Introduction to Dong Cheon and 2011 Dong Cheon Jungjak Semi-Wild Hwagae Valley Green Tea

Arthur Park of Morning Crane Tea has been the driving force behind the growth and popularity of Dong Cheon tea in North America. It is becuse of his efforts that there are now many vendors of Dong Cheon tea. He has offered a quick background on Dong Cheon which is worth a good read. The following is a short take on Dong Cheon.

Dong Cheon is a tea cooperative of 88 tea farmers which includes only tea farms located in the Hwagae Valley tea producing area. All participating farms adhere to a strict compliance of no chemical fertalizers or pesticides. All of the tea is also all hand picked and is minimally cared for. The tea plants are of the variety that was originally planted on Jiri Mountain by Kim Daeryoem in 828 A.D.

The production of Dong Cheon tea is closely monotored by tea master, Kim Jong Gyun, where he maintains high quality standards. The production is done by machine, something that is quite uncommon in Hadong. Machine processing is standard to create a quality uniform product from many different tea farms. All tea coops in Korea from Boseong to Jeju  use machine processing to maintain tea uniformity. Tea coops are the norm in Boseong and Jeju but, to ones knowledge, Dong Cheon is the only tea coop in the Hadong tea producing area. The quality is such that one initially thought it was hand produced.

The method of production of Dong Cheon green tea is also not the norm in Hadong. Dong Cheon uses the jung cha method of green tea production. It requires a step where the fresh tea leaves undergo a plunge into boiling water before being pan fired. Aurthor Park promises a in depth post on the farmers of Dong Cheon soon so keep an eye on his blog for more detail. Until then let's look at one of Dong Cheon's green teas from 2011- the jungjak grade gifted by Arthur Park a few months back.

The dry leaves are dull, woody, and muted with faint forest odours. These medium green curled leaves have a light, muted lingering roasted grain smell.

The first infusion is prepared and it pours a pale yellow. Sweet, light Captain Crunch like flavours, the smell of sweet corn cereal, predominates. The taste is monotone and simple but enjoyable. The mouthfeel is very thin.

The second infusion is prepared and more concrete corn tastes now present themselves along with simple wood undertones- less sweetness now. There are almost chocolate-cherry notes that linger far in the distance. The mouthfeel starts to coat the mouth in a simple dryness.

In the third infusion a simple dry wood initial taste starts to dominate the corn-sweetness which is now just faintly residing underneath. The aftertaste is a muted continuation with very faint lingering sweet corn tastes that are barely detectable. The tea coats the mouth in a thin grainy dryness not quite making it to the throat. The chaqi now begins to pull on the stomach a bit and warm the face and head. This sensation then travels down the the body lightly warming it. Minutes later a rubbery dry bland taste is left in the mouth.

The fourth infusion gives us dry, woody, cereal tastes with just the slightest flash of sweet corn in the aftertaste. The dry, woody, cereal taste holds its own throughout the taste profile that corn-barley sweetness is left on the breath.

The fifth infusion is pretty much just dry wood with a slight cereal sweetness which is almost depleted. A sweetness can be detected almost like a faint sugar on the teeth and on the breath.

The sixth and seventh infusions are watery, dry, monotone wood with a very distant sweet cereal note that can be sensed.

Peace

2011 ZeDa Tea Wild Jiri Mountain Korean Yellow Tea

Sam of Good Green Tea sent this box of micro farm balhyocha which he glowed about weeks before over email. Later he reported that he 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.

Sounds to good to be true, as these micro-garden Korean teas rarely ever make it too market, never mind North American market. Lets look at the dry leaves and see if this tea is the real deal.

The dry leaves are quite small, likely ujeon grade, with some buds in the mix. Very juicy and sweet, very vibrant odours emit from these thin, rolled leaves. Strong fruity peachy dried apricot notes are apparent.

The first infusion contains soft peach notes with sweet pure light sugary tastes that glide across the tongue. It leaves a smooth fresh apricot finish in the mouth. The mouthfeel is full but soft, light and very clean.

The second infusion delivers a very distinct peach and spicy pungent cinnamon initial taste. A very light but rich smooth base of sweet autumn leaves is underneath which delivers a clean deeper malty taste that faintly lingers in the distance. These tastes, especially the distinct peach and cinnamon, fade into the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is light but full leaving a sweet taste in the mid-throat. The qi is profoundly relaxing and completely spaces out the mind.

In the third infusion the fruity taste and spicy cinnamon taste seem inseparable and very strong and pure in the initial flavour. Soft persimmon and dried apricot come to mind. The mouthfeel is full and leaves the mouth and throat soft and slightly sticky. Barely detectable underneath is the sweet malty-syrup taste providing a bit of contrast to the sweet, dominating pungent fruit tastes. The qi emits a subtle warmth on this cool windy day. The mind feels tranquil.

