2013 Yi Ho Yeong Semi Wild Hwagae Valley Balhyocha

This tea is from a special order that took place a few months back. It was orchestrated by Arthur Park of Morning Crane Tea blog. The tea is from a rather famous tea producer, Yi Ho Yeong, who was made famous in the west by being featured in Hong Kyeong Hee and Brother Anthony’s book The Korean Way of Tea. The tea is all semi wild and produced in the most traditional way all by hand and with charcoal heat. To get more background on Yi Ho Yong and the traditional way she produces her teas see these two great posts here and here.

Dry leaves are larger, jungjak grade leaves. The emit an odor of deeper black currents and bold fermented hong cha like odors there is also an distinct malty sweetness in there as well it mingles with the deep current/ raison notes. These leaves are prepared in the Korean tea ceremony and enjoy as following…

The first infusion is full of distinct sweet honey notes which coat the mouth with other subtle tastes of deep plum and spice. The mouthfeel is mainly felt softly in the throat and slightly slippery in the mouth. It is a very full but soft sensation. There is a slight coolness found in the deep throat with this tea as the throat opens nicely and salivates.

The second infusion is more distinct now. The sweet honey notes are more prominent and now share room with deep current notes and even deeper hong cha/ forest tastes. The mouthfeel is now much more full especially in the throat where a full cool menthol like taste swells up nicely. The throat feel is distinct and quite noticeable. The qi of this tea is very harmonious and immediately lightens the mind. The qi travels to the head and makes the thoughts clear and the senses enhanced.

The third infusion levels off quite a bit with the taste elements melding into one. The most distinct being a deep sweet honey Hong cha taste. The mouth and throat feel remain present.

The fourth sees the tastes become more subdue and monotone. The taste becomes simplified here with some simple woody-red tea notes with a slight honey sweetness that reaches long into the aftertaste. The qi imparts waves of relaxation in this simply genuine balhyocha.

The fifth is pushed harder with just off boiling water and longer steeping time. It results in a slightly woody-apricot taste with a soft sweet honey-apricot finish. Overall the profile continues to be somewhat deep but there is always a measure of sweetness to balance these tastes out in the mouth.

This tea is pushed a few more infusions and enjoyed in this way.

Peace

Aged Korean Tea: Comparing Shamanic 2011 & 2013 O Juk Hun Hwagae Valley Balhyocha

Pedro of O5tea kindly gifted a 2013 and a 2011 sample of O Juk Hun's balhyocha from a personal stash from his travels in Korea last year.

Since “O Juk Hun" is not a common name in Korean tea circles so one pressed Pedro on a background story. He said that O Juk Hun is a shaman from the Hadong growing region. He ages his balhyocha in onggi, which are spread all over the hills.


This post will give readers a bit of an idea of how balhyocha will age. Previous tastings of aged balhyocha was not that exciting (see here and here).


2013 O Juk Hun Balhyocha:

The very tinny, delicate dry leaves have a very light and distinctly sweet plum and raison odor. The smell is powerfully fruity and almost perfume sweet. These are most definitely ujeon picked leaves.

These leaves are steeped in warm water and deliver very light, almost watery sweet fruity notes. The fruity notes seem to evolve and change from plums notes to more tropical notes. There are some forest notes suggestions in there as well. There is a creamy, almost chalk, mouthfeel which coats the mouth and upper throat. The aftertaste develops an almond milk type of note then minutes later again evolves into fruit. The qi is felt pooling in the abdomen.

The second infusion starts with a slightly creamy, orange-juicy, almost wood like taste with creamy fruit tastes acting as a base. These perfume-like, almost ylang-ylang, fruity tastes stretch out into the aftertaste. The end taste carries a slightly deeper, light juicy-wood taste.

The third starts watery and fruity but develops slightly bland wood-forest undertones. The mouthfeel is soft and slightly sticky and chalky. Slight fruit tastes stick in the mouth. A longer fruity wood taste drags out.

The fourth is again displaying a watery-woody-fruity taste. The mouthfeel holds as the flavors become more monotone but still flavorful. There is a longer aftertaste over the sticky mouthfeel- more fruit than wood in the aftertaste now.

The fifth is much the same but with smoother woodier, still sweet, forest notes becoming more distinct over the fruit notes.

The sixth was steeped longer with water a short time off boil and just pushed more wood dominated tastes out. The qi is mild and makes the chest feel slightly light.

The seventh was a long steeping with woody-sweet, barely-deep fruit tastes. Much the same.

2011 O Juk Hun Balhyocha:

These leaves a bit larger than the 2013 O Juk Hun likely saejak grade leaves. These leaves have a deeper, more purple hue to them as well. The dry leaves smell of deep, rich, heavy raison and carry a slight smell of library books, that which you would expect in a 10 years aged puerh. Examining the dry leaves I would never suspect these were the same teas 3 years removed.

The first infusion is a watery, slightly malty sweet flavor. That carries dusty aged tastes along for the ride. The most prominent taste is a currant/raison taste that sticks to the breathe. The mouthfeel is very watery and thin here.

