Korean Tea Classics Book Club- Dong Cha Song- Hymn In Praise of Korean Tea- 12

"With nine difficulties and four fragrances, tea is an extremely delicate affair."

from Dong Cha Song Hymn In Praise of Korean Tea translated in Korean Tea Classics

Feel free to join the online book club at anytime by simply purchasing Korean Tea Classics. Dong Cha Song is 17 stanzas in length, we will go through each stanza week by week. Jump in and join the discussion as you please.

Peace

2011 Jukro Ujeon Hwagae Valley Green Tea

This tea came with a eclectic mix of sealed 2011 Korean tea samples from Pedro of Dao Tea. Currently, he is not selling any 2011 tea, he claims that big changes are coming to his always changing tea company.

Ujeon looses its subtleties so fast- a point is made at consuming this grade first. It has been a few years since one had tried Jukro's ujeon grade so one took a nice summer afternoon to spend time with it. Upon admiring the dry leaves one noticed that they seem slightly slightly larger and stringier than usual. Perhaps its just been a while? The odour that these leaves carry is of soft wildflowers and roasted honey nut scents with a lingering odour of deep forest and suggestions of somewhat chalky chocolate in the near distance. This is a beautiful smell.

The first infusion is prepared in ceremony. A light, soft, sugar water and foresty initial taste shuffles to more forested depths before coming back with wildflower and subtle nut aftertastes. The mouthfeel in this light handed first infusion is thin and soft and coats the mouth, even thinner on the throat.

The second infusion is prepared just a slight bit stronger and is much more thick and presents first with a sweet, sugary, limey-forested-woody taste before fading into less woody but more rich forested tastes. The mouthfeel is still soft but is thicker with more goopy viscosity and nice stimulation in the mouth, a soft light stimulation of the throat.

The third infusion is more of a balance between the first and second infusion. Adjustments to the way it is prepared, neither too soft nor hard, is likely the cause. The result is a tea that is thick but watery with subtle sugary and forest inital tastes. These lighter tastes turn into deeper forest tastes and finish lighter with a sugary forest finish similar to the inital taste. The mouthfeel continues to be thick but soft. The qi is light and slightly cooling- filling ones lower body in a cool sensation. The mind is less effected.

In the fourth infusion the woody sweet sugary thick initial taste turns toward its forest tasting base. The forest taste is less leafy and green and is now starting to turn slightly wood and green. Nice wildflower depth comes out of this taste followed by a subtle sugary sweet aftertaste. There are lime and wood notes as well in the aftertaste that trail these sweeter softer tastes, adding depth in the mouth. It is a nice deep and full progression of tastes.

In the fifth infusion woody and lime notes start to crowd the sweeter softer tastes. A tangy edge develops perhaps as a result of this conflict. The once sugary and pure sweetness has gone and there is a more subtle sweetness there now. The mouthfeel remains full but is now becoming more brisk. The sweetness now is felt more in the end of the flavour profile along with modest wildflower like florals and wood tastes.

The sixth and seventh infusions are less thick and more watery with wood notes becoming more dominant. All other tastes seem to weaken a touch and converge into a tangy-wood that lingers in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel starts to become more drying.

The last, longer steeped, pots highlight wonderful watery floral tastes in a barely sweet wood base.

Link to Adam's (The Sip Tip) Tasting Notes

Peace

Hadong, South Korea- A Recognized Cittaslow, Hadong Tea- A Slow Food

Hadong, South Korea is a special place. Unlike most places in Korea its pace is, well, a lot slower. Slow enough to be recognized as an official Cittaslow, a slow city, promoting the slow food and slow movement. It is special in a sense because it is the only recognized slow tea city in the world. The contrast in the pace of life is quite stark from the rest of the country with its speed trains, tech savy population, and fast pace lifestyle. As a reaction to this almost unavoidable pace of life, Korea has done much to support the slow food and slow movement and in 2009 five slow cities in South Korea were recognized by cittaslow including the Akyang village of Hadong.

When you think of it though, all villages throughout Asia that grow and drink tea in the traditional way are, in fact, slow cities. The problem is that almost all tea areas and cities have since mechanized and/or used some sort of fertilizers/ pesticides in at least some aspect of the tea production in the area or have lost some aspect of their traditional tea culture. This is what makes Hadong so special- it is really hard to find these unnatural (and obviously so much 'faster') ways of growing and producing tea. The slow tea movement of Hadong is essentially a modern revival and trendier renaming of what is traditional growing, producing, preparation, and consumption of tea- nothing more. What is sad is that a certification agency is needed to protect and promote these things and that they are not simply protected and promoted for their own sake.

