Emperor’s Choice - Pearl Dew Tea

Handpicked by the Emperor of Japan’s personal Uji tea maker, our limited edition ‘pearl dew’ (gyokuro) green tea is of the very finest provenance.

Such a tea is rarely available outside Japan but we are pleased to offer this superlative loose leaf tea to our most discriminating customers.

The exquisite taste and aroma of Emperor’s Choice require leaves of the highest quality. Grown at a small tea garden near Kyoto, the delicate leaves are screened from the early spring sun to increase their sweet mellowness and remove any trace of bitterness from the final tea.

But before this exquisite gyokuro is ready for drinking, itundergoes the most rigorous preparation, each stage carefully adjusted to suit the season’s weather.

The master tea-maker treats the leaves with high temperature steam and cools them, before carrying out a leaf by leaf check for damaged leaves and twigs.

A final hand-rubbing (itazuri) eliminates most of the high water content characteristic of Uji leaves. But in order to avoid damaging this tea’s remarkable delicacy, water of only 40 º C. is required to bring out its flavour and distinctive greenish-gold liquor.

From the pinnacle of Japanese tea making, it's a tea fit for the very finest of occasions

Dragonfly teas visits the Emperor’s Tea Maker, Mr Yamashita, in Kyoto.

It takes 10 years to become a master tea maker in Japan, and the famous Mr Yamashita is said to be one of only three who still roll their tea by hand.

The tea is so delicate and delicious it can be eaten (yes, eaten!). We were offered a taste with ponzu sauce, a lovely soya sauce and citrus mix.

Article about Bruce Ginsberg in Kyoto local newspaper