The second delivers sweet, malty fruit tastes, with deeper tastes of currant/raison filling in the base taste of this tea. There is still an aged- library book like taste faintly dragging along the taste profile. The mouthfeel is very thin and is mainly realized in the front of the mouth.

The third gives off a watery, almost juicy fruity, initial taste. It is somewhat supported by the faint currant/raison tastes. The taste finishes dusky and slightly dry in the mouth. Overall the taste is very watery and fairly monotone. The qi of this tea moves in the abdomen slightly.

The fourth infusion is very bland, almost tasting like a standard watered down black CTC tea. It has some watered down suggestions of malt fruit or currants in the background. The mouthfeel dries out the tongue. There was still a stale note of aged tastes in there as well.

The fifth was much the same under a longer infusion.


Conclusion: These teas seemed like they were produced using different grade leaves. The 2013 pick earlier, ujeon grade, where the 2011 look like saejak or even early jungjak grade. Even with this difference aging of 3 years doesn't seem to give balhyocha any depth, instead as noted before the taste, texture, and qi of the tea seems diminished. This is similar to the conclusions reached in the past.

Thanks again Pedro for this interesting aging experience.

Peace

2013 Kim Jong Yeol (Butea) Balhyocha "Saebyok" (Sunrise) Hwagae Valley Balhyocha

What is "Sunset" without "Sunrise"?


This is another seasonal favorite from producer Kim Jong Yeol through Pedro's O5tea of Vancouver.

These dry leaves smell of sweet creamy, subtly sweet, and even slightly musty milk chocolate.

The first infusion is light, sweet, has a slight fruity/vegital suggestion which turns into slight notes of coco. It all ends with a long cool aftertaste in the middle throat overlapping the coco base taste. The tongue has a slight tingle to it with this tea, the taste really opens in the throat. The feeling on the tongue is slightly sticky as it coats the mouth but also tingling. There is a certain fresh, brisk, crispness to this tea a balance between fresh and cool and grounding and chocolate. The qi is immediately relaxing.

The second infusion starts with a rich, creamy, sweet, and cool coco nuance which has a slight taste of mango in it. This initial taste gives more room to a creamy rich slightly deeper coco tastes in the end mixed with cool menthol tastes. The mouth, tongue, and throat is coated in a thick mouthfeel which flavours cling to.

The third is much the same, the mouthfeel and throatfeel is more full now. There is a mango fruit edge in very creamy coco tastes. In this infusion a base creamy wood taste is just barely noticeable now.

The fourth is a touch of caramel and wood now with creamy almost papya coco edges over a thick mouthfeel. The cool menthol has weakened a bit now. The mouthfeel remains strong and supports these wonderful flavours.

The fifth is quite woody now with a very nice full mouthfeel. There are some suggestion of sweet fruit but much of the flavour depth has faded now. There are sweet, floral notes that appear now as well, adding to the interesting depth of this balhyocha. A very noticable cooling menthol finish also hold.

This tea is taken for a few more infusions and even enjoyed in an overnight steeping... MMMmmmm.

Peace

2013 Kim Jung Yeol (Butea) "Noeul" (Sunset) Hwagae Valley Balhyocha

The Saskatchewan winter this year has been the coldest in decades even yesterday it was snowing. To help the body harmonize to this unnatural cold one has been consuming tons of balhyocha, Korean yellow tea (Hwang cha). Over then next few weeks I hope to review some of these interesting teas- some seasonal favorites while others are brand new experiences.


This is a balhyocha that one looks forward to every year (here is a review of last year's). This is the second bag of this stuff via my good friend Pedro of O5tea consumed through this bitterly cold winter. Seems to be just the right tea on some of these sunny, frigid days.

The dry leaves fill the room with thick, distinct, creamy, milky, deep-sweet chocolate odors. 

The first infusion is full of this flavor- sweet, creamy, milky chocolate notes. There is a slight cool coco after taste deep in the throat. The flavor is long and lingers on the tongue and deep in the mouth. The mouthfeel is thin but fully coats the mouth, tongue, and deep throat.

The second is much more full in the mouth with its coating slightly sticky in the throat and tongue. There is much the same delicious creamy-chocolately full base taste but now with more wood-peanut notes underneath.

The third has initial tones of banana and slight pear fruit tastes which share space with chocolate. Wood and peanut support these tastes to add a layered nuance to this tea. A slight cool aftertaste is noted in the throat with peanut and wood notes stuck to the tongue. This tea imparts a nice deep relaxing feeling and is quite uplifting even on the coldest of cold days. The digestive system feels supported and warm, like a nice comforting hug.

The fourth has a mild, creamy, woody taste with much of the dense creamy chocolate tastes dropping off now. There is a nice balance of wood and coco now with more of a flat and stable taste profile. Even the cool throat feel has diminished a bit. The mouthfeel is full and thin slightly sticky still.

The fifth is much the same under a longer steeping time. There are more distinct chocolately notes now as the tea is push a little longer here to almost one minute infusions.

The sixth is cloaked in chocolate notes once again.

Peace