[Gyokuro Green Tea Bags] 5g x 15pcs (75g) Yamecha, Yame tea, Mukoh Matcha

Description

✅玉露は、日本茶の一種で、緑茶と並んで日本茶を代表するお茶の一つです。大切な来客があった際にお出しするような高級茶というイメージがあります。玉露は、他のお茶と比べて栽培に手間がかかり、生産量が少ないため、高級品とされます。Gyokuro is a type of Japanese tea, one of the teas that represent Japanese tea alongside green tea. It has an image of a high-end tea to be served when there are important guests. Gyokuro is considered a luxury item because it takes more effort to cultivate and produces less than other teas.

✅玉露は、一定期間覆いをして、日差しを遮った状態で育てるのが特徴です。このように、摘採前の一定期間茶園に覆いをかける栽培方法のことを被覆栽培と呼びます。Gyokuro is characterized by being grown under cover for a certain period of time, blocking out the sunlight. This method of covering the tea garden for a certain period of time before harvesting is called covered cultivation. 

✅同じく被覆栽培をするお茶として「かぶせ茶」がありますが、かぶせ茶よりも玉露の方が被覆期間は長めです。地域によって差はあるものの、おおむねかぶせ茶が摘採前の1週間〜10日程度、玉露が20日程度〜とされています。There is also “Kabusecha” which is also cultivated under cover, but Gyokuro has a longer covering period than Kabusecha. Although there are regional differences, Kabusecha is generally covered for about 1 week to 10 days before harvesting, while Gyokuro is covered for about 20 days or more. 

✅玉露は、コクのある強い旨味が特徴です。反対に、渋味や苦味はあまり感じません。これは、お茶の旨味成分であるアミノ酸が豊富に含まれているからです。お茶に含まれるアミノ酸の中でも、特に割合の大きい成分がテアニンです。Gyokuro has a rich, strong umami flavor. On the other hand, you don’t feel much bitterness or astringency. This is because it contains a lot of amino acids, which are the umami components of tea. Among the amino acids contained in tea, theanine is the most abundant component. 

✅テアニンは茶樹の根で作られ、葉へと運ばれていきます。この時、日光を浴びるとテアニンが分解され、最終的に渋味・苦味成分であるカテキンへと変化することが知られています。日光をほとんど浴びずに育つ玉露の場合は、旨味成分のテアニンがカテキンへと変化することなく、そのまま茶葉に残るので苦味が少なくなります。

✅Theanine is produced in the roots of the tea tree and transported to the leaves. At this time, it is known that when exposed to sunlight, theanine is broken down and eventually changes into catechins, which are astringent and bitter components. In the case of gyokuro, which grows with little exposure to sunlight, the umami component theanine remains in the tea leaves without changing into catechins, resulting in less bitterness.

玉露を飲むなら、香りにも注目したいところです。一口含んだ瞬間に独特の香りが鼻へと抜けていきます。玉露特有の香りは覆い香（おおいか）と呼ばれ、「青海苔のような香り」と表現されることもあります。When drinking Gyokuro, you’ll want to pay attention to its fragrance as well. As soon as you take a sip, its unique fragrance escapes through your nose. Gyokuro’s unique fragrance is called “Ooika” and is sometimes described as “a fragrance like green laver.”

✅被覆栽培がもたらす玉露の特徴は、味わいや香りだけに留まりません。玉露と一般的な煎茶の茶葉を見比べると、玉露の方がより深い緑色をしていることに気付きます。茶葉の緑色は、光合成で光エネルギーを吸収する「葉緑素（クロロフィル）」がもたらすものです。被覆栽培の下では、わずかな光で効率的に光合成をする必要があるため、できる限り多くの光エネルギーを取り込もうと葉緑素がたくさん作られます。その結果、茶葉の緑色が濃くなるというわけです。

In addition, the characteristics of Gyokuro brought about by covered cultivation do not stop at its taste and fragrance. If you compare the leaves of Gyokuro with those of regular sencha, you will notice that Gyokuro has a deeper green color. The green color of tea leaves is due to “chlorophyll,” which absorbs light energy through photosynthesis. Under covered cultivation, there is a need to efficiently photosynthesize with little light, so as much chlorophyll as possible is produced to capture as much light energy as possible. As a result, the green color of the tea leaves becomes darker.

✅玉露を美味しく楽しみたいなら、40℃程度の比較的低温のお湯でじっくりと淹れるのがおすすめです。低温で淹れると、旨味成分のアミノ酸は十分に抽出される一方、苦味・渋味をもたらすカテキンやカフェインはあまり抽出されません。玉露の特徴である強い旨味を楽しみたいなら、高温よりも低温抽出が向いています。

If you want to enjoy delicious Gyokuro, it is recommended to brew it slowly with relatively low-temperature water around 40°C. When brewed at low temperatures, amino acids, which are umami components, are extracted sufficiently while catechins and caffeine which cause bitterness and astringency are not extracted much. If you want to enjoy Gyokuro’s characteristic strong umami flavor, low-temperature extraction is more suitable than high-temperature extraction.

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