going through the adagio forums and this forum quite a bit and I've noticed I'm not the only person to ever get nauseated from brewing tea this way. I wonder if it's just individual differences? Like some of us are just sensitive to some element of tea's flavor? Or are we all just retarded at making tea?

What was the problem with it - specifically. Too bitter? Which gyokuro was it you used?

Worry not, it isn't from O-cha. I'm using a sample from adagio, which I'm sure isn't the best stuff in the world but I can't think it's that low in quality.

Bitterness may be part of the issue, but there's more going on than just bitterness. I've drank lipton "green tea" bags oversteeped in boiling water before I knew what I was doing. That's some bitter stuff, yet still drinkable. Making gyokuro with tons of leaf makes something that's near undrinkable. It's not just like it was a flavor I didn't enjoy, it's like someone gave you a soda with some household cleaners mixed in and you didn't realize it was poisoned until after you drank it. That's the way the gyokuro comes out, the initial flavor just tastes like stronger gyokuro, but then it's followed up with a disgusting taste that lingers on the tongue after I swallow and makes me feel nauseous. Maybe it's coming out super bitter and that's what makes it taste that way, but why would it come out that bitter when I followed explicit instructions?

Yet, I can make qyokuro at a ratio of 1g leaf to 2oz water and it comes out tasting like all the descriptions I've read. Even down to a slightly sweet aftertaste. I don't understand why it would come out so bad when I follow explicit instructions from someone who enjoyed it with tons of leaf.

My first thought is that it is the gyokuro itself. The next thing that comes to mind is that either the quantity of tea is not correct, or more likely the temperature. If you pre-heat everything first and use water that is about 140-150 F, it *should* turn out good. How about the second infusion?

Not sure what's going on but my guess is that it's the gyokuro. We sell kabusecha which is semi-shaded and is very nice. However, if you try to brew that gyokuro style it will not turn out nice.

Someone once told me that Adagio ships their teas in tins which are not sealed and flushed with nitrogen, not sure how true that is as I've never ordered from them. One thing I can tell you - a lot of places buy large bulk 5kg bundles of tea from Japan and then try to re-package on their own so they can charge less. The problem with that is, it is not how green tea should be handled - each package must be flushed with nitrogen and be fresh. Each bag we sell here is flushed with nitrogen gas and has only been in the bag for a week or two. Plus, we only sell above average grades and up.

Whether you get it from us or somewhere else, I would recommend that you purchase a gyokuro that you *know* is real and that you know is quality first. I bet you will get different results.

Thanks for all the information. I didn't tangle with a second infusion at the 1g leaf/ 1oz water ratio. I doubled the water so I could at least enjoy the successive infusions.

You're 100% correct on adagio's packaging. It's just small tin and I certainly wouldn't even consider it to be air tight. I wonder if the other people that have had difficulties were also working with adagio stock?

It will probably x-mas before I can buy any pricey teas, but maybe when I put in that order I'll try some of o-cha's stuff. In the mean time, I think I might experiment brewing up my gyokuro sencha-syle. Maybe what adagio has given me is that semi-gyokuro stuff you mentioned.

Just updating with results, I hate it when I find alot of good information in a thread and it ends abruptly with no resolution.

You were right on the money Mr. Admin. Apparently there's something wrong with the gyokuro I have, maybe it's actually kabusecha like you mentioned.

I brewed up a batch following the information for brewing sencha I've read on this site:

5g leaf / 8oz water / 165F temp / 2min steep

Probably the best cup of green tea I've ever had. So I'm guessing it's not actually gyokuro adagio gave me, more like a really good sencha?

My guess - kabusecha. Kabusecha is brewed just like sencha. I'd be curious to see a link to which tea it was you purchased.

Here you go, I got the $6 sample:
http://www.adagio.com/green/gyokuro.htm ... 55c141a234

It's description is thus:
Green tea from Japan famed for its unique shading process. Gyokuro, meaning 'pearl dew,' is among the finest of Japanese teas. Our 'Moonlight Gyokuro' is made solely from the prized tender buds gathered in the early spring flush. Three weeks prior to plucking, tea bushes are shaded from the sun. The fruits of this hard work are evident in each cup. The result is a gentle tea with an intoxicating fragrance and truly sublime taste.

I was going to order a starter supply of tea from them, knowing full well it wasn't the highest quality tea you could buy, but now I'm hesitant to order anything at all. They're charging gyokuro prices and, in my eyes, not giving a product that's even close to what was stated. I'd be afraid of getting way ripped off on my other teas as well.

I think sometimes our quest for perfection comes too early in the process and we use too many devices. Simplicity is often the best answer. I'm quite new at brewing high quality tea but I have not had any trouble with any type of Japanese tea and I don't use special items, just a pot, cups, coffee maker as a kettle (yes, I really do), a good quality tea and spring water. I cool the water in the cups, guessing what the correct temperature is, and avoid too much leaf except for high grades of gyokuro, which does seem to require more.

Kevin's instructions have been tremendously helpful, as have been his awesome selection of teas. A good quality tea is an essential starting point, based on the garbage in equals garbage out theory. No amount of tools, no water temperature, and no teaware selection will make bad tea good.

Kevin constantly points out that lower, or correct, water temperature is very important for Japanese green teas. I knew that with his experience I would be wise to heed his advice from the beginning. I purchased both a gyokuro and sencha set without handles. This forced me to lower water temperature and the results improved significantly. Preheating the pot and cups is also beneficial. In my opinion, the teaware used is also very important. I definitely prefer no filter or ceramic filters over metal. However, the pots with ceramic filters tend to cost quite a bit more.

I have had a nauseating feeling after drinking a very high grade of mainland Chinese tea that someone gave me a small quantity of to try. It was that monkey picked stuff, supposedly the real one, that was 1500 USD a pound. It was quite good, but a fussy brewer. I forgot about the fourth infusion and left it a couple of extra minutes and literally felt sick to my stomach when I drank it. I'll stick with Japanese and Taiwanese tea, thankyou! I've never had this with either of them, and I load up the Taiwanese oolongs in the pot pretty good.

Did you preheat the pot and cups? If not, what started as 165F could be much lower, maybe 140F or so, by the time you drink it. This would be much closer to the correct temp for gyokuro.

Yes, I definitely pre-heated everything when I did that experiment. Trust me, adagio is either giving out a very low quality gyokuro or they package their samples waayy ahead of time and you get stale tea to sample.

I recently got a batch of teas to get started from SpecialTeas. I was able to do a direct comparison between my adagio dragon well sample ($19/4oz) and my specialteas dragon well ($8/4oz). Absolute night and day difference. My specialteas dragon well had the nutty/sweet flavor I've been reading about meanwhile I was always getting a slight hint of bitterness in my adagio sample. I actually hadn't realized there was such a great price difference until the taste of the specialteas dragon well made me go back and check. I couldn't believe it.

Maybe someone who has bought a large batch from adagio can testify to their quality or lack there of, but they should package their samples better.

And before you think I'm all hung up on specialteas because I had a good experience with them, I'll tell you their sencha "extra fine" -- it ain't exactly 'extra fine'. I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to get some good stuff from o-cha.