Balhyocha

[Firemoss]

What kind of tea is this?
I recently purchased from Dao Tea 50g of balhyocha by Kim Shin Ho and also by Kim Jong Yeol. (The KJY balhyocha was dee-licious! It's slightly more roasted and the flavors more pronounced. But both were very good.)
The site says balyocha is a "yellow tea". Why? To me it tasted like a black tea with oolong notes. I've also read it described as a green tea. I'm confused. Any info would be most appreciated. Thanks!

(Off topic: I've tried Kim Shin Ho's sejak and Wen Xingzhou's semi-wild long jing style green, and the gorgeous chocolatey-chamomile tasting herbal wild suk by Kim Jong Yeol... all teas I'd buy again. Dao Tea has become a favorite.)

[debunix]

I've seen the same general class of tea described as oolong, and it does remind me of some very deeply oxidized but very lightly roasted oolongs--rich and fruity and sweet, utterly without bitterness like a black tea. But when I posted about it in the 'what oolong are you drinking' topic, it was clear that this is a tea that doesn't fit easily into any of the usual traditional categories--which are based on Chinese traditional processing, not Korean or Japanese.

[AdamMY]

Said so much better than I ever could:

http://mattchasblog.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... paryo.html

http://mattchasblog.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... yo_16.html

http://mattchasblog.blogspot.com/2011/1 ... paryo.html

Balhyocha is one of my favorite types of teas, but it is incredibly odd. As Debunix says it doesn't quite fall into any clear cut category when going by the Chinese Standards. Although it is called a Yellow tea in Korea, so I tend to call it a Yellow tea personally.

[wyardley]

I think it's a yellow tea in Korean terms, but not sure whether it qualifies as a yellow in Chinese terms; in any event, it's a fairly oxidized tea, but, as I understand it, the processing is different from an oolong, so even though some of the Korean tea companies package it as "oolong" for the foreign market, I don't think it is exactly that.

I have really enjoyed the partially oxidized Korean teas I've had, both in loose and compressed form. The ones I've had tend to be smooth, and there is often a pleasant, mildly earthy, straw type taste.

[debunix]

I think calling it balhyocha makes most sense, as it's very different from the yellow chinese teas I've had too.

By any name, it's great stuff.

[Firemoss]

Thanks so much for these replies, everyone. And especially the links, Adam.
I think I'm starting to wrap my head around this tea a little more.
And anyway, it's delicious...whatever it is.