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Heavenly Gyokuro is hand-picked just outside of Uji, Japan. Our friend Tsuyoshi uses tea from the Ujitawara and Kyotanbe mountains. This area of central Japan is known to have the best shade-grown Gyokuro. The plants gradually receive cover towards the end of the growing season. This stress forces the plant to react by adding more green-appearing chlorophyll. The combination of mouth-filling umami and a very distinctive spinach-like aroma is what makes this tea heavenly. Uji, located 30 minutes south of Kyoto, is the primary location for growing Gyokuro. To meet the demands of the Emperor and other members of the aristocracy, there were large tea fields and many tea factories built around Kyoto. The twilight of the Edo era saw the commercialization of shade-grown teas.