Gyokuro 2

 2 months ago I posted about trying gyokuro. It's hard to believe it was that long ago. If you watched the video I linked in my first post all the way to the end, you will know what is coming today. Eating tea. According to Don, the tradition is to eat the spent tea leaves with a sprinkling of lemon juice and soy sauce IF the leaves are organic. Since my bag of tea has the magic word on it, I decided to give it a try after brewing some tea. First I tried them plain. 

My first impression is that they really didn't have a discernable flavor. I thought maybe that was because I had just finished drinking the brew of the leaves, and that my taste buds were accommodated to the flavor. I covered them and put them in the fridge to see how they would taste after I got the taste of tea out of my mouth. Tasting #2 still had no flavor. 

I actually have a bottle of tamari rather than soy sauce, and bottled lemon since I have a habit of not using the real ones up very fast if I do feel like purchasing one. The reality for the leaves I have is that they are a carrier for other flavors rather than adding any flavor themselves. Don did warn that the leaves still contain caffeine, so I limited my tastings to early in the day. He recommended eating the leaves over rice (too many carbs), or on a salad (didn't feel compelled to put wet, tasteless except for the condiments leaves over other leaves that do have some flavor). I think I will stick to drinking the tea on this one.