2021 Kim Jong Yeol Saejak

 

It’s been a busy few months for me and my family … all good kind of busyness … but still so busy that it’s been at least a month since I’ve had given myself the time for a mindful gongfu session or an attentive evaluation session of tea.  It’s been years since I had such a long drought.  I assure you I am still throwing back lots of nice mug steepings and weeks long, a few steeps a day, sessions with some nice tea though.  Although I have naturally cut my caffeine/ tea intake in half, I feeling more alert and productive and not as stoned off of all that chaqi…. Hahaha…

One of my last nice gongfu sessions I had months ago was with an old favourite of mine- Kim Jong Yeol’s sejak.  I ended up purchasing some of this delicious stuff and a bunch of other Japanese green teas at the request of my better half while she is going through a green tea phase these days.  I ordered some from Pedro’s O5Tea outfit in Vancouver.

Me and Pedro go back a while so he kindly sent some complimentary samples of Japanese bancha free with my order.  Pedro knows I have a passion for traditionally/folk processed teas.  If you read the early blog entries you can see me exploring these in Korea at a time when those outside of Korea has never heard of such things.  However, I don’t have too much experience with Japanese bancha.  However, I always marvel at the deep and interesting tastes that come out of bancha. Pedro’s passion for Bancha is leading him to produce a documentary on traditional processed Japanese bancha.  If you are interested in this sort of thing you should contact him.

Anyways here is some brief but very satisfying notes on the 2021 Kim Jong Yeol Saejak...

Dry leaves have a deep sweet evergreen forest almost nutty edge.

The first infusion 30 seconds has a nutty sweet forest taste that goes into evergreen with a long expanding fresh nutty vibrant minty creamy sweetness.

2^nd has a sweet aqua cucumber forest green taste slight nutty finish with an evergreen like freshness.  Lingering sweet creamy evergreen forest in the mouth.  Nice clear alert and focused Qi.

3^rd infusion has a woodier onset with creamy sweet evergreen and more distinct roasted notes.  There is a subtle wood and cool aftertaste with an underlying roasted sweetness.

4^th is a woody and evergreeny with creamy woody creamy finish.  More of a cohesive together evergreen taste.

5^th has a more upfront vibrant green roast asparagus and evergreen sweetness.

The bag didn't last long in our house and was shared with friends...

The one thing that struck me the most with these sessions was how much ability I lost in evaluating Korean green tea with such a long absence from tasting.

If you don’t use it, you loose it.

Peace

(Finally) Good Outcomes with Aging Korean Balhyocha

Over the holidays I hosted some friends some of which knew a bit about Korean tea.  I decided to open a sealed airtight foil bag of 2013 Kim Jong Yeol Noeul balhyocha (aka Korean Yellow Tea) which was sealed by vendor Pedro at 05Tea shortly after production in 2013.  You can read my initial impression on this deeper roasted and more oxidized balhyocha tea here.  I had just read Cwyn N’s disappointing assessment of her favorite balhyocha, a 2017 Jeon Jae Yeun after 3 years of being aged in a sealed foil bag I do believe.  In that post titled "Never Too Soon" she implied that you probably want to drink up your favorite balhyocha fresh than age it out.  I was not feeling super optimistic but thought it would be fun to open a bag of this..

Although I have some very limited experience with aged Balhyocha I have never tried something this aged before.  To see a history of some thoughts on aging balhyocha, a tea that has no real history of being aged, see some of my previous posts here.

The experience I had with this aged 2013 Balhyocha was a good one… It had some mild coco or chocolate notes, not at all as robust as when fresh, but what was really notable and pretty amazing was the long lingering fruity floral finish which wasn’t there in my initial tasting notes.  It was quite good and the guests really enjoyed the experience and noted the long fruity aftertaste as being quite refined.  This was a bit of a surprise because my previous experience with a few years aged balhyocha wasn’t as exciting as this one and in some ways close in sentiment to Cwyn’s finding.  These are a few of the theories I’m floating as to why this 2013 Kim Jong Yeol Balhyocha Noeul (aka “Sunset”) Balhyocha seemed to age better…

First, this one was air tight sealed some of the others, I’m sure, were aged in Oongi (Korean Ceramics that are specifically used to ferment food).