The fourth and fifth infusion are much the same as the third- very fresh, clean, deep, smooth, and soft. The persimmon is bready now with still quite sweet edges. The mouthfeel continues to impress with its soft gentle nuances in harmony with this gentle clean tea.

The sixth infusion has more of a smooth spiciness with fruity notes becoming weaker while the malty, caramel depth drawing more attention. This tea maintains much of its taste throughout the session without moving too much away from these pleasant pure tastes.

The seventh infusion is now of plumby-peach wood with pungency that is almost gone. The light caramel tastes are still apparent. These tastes fade into faint apricot that stays on the breath.

The eighth and ninth infusions impart a bready quality upfront which turns to persimmon then slowly fades away. This tea is taken for a few more longer infusions which bring out sweet pure, deep, rich malty fruit pear tastes with subtle spicy persimmon.

This tea is sold under the name "ZeDa Tea" at Good Green Tea which has nothing to do with the Korean source. It is simply a brand that Sam started which is bringing in wild or small farmed teas.

This tea has since sold out but Sam is taking pre-orders for the 2012 version of this same tea.  Contact him if you are interested.

Peace

2011 Hankook Hwang Cha Korean Yellow Tea

Before falling off the face of the Earth for about a month, one finished this 30g cylinder of Hankook Tea's Hwang cha. It was kindly sent by Sam of Good Green Tea a few months back. One thing that is important to note is that Hankook sells two grades of Balhyocha- "Chigarok Hwang Cha" made of young, likely ujeon grade leaves, and "Hwang Cha" produced of older grade (maybe saejak or jungjak) leaves. This review is of the standard "Hwang Cha".

The dry leaves have dry earth-wood spicy notes. The odours come in layers with some being creamy, nutty, almost, but not quite chocolaty. They have a woody-nut-sweetness over an almost stale wood with a spicy-sweet undertones.

The first infusion delivers very light, watery, soft wood tastes which comes first. It has a hollow, dry quality to it and very little sweetness. Subtle pear tastes can be found in the profile as well. The mouthfeel carries a dry quality. The aftertaste has a very faint suggestion of dates over the dry simple wood tastes.


The second infusion is prepared and pours a very light, simple watery wood taste. It turns dry in the mouth then a faint date and even fainter coco and nut taste can be parsed from the predominating monotone of dry wood. The aftertaste is short and dry but presents a very faint pumpkin sweetness. The mouth is covered in a drying mouthfeel consisting of a slight gritty sensation.

The third infusion has a very dry, monotone, simple initial taste which transitions to a subtle spicy, barely brown sugar and persimmon fruit sweetness. These sweet tastes can be detected in the aftertaste under woody-dryness. The mouthfeel doesn't reach the throat but drys the mouth.


The fourth infusion has faint, roasted nut taste which reach toward hollow, dry wood. This inital taste turns a touch creamy before fading to a faint nutty taste. The aftertaste is dry and hollow but has an edge of persimmon to it.


In the fifth infusion the faint persimmon tastes starts to present in the initial taste profile along with the much more subtle dry wood taste. It gives this initial taste a juicy quality to it. This taste holds and doesn't evolve much throughout the profile. The qi of this tea is very weak-mild, neutral thermal nature.

The sixth infusion has spicy nutty wood notes along with slight persimmon in a simple tea broth. The once predominant wood notes are now even more muted as lighter tones arrive.


The seventh and eight infusions shows off soft, dry wood with gentle persimmon. They finishes nutty, almost coco tasting. The transition through the taste profile is smooth and balanced- this tea feels more balanced here in these later infusions as the dry wood taste has yielded to these softer notes. A very faint persimmon sweetness lingers in the mouth minutes later.


The ninth, tenth, and eleventh infusions are predominantly weak watery, dry wood now with the faint fruit notes vague and distant.

This tea can also be purchased in an 80g cylinder as well.


Peace

Korean Tea Gardens & Farms: Farm Cooperatives, Company Farms, Large Family Gardens, & Micro-Gardens

Korea is quite a unique place. Even the largest tea farms and gardens are very small scale compared to the growing operations of its neighbors in China and Japan. Simply put, all Korean tea gardens are tinny. However, within Korea there are increasingly smaller productions. This post will look at the four types of tea farms/ gardens in Korea.

Farm cooperative use is the most common way Korean agricultural products are brought to market. Tea is an agricultural product so, quite naturally, tea coops do exist. Many family owned tea farms are all picked and the tea is produced together. Usually, the tea is either hand or machine picked but almost always it is machine produced to maintain consistency of the final product. This method of production is common in Jeju and Boseong producing areas but are quite uncommon in Hadong. The quality of tea produced from coops varies greatly. Examples of these are DAVIDsTEA's Korean Sejak picked in Jeju, almost all Boseong tea, and even Dong Cheon of Hadong.

