Japanese Green Tea Stores In Chicago

[Alton B Wilson]

Hello all,

I am visiting Chicago for a couple of days and wanted to pick up some
Gyokoru. Does anyone know of tea stores (something other than a
Teavana) in Chicago selling Japanese greens?

Thanks in advance,

Alton

[Space Cowboy]

I like the Gyokuro from Teavana just as much as any other that I
have. It is a quill like irradiance emerald green with typical sweet
aroma and mild sour taste. I could point you to a Japanese commercial
area where I live. You might find a high grade commercial Gyokuro put
the pickins would be slim. Almost any place that calls themselves a
tea shoppe carries a Gyokuro. The one from my local tea shoppe is OK.

Jim

[Alton B Wilson]

Jim,

I bought 2 ounces of Gyokuro from my local Teavana, where I live. The
first cup of tea I made was excellent. Then I started playing around
with brewing methods and haven't got back to where I started, and
every cup since the first has not been good, or at least good to me.
I think with the first cup, I used aabout 2 teaspoons of tea, water @
165- 170F and brewed for 45 - 50 seconds, that is in 310 ml of water.
This is pretty close to the instructions on the Teavana bag, when I
bought it. However, when I make a second, third or fourth cup, to me,
it never tastes as good as the first cup. Also, how long do you keep
the leaves around, after they have been infused? For example, if you
make a couple of cups on a Monday, would you reuse those same leaves
on the following Wednesday or Thursday? Do you make any special
effort to dry the leaves or store them in between uses?

Thanks,

Alton

[Space Cowboy]

These are my brewing parameters: teaspoon/100ml/2m/off boil. Japanese
teas can take the heat. They dont stand up to multiple infusions due
to the typical sliver grading. The taste of the tea comes through
when drank slightly less than hot. I purposely use a couple of sips
to coat the tongue before the gulps. My local tea shoppes sells an
Emperor Sencha Gyokuro grade. That covers the bases. It brews murky
like a Sencha tasting more sour than sweet. I would put it a step
behind the taste and clarity from Teavana.

Jim

PS As a general rule I dont save spent green leaves. I occasionally
top them off with tap water and drink whatever I get many hours
later. I usually do this doing the summer months for the heat of the
day. If it is a beautiful whole leaf green Ill sometimes use them for
a salad. Look at my previous post how to use Google maps to locate a
tea shoppe close to where you are staying. It will show places not in
the phone book.

On Nov 30, 9:23 pm, Alton B Wilson <vinyladd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 30, 9:16 am, Space Cowboy <netst...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> > I like the Gyokuro from Teavana just as much as any other that I
> > have.
>