Second, this balhyocha was more roasted and oxidized than most balhyocha.  Balhyocha is roasted and oxidized on a spectrum and this one is farther than most on the roasted and oxidized side.  The only other almost as old balhyocha which I sampled was this Zeda 2006 sampled in 2011 which was a much lighter oxidized and not roasted balhyocha that was probably aged in Ongii- the outcome is quite different.

Thirdly, this balhyocha has been aged longer potentially surpassing an awkward stage of aging.  I would guess this could be a factor as it often occurs with many aged tea such as hongcha and puerh between 3-5 years.  During this time you might be better off re-roasting balhyocha like this sample of 4 years aged and re-roasted Kim Jong Yeol Balhyocha.

Fourthly, this balhyocha uses mainly second and third flush leaves which might give it more depth In aging than a more delicate ujeon or first flush leaf such as its pair the 2013 Kim Jong Yeol “sunrise” balhyocha.

 Anyways, I have to post some more detailed notes on this balhyocha … but for now I would just like to float the idea that if you don’t consume all of your fresh balhyocha within 2 years, and the package is still sealed, you might be better off being a bit more patient and letting it age a handful more years before opening the foil pack and consuming.  Otherwise, you actually might be opening the package a bit too soon.

After all, you know how the saying goes…

Good things come to those who wait.

Peace

Tastes of a Real Korean Teamaster- Group Buy Kim Jong Yeol Balhyocha

I got an email recently that stated:

 Dear Tea Friend,

If you follow Morning Crane Tea on Facebook, you already know that I am making a very special tea offer.  Kim Jong Yeol is one of Korea’s finest artisan tea producers yet only two of his teas have ever been offered in the West.  To correct this, we made a special arrangement and are able, for this TeaBuy only, to offer six of his amazing teas at prices much lower than my normally discounted prices.  If you have tried his teas before, you know the exceptional quality of the teas he produces.  If not here is an unprecedented opportunity. 

Master Kim uses large nearly wild bushes organically grown with deep roots. They are hand plucked and hand processed by the master himself insuring outstanding quality.  This special offer ends December 9^th at midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the USA.  Most teas will be shipped from the USA but If you are closer to Korea, we can ship directly to you.  Our goal is to get these teas to you in December.

If you are a tea company and want to purchase wholesale, these are our wholesale prices unless you buy by the kilo that would reduce the price slightly.

This is an unprecedented opportunity and another one of our tea offers from which we will make very little profit.  Morning Crane Tea is an educational enterprise not a tea company.

Please respond with your order to morningcranetea(at)sbcglobal.net.

Peace,

Arthur K. J. Park

Morning Crane Tea

I just wanted to re-iterate how epic Kim Jong Yeol’s Korean tea is and what a special opportunity this is to try Korean tea at prices below what you would actually pay in Korea.

If anyone out there is interested in what Kim Jong Yeol’s teas are all about please feel free to browse this stack of old posts on his teas that go back to his 2009 selection:

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2014/04/2013-kim-jong-yeol-butea-balhyocha.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2013/05/aged-korean-tea-reroasted-four-years.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2013/09/2013-kim-jong-yeol-butea-saejak-hwagae.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2012/08/2012-kim-jong-yeol-butea-saejak-hwagae.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2012/10/2012-kim-jong-yeol-butea-noeul-sunset.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2011/09/2011-kim-jong-yeol-butea-hwagae-valley.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2011/12/2011-kim-jong-yeol-butea-jungjak-hwagae.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2012/06/2011-kim-jong-yeol-butea-manri-hyans.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2011/10/2011-kim-jong-yeol-butea-saebyeok.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2010/04/2009-dao-tea-kim-jong-yeol-hwagae.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2010/10/dao-tea-tasting-event-20092010-kim-jong.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2010/11/dao-tea-tasting-event-2010-kim-jung.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2010/03/2009-daotea-kim-jong-yeol-hwagae-valley.html

https://mattchasblog.blogspot.ca/2010/11/dao-tea-tasting-event-2009-kim-jung.html

Or check out this recent video review at TeaDB:

https://teadb.org/morning-crane-tea-noeulhangki-balhyocha/

It is a false statement that only 2 of Kim Jong Yeol’s teas have been offered in the West as Pedro (formally of Daotea and currently of O5tea) has been selling various grades of both his green tea and balhyocha since 2009 and continues to do so.  If you are lucky enough to live in Vancouver you can even try Kim Jong Yeol’s teas out in person or walk out with a bag before ordering at 05Tea.

