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    SILLORIA

    Ingredient Profile

    Gyokuro fragrance note

    A premium shade-grown Japanese green tea distilled into a sweet, deep, umami-rich fragrance note that captures the essence of Japan's most r…More

    Japan

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    Fragrances featuring Gyokuro

    Gyokuro by The Merchant of Venice
    Best Seller
    4.2

    Gyokuro

    The Merchant of Venice

    Character

    The Story of Gyokuro

    A premium shade-grown Japanese green tea distilled into a sweet, deep, umami-rich fragrance note that captures the essence of Japan's most revered tea.

    Heritage

    Gyokuro originated in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture during the 1830s when tea farmers discovered that covering tea plants with reed screens before harvest dramatically enhanced their flavor. Originally called "Oyugachi," the tea earned its current name meaning "jewel dew" for the way shaded leaves glistened like precious drops. Japanese nobility cherished gyokuro as a luxury reserved for the imperial court and shogunate, and it remains Japan's most expensive and coveted tea. The tea's emergence coincided with Kyoto's golden age as a cultural center, where the refined ceremony of gyokuro preparation became intertwined with Japanese aesthetics. In contemporary perfumery, gyokuro represents the sophisticated intersection of Japanese culinary tradition and Western fragrance artistry, capturing the contemplative spirit of chanoyu (tea ceremony) in liquid form.

    At a Glance

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    Origin

    Japan

    Primary source region

    Ingredient Details

    Extraction

    Accord / CO2 extraction

    Used Parts

    Dried tea leaves (shade-grown)

    Did You Know

    "Gyokuro plants grow under shade covers for 20+ days before harvest, producing up to 100 times more L-theanine amino acids than unshaded tea."

    Production

    How Gyokuro Is Made

    Gyokuro's aromatic profile in perfumery typically comes from carefully constructed accords that replicate the tea's signature sweet, deep, marine-tinged character. The shade-growing process produces distinctive compounds including L-theanine, which contributes the characteristic umami depth, along with volatile compounds like hexanal for fresh green notes and linalool for subtle floral warmth. CO2 supercritical extraction can capture the tea's aromatic essence when natural materials are used, preserving the delicate sweet-grass and marine quality. Fragrance houses often layer natural tea extracts with precision-crafted aromachemicals to achieve the complex sweet, deep, slightly oceanic profile that defines high-quality gyokuro accords. The result is a nuanced ingredient that brings a refined, clean, and deeply satisfying green tea character to fragrance compositions.

    Provenance

    Japan

    Japan35.0°N, 135.8°E

    About Gyokuro