[Review] Maiko Tea - Award-winning gyokuro from Kyoto

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Maiko Tea is likely the most Japanese of Japanese tea companies that I’ve reviewed to date. That’s because in addition to being most renowned for its award-winning gyokuro (Japan’s rarest and most expensive green tea), Maiko Tea is headquartered in the historic heart of premium Japanese tea, Uji.

There are a few more nuggets that make Maiko Tea stand out from other Japanese tea brands that I’ll jump into below.

Luckily the company ships to international tea drinkers, so Maiko Tea sent me a few of their favorites to try. To truly experience the company’s bread and butter, I reviewed Maiko Tea’s set of 5 gyokuro.

Yamashita’s Gyokuro “5 High-Quality Gyokuro Set” ($19)

About Maiko Tea

Maiko Tea has been around well over 50 years but has only sold internationally since 2005. In addition to winning countless awards from the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Japan, the company is also a 5 time winner for the outstanding condition of the company's books and records, recognized by the Uji Tax Auditors Office.

The current representative of Maiko Tea is Masayasu Tamiya, who’s the 3rd generation to lead. His strength is an incredible ability to blend leaves from different harvests and fields to achieve consistent blends of a desired quality and flavor.

About Maiko Tea’s teas

While Maiko Tea sells the classic spread of Japanese green tea, matcha, and teaware, they are most well-known across Japan and through their awards for gyokuro. In fact, Maiko Tea’s location in Kyotanabe is called the capital of gyokuro. In 1998, the company also opened a teahouse and cafe in the center of the city called "Maiko Cha Boutique.”

The man behind Maiko Tea’s celebrated gyokuro is Toshikazu Yamashita, a tea master who’s overseen production from start to finish of a perfected process that even gained him recognition from Japan’s Prime Minister. This gyokuro production is uniquely done entirely by hand and is so time consuming that only a few kilograms are produced annually. This exceptional quality ensures that the same tea leaves can be steeped up to 4-5 times, while the norm for gyokuro is about 3.

This special gyokuro is described as having a particularly condensed sweet taste and gentle flavor. Maiko Tea has an exclusive partnership to wholesale Yamashita’s gyokuro, meaning you won’t taste it anywhere else.

Reviewing Maiko Tea’s gyokuro

I received 5 types of gyokuro to sample, each with their own slightly different tasting notes. I am by no means a super taster or tea nuisance connoisseur, so I admittedly couldn’t pick up on the delicate subtleties.

However, a rather fun fact is that the former Emperor of Japan and his wife drank Maiko Tea’s Yashiki Gyokuro in London, England in 2007. Why the tea was in London—I’m not quite sure!

I find that gyokuro is probably the toughest green tea to steep right, but cold brewing eliminates all the guesswork and extracts the best possible flavor. I cold brewed one of the gyokuro types and did a normal steep with my kyusu for others.

Gyokuro is already super umami as is, but there was something about Maiko Tea’s that was even umami-er, if that’s even possible. It tasted like umami syrup, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but definitely a strong contender for all the gyokuro lovers out there.

Learn more about Maiko Tea on their website: maikotea.jp

Gyokuro provided by Maiko Tea for review.

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about the author

Hello, is it tea you’re looking for? Raquel is an Arizona-based tea drinker who writes about tea as a side hobby. Her current favorites are Earl Grey with a splash of milk and any Japanese green tea.