Peace

3 Top Western Vendors of Korean Tea

I have been meaning to update my large list of all places big and small that sell Korean tea to the Western world but have been putting it off.  Since my last update, I actually think less vendors are selling Korean tea.  If I were to shorten the list to places I have actually ordered from and would continue to order from it would only contain the below three North American (Canada & US) vendors…

1-      Morning Crane Tea- Arthur Park has been offering his group buys of famous Korean teas for years now.  His prices are what you would actually pay in Korea (or maybe even cheaper) and his list of producers range from famous co-operative collectives and old traditional tea producers some of which are featured on this blog from years ago.  Why look any further?  He has a group buy coming up in November here so please contact him if you are interested here: https://www.facebook.com/MorningCraneTea/

2-      Good Green Tea- Sam of Good Green Tea set up this business for his mother who is a teamaster in South Korea simply to promote Korean tea culture.  Good Green Tea is the official distributor of Juro, arguably the most famous traditional tea producer in South Korea.  Jokro is one of my absolute favorites and Sam offers it for cheaper than you can buy in Korea.  This is classic Korean tea for prices you can’t get in Korea- you can’t beat that!

3-      O5Tea- Pedro has been personally sourcing Korean tea since 2009 and brought Western fame to producer Kim Jong Yeol.  I used to regularly drink tea with him upon his arrival in Canada and the most amazing thing is you can too!   I highly recommend sitting down with him (or his lovely staff) when in Vancouver to have some Korean tea proper at his teabar.

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

2013 Kim Jong Yeol (Butea) Saejak Hwagae Valley Green Tea‏

This tea comes from good ol' Pedro from O5tea this Kim Jung Yeol (Butea) saejak has become a seasonal favorite throughout the years.  The dark and pale mix of green leaves smell of evergreen and minty sweet freshness. The leaves have a frosty sweet smell to them.

The first infusion delivers a creamy-smooth foresty evergreen taste. The mouthfeel and throat feel are expansive and spread a cool slightly menthol-mint taste across a light foresty-green base. A sugary taste is hung up in the teeth.

The second is a touch more foresty but brisk and fresh tasting. More of a greeny edge appears now, the slight cool aftertaste remains. It has a subtle forest depth with some frosty sweet notes pinned between. The mouthfeel is full and paints the mouth in a soft fuzzy coating.

The third has a rich, deep, velvety-forest-green taste. It is crisp and frosty sweet taste which coats the mouth. It has a deep long, forest taste.

The fourth contains deep foresty tastes with a slight woody edge now. The depth of the forest is noticeable the frosty sweetness is pushed to the edges of the taste profile. The mouthfeel remains full.

This tea leaves the mind alert and vibrant. Certainly enough vigor for this late in the afternoon. So the session ends there although it could easily go a few more infusions.

Peace

MattCha On The Move to Saskatchewan!

Regular readers of this blog probably noticed it slowly grind to a halt over the past few months. This was not due to a disinterest in tea or blogging but rather due to wrapping up in coastal Victoria, British Columbia and a move to the dry prairies of Regina, Saskatchewan. Through it all one has still been drinking lots of tea, in fact one is sipping on a 2013 Kim Jong Yeol Saejak purchased from O5tea.

One has already found that drinking tea in the prairies already has its challenges. Firstly, the most obvious is that it is so dry here one is a bit concerned how the aged puerh and Korean teas will do. Secondly, the water here has altered the taste of most of ones teas. The tap water is so hard even with a off odour to it. It makes all tea carry a funny taste and does little for the mouthfeel and qi. All residence of Regina combat the hard water with booth water softening devices and by drinking large amounts of almost completely purified water- both which are not great for tea. There will be extensive articles about how I approach this water challenge in the coming months.

One first thought that there would be no one to share and learn about tea here in the middle of the prairies. In Victoria one had Jared and Mi Yu Ki from Jagasilk, the urasanke Japanese Tea Ceremony circle, my puerh drinking bud Antoine, and my new found Korean tea drinking guru Greg Demmons - so many people to share, learn, and experience tea with (Never mind Pedro of O5tea and Daniel of The Chinese Tea Shop in Vancouver 3 hours away). As Fate would have it, an old Chinese tea master opened up a modest storefront tea house just two blocks from my office. We have already shared many older cakes of puerh together in the teahouse which is so similar to many unpretentious Chinese tea shops that it truly feels like you have left to China when visiting. There will be many posts on him and his tea shop in the coming weeks and months.

