Saturday, December 6, 2008

2008 Na Rang Cha Jiri Mountain Yellow Tea

These dry leaves have deep, but fresh, fruity top notes. The exceptional smell of cherry in these slightly longish dark brown leaves mixed with a lighter brown type bring one deep within the tea It's no wonder 'Na Rang Cha' means 'with me tea'. From the first sniff this tea is unquestionably 'with me'.


When brewed up, the intimate brownish-yellow liquid embraces my mouth. Its juicy liquor revels its flavour to be a slightly acidic citrus apple sauce. One can also taste wild berries. This tea finishes with a sweet taste of creamy oats. This tea is complex and pretty good. Its feels juicy in the mouth but leaves the tongue feeling mossy. It targets the front of the mouth and tongue.


This tea is powerful and fast moving. It pushes one into a sweat as its energy pools in the head before descending throughout the body.


It seems to lack a definite roasted taste that is found in some Korean yellow teas but contains a woodsy creaminess that characterizes many wild Korean greens from the Jiri Mountain region. The flavour stays pretty much constant throughout many infusions. Stamina seems to be one of many strong points this tea has. Consequently, when one drinks this tea, it is 'with me' for quite a long time.

Peace

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the leaves on the leaf, such a gorgeous juxtaposition. Such a great description, I can almost savor a cup. eileen

Bret said...

The Tea looks delicious. I wish the tea,s you review were available to us readers.

Matt said...

Eileen,

Thanks for the positive feedback. These leaves are quite nice, note the wet leaves display a lot of three or two buds on one branch clusters. One was told while picked leaves in Hadong that this is the most common way to pluck the best tea leaves.

Bret,

Yes, it's quite a pity. If you ever get a chance to get your hands on some Korean tea, at least you'll have idea what to look for.

Thanks again Bret.

Peace

Anonymous said...

hey there, would you mind giving some feedback on my raku chawans i recently purchased. since you seem to be quite an expert ;)

http://zenchas.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/christmas-special-raku-chawans-from-artist-janus-gunder-bronzeart/

Soïwatter said...

Another yellow tea from Jirisan! As Eileen I find the image of the leaves on the fallen leaf fabulous. Just at the sight of the leaves you can imagine the high quality of this tea (as ever), and after reading the taste, it made me drool...

Matt said...

Zenchas,

One enjoys your new blog and will post about your beautiful raku chawans soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Soiwatter,

There is a good selection of yellow teas from Jiri mountain found in Korea. The best examples exhibit wonderful citrus, nutty, roasted, creamy, and/or chocolate tastes. This one is a touch fruity and leans toward citrus and cream. Next time you read a yellow tea review on this blog perhaps you should wear a bib so the drool doesn't get stuck in the keys. ;)

Thanks, as always, for you comments and ongoing support.

Peace