Korean green tea... not quite green?

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


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Jun 27th, '11, 02:53
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Korean green tea... not quite green?

by Bakkoi » Jun 27th, '11, 02:53

I'm looking to get into Korean green tea. I know absolutely nothing about it, so...!

I was looking at http://www.hankooktea.com/tea/green-tea.html to get some. But for the teas available that actually have pictures of the leaves, they look dark brown, and nothing at all like green tea. It looks more like black tea.

Can someone explain this? And perhaps give me a quick crash course on Korean tea?

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Jun 27th, '11, 05:31
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by Tead Off » Jun 27th, '11, 05:31

In most cases, you are not going to get accurate color on the web. More importantly, you are not going to be able to know which are the teas that you are going to like and are good quality without recommendations or being able to taste first hand.

3 qualities of green tea are:
Ujeon-first pick. Expensive.
Sejak-2nd pick. More affordable and where you should start.
Jungjak-3rd pick. Even more affordable but start with sejak.

Hwagae Valley and its surrounding area, Hadong, generally produce the best teas. But, there are good teas from other areas, too.

If you are in N. America, you can try Dao Teas. I have tasted the teas they carry while in Korea, meeting the tea masters that made them. They will have fresh 2011 tea. Start here so you will be assured of getting high quality tea with which you can compare future purchases with.

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Jun 27th, '11, 08:13
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by AdamMY » Jun 27th, '11, 08:13

As much as I hate to talk bad about any tea company, I do not believe Hankook offers quality product, other than their teaware. Lack of harvest information, and teas that generally taste stale has me wonder.

That being said I do recommend Dao Tea, I actually placed an order with them yesterday. A few things to note, due to a horrible winter in Korea tea prices are exceptionally high, and the owner of Dao Tea decided not to stock 2011 Sejak. But Dao Tea might be in the process of sourcing some newer teas, and you can always contact the owner and see what he recommends.

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Jun 27th, '11, 11:46
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by Tead Off » Jun 27th, '11, 11:46

but, they list 2011 sejak on their website. Not expensive, imo.

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Jun 27th, '11, 13:52
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by AdamMY » Jun 27th, '11, 13:52

Tead Off wrote:but, they list 2011 sejak on their website. Not expensive, imo.
Are we talking about two different Dao Tea's?

Where does it say it is 2011?

Jun 27th, '11, 15:38
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by oeroe » Jun 27th, '11, 15:38

I have tasted some Korean greens, I believe they were ordered from Shan Shui Teas ( http://www.shanshuiteas.com/, they aren't having any of '11 though). They all had something to do with Chinese flavour profile, while being somewhat similar to Japanese greens. Based on a single tasting I would consider Saejak and Joongjak to be quite "normal" green teas, somewhat like Sencha and Bancha, for example are normal. Ujeon/woojeon was something entirely else, similarly to Gyokuro. Not that it tasted to same, but it was somehow entirely different from those other categories. Better, finer but also entirely different.
Based on this, I would recommend getting a small batch of Ujeon as well, if you're ordering some Saejak.

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Jun 27th, '11, 15:57
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by woozl » Jun 27th, '11, 15:57

I've tried Trekker's saejak. Tasty stuff,
Kinda in between Chinese greens and Japanese greens.
I know he has some '11 on the way.
http://www.teatrekker.com/shop/green/other-regions/

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Jun 27th, '11, 18:53
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by Bakkoi » Jun 27th, '11, 18:53

Wow, plethora of responses. I'm disappointed that Hankook isn't well liked, as their website looked very promising... hopefully their tires are better than their tea?

The Korean brewing 'egg' looks like a miraculous combination of a gaiwan and a kyusu. It looks much more convenient than either as well for solo tea drinking.

Now that I have a better handle on where to get Korean tea, my next question: where can I buy quality Korean teaware? Hankook's selection doesn't thrill me.

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Jun 27th, '11, 19:28
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by AdamMY » Jun 27th, '11, 19:28

More and more options for Quality Korean teaware are becoming available. For one, Tead Off under his topic in TeaMerchandiser is sourcing some Korean Teaware. I have not checked lately but I believe most of it is from one of our Teaware Artisans on the forum, Song-il, who is a wonderful artist, that produces wonderful pieces.

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Jun 27th, '11, 21:22
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by debunix » Jun 27th, '11, 21:22

Ive enjoyed green tea and loved hwang cha from Hankook, purchased this past year. Its the only Korean green tea I've had, so I can't say how it compares to the stuff others have mentioned here, but I can say I drank t and enjoyed it and will get more of the hwang cha for sure. The comments here make me wary of carrying out my other plan of buying a sample of their top quality green at the same time.

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Jun 27th, '11, 23:35
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by Tead Off » Jun 27th, '11, 23:35

Dao Tea is the only N. American vendor outside of Korea who is operating with his finger on the pulse of this year's harvest that I know of. In EU, Daniel, the owner of Darjeeling.cz, is also hooked into Korea and may have some current offerings.

The reason I recommend Dao is because they are buying from whom I consider to have the best teas after tasting dozens of ujeon and sejak teas as well as Balhyocha tea. Their teas are representative of what Korean green is all about.

Tea Trekker in N. America, and East/Postcard Teas in London, have carried tea from Dongcheon farm in Hwagae Valley. I have found this tea to be a bit on the roasted side that will bring out more flavor but is different than the way most tea masters make their tea.

Buying from Korea is not easy as their websites are almost untranslatable unless you have a Korean friend to help you.

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Jun 27th, '11, 23:52
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by debunix » Jun 27th, '11, 23:52

If you do have a Korean friend to help you.....a Korean friend who enjoys tea, even.....do you have any sites to recommend?

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Jun 28th, '11, 09:11
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by Tead Off » Jun 28th, '11, 09:11

You can try www.woomungtea.com and there is another one called butea but I can't find their address.

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Jun 29th, '11, 23:02
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by Tead Off » Jun 29th, '11, 23:02

I found the link to the other vendor I think has top Korean tea.

www.butea.co.kr They had the best Balhyocha I've tried.

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Jun 29th, '11, 23:05
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Re: Korean green tea... not quite green?

by debunix » Jun 29th, '11, 23:05

Now to find some time to ask my friend about those sites.....

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