Company farms/gardens are usually quite small and can involve either machine or hand picked tea leaves. Company farms can be some of the biggest gardens seen in the country but are still quite small compared to the tea fields of China and Japan. They can vary from almost exclusively machine picked and produced tea (such as O'sulloc in Jeju), to completely hand picked and produced teas such as all companies in Hadong (such as Jukro, Joytea, Ssangkye, Woon Sang). Many of these producer farms in Hadong actually have some of the best geographical locations that produce some of the finest hand produced semi-wild tea in Korea.

Larger family farms are actually not that large at all. They are small operations which are almost exclusively hand picked and produced, usually they are of a semi-wild tea plant which is minimally cared for. The difference between these farms and company farms is that these farmers live right off the land. The farms are usually somewhat smaller than the company farms as well. There is large variability in their harvests from year to year. Examples of these are Kim Jong Yeol's Butea and Kim Shin Ho's Samtea. Alternatively, some families in Hadong just keep large semi-wild tea fields but don't produce their own tea. Instead they rent the fields to teamasters who wish to produce their own tea.

Micro-gardens are extraordinarily small productions by locals who have lived with tea and on the land for decades. Often these people have simply been making tea their whole life in this manner. These teas are your only chance for true wild tea in Korea but are very hard to come by even in Korea. These teas rarely get sold outside Korea and are purchased by teamasters within Korea. They rarely hit the shelves for sale to the general public and, if so, often sell for very steep prices. Within the next year or so I imagine these teas will make their way into the Westren market.

Peace

2011 Hankook "Jungsun" Jungjak Korean Green Tea

Is it Spring or still Winter? The movement of the seasons seems confused, this Winter, this day. Late afternoon snow falls on chilly cherry blossoms outside- a warm green tea seems just right.

This tea, a jungjak grade, comes gifted from Sam of Good Green Tea. The tea is Hankook Tea's standard jungjak (for more on Hankook Tea see here). Let's heat up the ol'hotplate and enjoy this tea as the sun sets between snow heavy clouds.

The longish dark green dry leaves emit a cereal-grassy odour and leave a trail of heavy floral sweetness behind it. These leaves are placed in the warmed teapot and the first infusion is prepared.

It offers very smooth deeper forest notes which turn to a creamy sweetness in the mouth. It has a creamy grassy-wood undertone to it, simple and smooth throughout. The mouthfeel is light and stimulates mainly the front of the mouth.

The second infusion presents prominent creamy-grass-wood notes along with a creamy-sweet taste that is hard to separate from the initial taste. There is a consistence about this smooth creamy taste that stabilizes the profile of this tea. The mouthfeel is now felt prominently on the front half of the tongue. The aftertaste is first of grassy-lime sweetness that traverses to a heavier, tangy, floral sweetness. This aftertaste is long and is felt between the teeth minutes later.

The third infusion has stronger, blander, wood notes which arrive first in the mouth. The grassy forest notes are suppressed by simple wood tastes. The aftertaste comes under these distinct and simple wood notes and reveals that tangy-lime floral quality. An underlying creaminess ties everything together. The qi is mild/weak on the body and mind.

The fourth infusion is basically the same as the last with perhaps a thicker, chalkier mouthfeel.

The fifth is dryer and woodier still a very simple woody forest taste. The creamy sweetness is no where to be found. A chalky-smooth tangy aftertaste lingers. Faint qi can be found pooling in the back of the skull. The sixth infusion is dry and unpalatable.

This tea is also available directly from Hankook in 100g size.

Peace

2011 Dong Cheon "Dan Cha" Semi-Wild Hwagae Valley Red Tea

Arthur Park of Morning Crane Tea kindly sent the four Dong Cheon teas that he distributes. Of all the hundreds of Korean teas one has tried, never were they red tea. Over the last few years Koreans started developing a pallet for red tea (English call it black tea). So, quite naturally, one was egar to try this unlikely Korean tea.

First, there needs to be a comment on the name of this tea, "Dan-cha". Arthur stated that the teamaster at Dong Cheon Tea, Kim Jong Gyun, prefered to call this tea "Dan-cha". This is interesting because red tea in Korea is commonly known as "hongcha", the Chinese transliteration. What is also interesting is that this tea is not named the literal red colour in Korean which is "Bbal kang". So this begs the question, "Why is the name "Dan-cha" preferred?

