Umami-rich, marine-green, deeply vegetal. Gyokuro smells like concentrated shade-grown chlorophyll — sweeter and more oceanic than sencha, with a brothy depth.
Deeply vegetal, marine-green, with an umami richness unusual in botanical scents. Less bitter than sencha, more oceanic than matcha. The dimethyl sulfide note gives it a faintly seaweed-like, brothy quality. Like steaming a bowl of gyokuro in a tatami room — green, quiet, deeply concentrated.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Vegetal green burst, marine-oceanic, umami depth
After a few hours
After a few hours
Softer green, less marine, quiet warmth
After a few days
After a few days
Faint green tea residue, clean, barely there
Terroir & Transformation
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Gyokuro is Japan's most prized green tea, shade-grown for 20+ days before harvest. The shading forces the plants to produce strengthens levels of L-theanine (an amino acid responsible for umami flavor) and chlorophyll, while reducing catechins (which cause bitterness). The result is a tea with an intensely vegetal, marine, almost seaweed-like arom a.
The volatile profile is dominated by dimethyl sulfide (marine, oceanic), cis-3-hexenol (green, leafy), and linalool (floral, slightly citrus). The dimethyl sulfide content — unusually high for a tea — gives gyokuro its characteristic ocean-green quality.
Gyokuro cultivation is centered in Uji (Kyoto Prefecture), Yame (Fukuoka Prefecture), and Okabe (Shizuoka Prefecture). Only about 0.3% of Japan's tea production is gyokuro.
In perfumery, gyokuro tea provides a specific green tea note that is richer, more vegetal, and more marine than standard green tea accords. It suggests shade, stillness, and Japanese terroir.
This note in Première Peau. Simili Mirage · Gravitas Capitale. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Gyokuro contains approximately five times more L-theanine than standard sencha — this amino acid crosses the blood-brain barrier and promotes alpha-wave activity, which is associated with a calm, focused mental state.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: No specific gyokuro extraction exists for perfumery. Green tea absolute (from Camellia sinensis) is the closest commercial product. The distinct dimethyl sulfide character of gyokuro would need to be supplemented synthetically to achieve the specific shade-grown profile. CO2 extraction of green tea retains more of the marine-vegetal volatiles.
Gyokuro tea is a fantasy note — no specific gyokuro extract exists for perfumery. Reconstructed using green tea absolute (Camelli a sinens is), marine notes (dimethyl sulfide analogues, Calone), and vegetal green materials (cis-3-hexenol). Functions as a clean green heart note in Japanese-inspired compositions, meditative accords, and marine-green fragrances. Provides a more specific, umami-rich green tea character than generic green tea accords.