Tomorrow one has planed to post on The Half-Dipper's China Chadao event.

Until then...

Peace

A Chance to Try Some Aged Peasent Style Korean Tea

Even in Korea it is quite hard to find aged Korean teas. Although the jury is out as to even whether they even improve with age, why not try some for yourself and make your own call on the issue?

Pedro has just came back from this annual tea sourcing trip with some goodies. He is opening his bag with a few teas of note from Korea standing out.

He has brought back some 8 years aged clay covered ddok cha called seong gang ko cha. It was produced by a local farmer, Ga Hee-Jah who is now retired. Have never heard of this tea before but can only imagine that it is some sort of Korean peasant tea, produced in the rural tradition of tea making.

He also has some ujeon grade balhyocha from Kim Jeong Yeol of Butea. Wonder if it will be similar to the 2011 Kim Jeong Yeol Saebyeok that Pedro sent a few years ago?

Pedro will be brewing these teas up at a special event titled "Tales From the Back Road" along with some others. If you are at all curious about Korean teas that are harder to come by, it should be worth your time.

Peace

Aged Korean Tea: 2006 "ZeDa Tea" Wild Jiri Mountain Balhyocha‏

If you were at all intrigued by the sampling of the 2009 Kim Jong Yeol (Butea) aged and re-roasted balhyocha from Pedro at O5tea, you may also find this post interesting. Once again it offers an interesting perspective on aging balhyocha. What is interesting about this tea is that it was picked from the same area, produced with the same methods, and by the same people that produced the 2011 and 2012 "ZeDa" brand balhyocha that is sold by Sam of Good Green Tea.

The 2011 post states:

"Sam acquired it from a small farm from Sancheong, Jiri Mountain, and that is was completely wild tea. He claimed that Mr. Hong has over 50 years experience making tea and that he makes it all by hand with only the help of his wife. Mr. Hong makes only Hwang cha (balhyocha) with his tea leaves and only produces 15 Kg per year (he keeps 5 KG of this tea). The production of this tea is all natural and even includes air drying the leaves on big heated boulders during night time instead of the standard ondol heated floors which are commonly used to produce balhyocha."

Although one did try many 2006 balhyocha back in 2006, this is the oldest aged sample of balhyocha one has yet to try. 2006 was an excellent year for Korean tea and produced a great harvest. With that said, this should be an epic tasting...

The dry leaf looks much the same as the 2011/2012 but smells of old musky smells. It carries a deep aged odour of sweet black cherry in the distance mixed with a very slight deep forest note. These leaves are stuffed in to a warmed pot.

The first infusion is prepared with hotter water than what one would normally use for a balhyocha, a short rest in the cooling bowl. This first pot is light, juicy, watered-down fruity-pear taste. This initial taste disappears among the faintest date-woody-raisin tastes before disappearing on the breath. The mouthfeel is flat and watery- it supplies a light coating to the mid-deep throat. Clearly hotter water is still required.

The second pot is filled with water that is quickly transferred from the cooling bowl. The taste opens with creamy, spicy, thick, malted-apricot notes with hints of bitter coco and tobacco underneath It is these tastes of coco and tobacco which are last to disappear on the breath. Seconds later a thin woody-forest note skirts underneath The mouthfeel is thin and taught, expansive in the mid- and upper- throat.

Third pot comes with more pronounced woody-forest tastes which were just underling in the last infusion. They now mix evenly with the spicy-malted-apricot notes. There is a depth to all these tastes. The creaminess and thickness of last infusion is less here. There slightly more coarseness and dryness mixed in now. The throat feel is substantial now especially in the deep-mid throat. The sensation is that of a cool opening feeling there. The qi of this tea is very soft, ones face softens and a subtle warm tingling sensation is felt throughout the body. Minutes later a woody taste is left in the mouth.

The fourth and fifth infusions are much the same as the third. The tea is just starting to become more watery now. There is a light, slightly malty-juicy-wood monotone flavour now dominating the profile. A lingering sweet malty-apricot taste lingers minutes later. Qi is strong now on the mind but almost unnoticeable on the body. The qi accumulates lightly in the chest making it feel light.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth infusions are becoming more simple. It is a barely spicy, malty wood taste with a deep woody edge. As the infusions become more watery now they develop and thin-watery, sweet, malty, vague fruitiness, with raisin tones. Some tangy wood notes linger in the breath minutes later. The taste has a simple purity to it.