Boseong is usually the tea producing area that first comes to mind for Koreans because of its relationship with Korean pop culture. Hadong is slowly gaining national and international notoriety for exactly the opposite reasons. Handong is setting a excellent example of how tea areas, towns, and cities throughout Asia can preserve and promote their traditional tea culture.

Peace

Thanks to Alex Zorach of Alex Zorach's Tea Blog and his post on "Tea as Slow Food" and to Gingko of Life In Teacup and her post on how to enjoy tea (or noodles) in the spirit of slow food. They motivated one to put these old notes jotted down years ago into a post. Please do have a look at thier great posts for more on the subject of slow food and tea.

Double Peace

Korean Tea Classics Book Club- Dong Cha Song- Hymn In Praise of Korean Tea- 11

"I have a rock spring, so I brew Excellent Blue and A Hundred-Year Life.

How shall I offer some to Old Hae at the foot of Mongmyeok Mountain?"

from Dong Cha Song Hymn In Praise of Korean Tea translated in Korean Tea Classics

Feel free to join the online book club at anytime by simply purchasing Korean Tea Classics. Dong Cha Song is 17 stanzas in length, we will go through each stanza week by week. Jump in and join the discussion as you please.

Peace

Harmonizing Water and Tea: Part 11- Pouring Technique

This is a continuation of a discussion on pouring. See part 10- Pouring Method (here) before continuing...

Once the person making the tea decides on a boiling vessel (and type of ladle if applicable) then the next element of the pour that should be considered is the human element of the pour. There are four variables of the pouring technique that can dramatically influence the final cup of tea- the height of the pour, the forcefulness or vigor of the pour, the direction of the pour, and the intent or mindset of the person pouring the water.

The higher the pour, the more time water is in contact with air. In ancient times it was thought that the relatively heavier water would be infused with the light essence of the air thereby infusing lighter characteristics into the water. Today there is some talk of oxidizing the water, where more exposure to air imparts more oxygen into the water. Any scientists out there who want to explain this? One thing that is for sure is that as more surface area of hot water is exposed to air for a longer time, the more the water will cool in temperature. Due to these reasons a higher pour which gives the water a lighter and cooler quality naturally harmonizes better with lighter teas such as whites, greens, and greener oolong, a medium pour which moderately lightens and cools is best with Korean yellow tea and some well oxidized oolong, a low pour which retains the heat and heavier nature harmonizes best with darker, heavier teas such as red tea, and aged puerh tea.

The force and vigor of the pour will also impact the end product. This factor is often overlooked because it is not as obvious to the observer.

Extremely vigerous pour which violently jostles the leaves in the pot is thought to impart overly harsh characteristics. The resulting tea is often described as oversteeped, bitter/sour taste, and/ or harsh and choking mouthfeel. It also exhausts the leaves much faster over many infusions. On the other hand, a very gentle, trickling pour which barely stirs the leaves at all is thought to impart overly gentle/ passive characteristics. The resulting tea is often described as understeeped, watery taste, and absent mouthfeel. The person pouring water should always strive for the middle way pouring with just enough vigor to gently stirr and tumble the leaves in the teapot with the incoming stream of water. It should still be noted that deeper, heavier, darker teas harmonize best with somewhat more vigerous pouring and lighter, cooler, more subtle teas harmonize best with a relatively gentle pour. However, a very gentle pour does harmonize very nicely with the lightest most subtle teas- softly coaxing out the soft compexities and subtleties of pre qing ming dragonwell and ujeon grade green teas.

The direction of the pour should also be considered. For most cases the stream of water should be directed to the wall of the teapot (or other steeping vessel), when possible. This is to create a nice tumbling action of the leaves in the pot. When pouring directly over the leaves it can often be too harsh and bring out somewhat undesirable qualities. Pouring water directly over mellowed, aged teas such as aged puerh and black teas will not impact the final cup as much as fresher lighter teas. Still most of the time teamasters are in the habit of not pouring water directly over the leaves if the steeping vessel allows. A cooling bowl is also used from ladle to teapot to help control elements of the pour such as direction- you can see how this could be important when preparing, say a very light ujeon grade green tea.

The last, and most overlooked, element of the pour that should always be considered is the mindset of the person pouring the water, preparing the tea. Those with malicious intent, such as a tea shop owner who wishes to make one tea look better than another, will impart negative qualities into the tea whereas someone who has loving intent will make a much better tea. There are three mindsets that we will examine here- the malicious mindset, the unfocused/ or unaware mindset, and the mindful/ meditative mindset.