The name "Dan-cha" has Daoist roots and implies good health. More specifically "Dan" here is alluding to the "Dantian" or "cinnabar field". Essentially it is referring to a deeper essence of red or cinnabar red. It has health implications because it suggests that the chaqi of this tea can touch our essence as it traverses the three chambers of our body. Arthur has since commented that the name was intended to imply "Dan-yak" or "miracle cure", another Daoist view of the teas potential health benefits.

Let's sit down with this tea meditatively and see if this tea is truly red tea, if it stands up to its name, and if its chaqi is at all penetrating.

The dry leaf is comprised of small black saejak grade leaves. They smell of deep, meaty, licorice notes with light woody-raisin notes in the distance. There is an interesting meaty-pungent odour in there as well.

These leaves are placed in a warm pot and water that spends only seconds in the cooling pot is makes its way over these leaves.

The first infusion presents with smooth-creamy bitter-sweet mild astringent black tea initial taste. The colour of the pour is a vibrant red-brown- if any doubts about it being a hongcha have arisen they are completely gone. A woody-raisin taste with a smooth sweet finish fills the mouth. There is a lingering mahogany-date quality to the finishing taste. The mouthfeel is full and goes down to the lower throat, coating it. One breaks a sweat all over, cheeks feel flushed, ones mind accelerated. A maple syrup-like sweetness is left on the breath appearing minutes later.

The second infusion presents with a smooth-deep wood raisin bittersweet taste before a tangy undercurrent passes by. There are strong notes of walnut which present first here as well. The taste fades until faint chocolate notes appear. It finishes as more of a mahogany-chocolate taste, sweetness circles the mouth as well with raisin and deeper foresty wood on the breath. The aftertaste is long and complex, the mouthfeel is deep and full. Each cup pushes one into a hot flash and sweat- this qi is strong and warm, penetrating indeed.

The third infusion has tangy notes that are almost citrus and present first over the wood-raisin base. They evolve to a creamy, raisin, walnut, almost-chocolate, deep wood taste. There is a prominent and even sweetness throughout. The mouthfeel is more chalky and thick but a soft quality coats the full throat and mouth. A sweet syrupy-nut-raisin is left in the long aftertaste.

The fourth has a soft chalky wood start which becomes tangy before the deeper raisin wood is revealed. It turns tangy again as the wood-faded raisin sweetness holds in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel now has a soft, dry quality to it. The qi still pushes hard with each cup.

The fifth sees the soft, sweet, deep walnuty-wood taste becoming lighter now and evolving into a deeper mahogany raisin which comes out later and lingers with sweetness.

In the sixth soft, sweet, tangy wood start fades into a juicy and faint fruity nutty watery raisin taste. The fruit notes come out in this infusion. The mouthfeel is slowly coming out of the throat and more into the mouth, it is a little drying.

The seventh infusion is much the same with fruit notes more obvious and a touch of malty-syurpy sweet finish noted. The mouthfeel continues its evolution to a thinner chalkier type.

The eighth infusion presents more of the fruity-wood bark initial taste with that red tea astringency gone this tea now tastes like quality balhyocha. It evolves into a deeper woody taste. The mouthfeel hold the upper throat and mouth.

This tea is enjoyed for another four or five pots. Here woody notes are more dominant but still full complex flavours can be found. Of note are the appricot and faint coco undertones enjoyed in these late infusions.

Link to Cha Yi Ji's Tasting Notes

Link to dicipleoftheleaf's Tasting Notes

Currently 2011 Dan-cha is available from the following vendors:

Morning Crane Tea

Phoenix Tea House

Peace

2012 Victoria Tea Festival

Every year more and more people attend Victoria's Annual Tea Festival. Every year the Victoria Tea Festival becomes more and more mainstream with an increasing amount of large tea companies taking up space on the floor. Also many non-tea exhibitors have managed to proliferate the conference floor. This is good and healthy because it indicates a more mainstream acceptance of tea, but has less to offer those who are truly serious about their tea.

Someone who has exhibited every year said that the Victoria Tea Festival has lost its small local feel and has become more corporate. However there are still some great returning small tea vendors that have stuck it out.

Here is a list of a few of these must see exhibitors that tea enthusiasts might want to check out this Saturday and Sunday at Crystal Gardens:

May Ip Gallery- Have a conversation with the charming grandma from Yunnan, it will make your day.

Chado Tea House- Peter and Fumi offer possibly some of the best Japanese tea at the Tea Festival served up in proper Japanese style. Compare their Japanese teas to the local favorites Silk Road and Jagasilk.

Jagasilk- Let Jared and Miyu serve you up some of the freshest matcha you will ever taste outside of Japan.

Silk Road- You won't be able to miss this local favorite, Michelle's booth is always beautifully decorated and the most interesting to explore.

Remember all proceeds go to charity so why not check it out anyways?

Peace