These leaves are put to some overnight infusions which pull out a malty-sweet, juicy-apricot fruit taste with a thin barely noticeable woody bottom. The thin coating of fruit is long in the mouth. The second overnight infusion is a watered down version of these tastes.

Compare the above notes to the fresh 2011 and 2012 harvest if you wish.

Thank you Sam for this interesting opportunity.  Sam is now taking orders for the 2013 ZeDa Balhyocha from Mr. Hong, in seven years you never know...

Peace

Aged Korean Tea: A Reroasted Four Years Aged Kim Jong Yeol Balhyocha

The concept of aging Korean tea is a new one, even 8 years ago, you would be hard pressed to find a Korean tea shop owner or drinker that had even tasted aged Korean tea. Back then a few tea masters that one respected both said that ddokcha can and should be aged. Conversely they also claimed to have never tried a balhyocha (Korean yellow tea) that had improved tremendously with age. They had claimed that often people store balhyocha in oongi wear and some claim that balhyocha stored and aged in this way does, in fact, improve with age. Years ago one had stock piled many boxes of Jukro Uricha to age but, after aging experiments with 2 years old and 3 years old boxes. One had come to the same conclusion as those wise teamasters, it tastes much better consumed fresh within the first year or two. The high price of Jukro balhyocha (uricha) simply made it not worth the risk of storing and the boxes were easily consumed.


Enter Pedro of O5Tea. In 2009, Pedro acquired a large amount of Kim Jong Yeol's (Butea) balhyocha and sold it under the now defunct Dao Tea label. In many great conversations and tea meetings with Pedro that followed he decided not to order the 2010 balhyocha and instead sell off the leftover from 2009. If you ordered any balhyocha from Pedro in 2010 you, in fact, received balhyocha from the 2009 harvest year. This was done as the teamasters he consulted with recommended that balhyocha was certainly just as good if not better when left to age for a year. Many producers don't even release their balhyocha until a few years pass (see the comments in these posts on Jukro Balhyocha and Ssangkye Chun-Go-Hyang).


It just happens that Pedro had recently found a bunch of leftover 2009 Kim Jong Yeol (Butea) balhyocha. Walking though the door of this O5Tea shop in Vancouver a few months ago the air was filled with the scent of slow roasted balhyocha. That same balhyocha first sampled at the Victoria Tea Festival three years ago was in a frying pan on top a conduction heater set to very low heat and had been roasting for a hour or so. One picked up a bag of that tea and had let it mellow over the last few months. With the pot of water boiling... let us prepare some of this tea...

The leaves smell of distinct piercing dark chocolate they have a slight edge of buttery odours and faint woods under the distinctly chocolate smell.

The first infusion delivers a muted, very light, peach taste with slight creamy-soapy finish. There is even a slight spicy cinnamon edge to the taste. The mouthfeel is watery, very very light. Hotter water is needed to push this tea harder than a fresh balhyocha.

The second infusion is prepared with much hotter water and delivers a mellow, very soft fruity banana peach taste with almost unnoticeable suggestions of chocolate. The tea has a thin mouthfeel with saliva pooling somewhat in the back of the throat. The taste profile is simple, soft, and light. The qi is very relaxing-tranquil in the body. It is noticed especially in the head, softening it.

The third infusion gives the mouth malty, smooth, barely woody, mainly indistinct fruity taste. This light malty-fruit taste is terribly simple but nice. A woody note spans the taste profile.

The fourth infusion is a watery, flat-juicy-dry faint fruit taste. The mouthfeel is thin but coats the entire mouth, even the mid throat where the feeling is slightly dry. A gummy-raisin very faint aftertaste is found a few minutes after swallow.

Infusion number five is much the same simple profile as above now a bit more dry and woody. It slightly scratches the throat now. This tea delivers a very mellow qi. There is an almost licorice-wood finish minutes later on the breath.

The next handful of infusions deliver soft, fruity monotone wood and indistinct peachy-fruity taste. The thin all-coating mouthfeel becomes more dry. There is a lingering peachy aftertaste in the mouth minutes later. With each infusion, more flavour is lost until it becomes barely flavoured water.

It is put to an overnight infusion which gives off a tangy, flat wood taste.

Compare the above notes to the notes of the fresh 2009 balhyocha or to other tea bloggers notes on this fresh tea.

Peace