The malicious mindset is was mentioned above, people in this mindset also alter other elements of the method and pouring technique to bring out a bad cup of tea. This is different than someone who is maybe in a bad mood and is just not aware of it- this would fall into the second group, the unaware mindset. Whether in a good or bad mood, this is probably where most people are and so the internal environment of the person pouring the water (and preparing the tea) impacts the final product.

Truly amazing tea comes from those who have been honing their mindset for years. Often you hear stories about how a student following a teamaster for several years still cannot make the amazing pot of tea that his master can. The best teamasters go beyond just mindfulness and recite prayers, meditate, do some sort of energy manipulation, or dwell in a 'no-mind' state. These are often closely guarded secrets of teamasters that are rarely discussed but no doubt have a subtle effect on the cup of tea. Just starting with a mindful approach you will start noticing improvements in the tea you drink.

Happy pouring...

Peace

Harmonizing Water and Tea: Part 10- Pouring Method

The method and technique of pouring water into the teapot is an important factor in harmonizing water and tea. The instance when water finally embraces dry leaves is one of the junctures in preparing tea where the elements converge- a very important moment in the energetic and chemical reaction of making tea. Most often attention is payed to water temperature and steeping time and occasionally how the steeping vessel (teapot) impacts the final cup of tea. However, very little attention is payed to the pouring method and technique- the focus of today's discussion. Even though pouring method and technique are not given the attention they deserve by most people preparing tea, they are rarely overlooked by keen teamasters. The pour can make the difference between a great cup of tea and an extrordinary cup of tea.

The first thing that should be considered are the mechanics of the pour that are dictated by the boiling vessel. Water is either poured directly from the boiling vessel into the teapot (or other steeping vessel) or scooped from the boiling vessel by a ladle then poured into the teapot. Both of these create subtle differences that should be considered when preparing tea.

Water that is poured directly from the spout of the kettle or tetsubin retains more of the unadulterated essence of the boiling vessel because it doesn't come in contact with anything but air between the kettle and teapot. As a result less heat is lost with this method. Pouring water directly from a kettle or tetsubin is best used for teas requiring high temperatures such as aged puerh, black tea, and red tea.

The purity of a silver pot is also retained by pouring it directly from the spout- which is especially good for lighter, more subtle teas such as early pick green tea, white tea, and green oolong. This method of pouring retains the pure essence of the water to ensure that these pure, soft tastes can be realized.

Using a ladle to scoop water from the boiling vessel and pour it into the teapot is a method that is occasionally found in Japan and Korea. Both of these nations use a different kind of ladle which subtlety impacts the water used for tea.

In Japan a ladle is made of bamboo called a hishaku is used. Water comes in contact with the bamboo and so the taste, feel, and qi of the water is influenced. A bamboo ladle harmonizes best with matcha and green teas. Booth green tea and bamboo have similar energetic properties- they are cold thermal nature, they are of the wood element, they are green in colour, they both help harmonize the body to spring season, they act to calm the mind, ect. So the use of a bamboo ladle to scoop water from a boiling vessel is said to enhance the energetic properties of green tea. It is no coincidence that this pouring technique is done in Japan where they almost exclusively drink green tea.

In Korea a gourd ladle called a pyo choo bak is used. Water comes in contact with the gourd and so the taste, feel, and qi of the water is influenced. A gourd ladle harmonizes best with later picked green teas and especially balhyocha (Korean yellow tea). Both balhyocha and pumpkin (gourds) share similar energetic properties- they are neutral thermal nature, they are of the earth element, they are yellow in colour, they both help harmonize the body to late fall and to changes of the season, they act to center the body and mind and are good for digestion, ect. So the use of a gourd ladle to scoop water from a boiling vessel is said to enhance the energetic properties of balhyocha. It is no wonder that these scoops are used in Korea where balhyocha is produced.

A continuation of this discussion is located in Part 11- Pouring Technique (here)...

Peace

Korean Tea Classics Book Club- Dong Cha Song- Hymn In Praise of Korean Tea- 10

"Tea made in the Eastern Land is identical to the original.

In color, scent and taste it is granted the same high merit."

from Dong Cha Song Hymn In Praise of Korean Tea translated in Korean Tea Classics

Feel free to join the online book club at anytime by simply purchasing Korean Tea Classics. Dong Cha Song is 17 stanzas in length, we will go through each stanza week by week. Jump in and join the discussion as you please.

Peace