Korean green tea (nokcha)

[LeoFox]

Share your experiences!

Some nice info on Korean greens:
https://teabuykorea.blogspot.com/2022/0 ... ified.html

[LeoFox]

Kim Jong Yeol's 2023 Chungiljem Sejak via morning crane tea buy

An interesting experience- the producer recommends 2-4g/100 ml at 80C starting at 30s.

Brewed in this manner, the tea starts out with a strong starchy sweetness and fluffy mouthfeel that leaves a savory finish (roasted nuts). The overall impression to me is closer to Japanese kamairicha than Chinese greens.

What is intetesting is after 7 infusions- I turned up the heat to boiling- resulting in powerful honeyed and floral aromatics and cantaloupe like sweetness.

Material is supposed to be from seed grown semi/wild bushes 80-100 yo


Link to info on producer:
https://teaatmorningcranetea.blogspot.c ... o-cup.html

Link to video of producer

[Ethan Kurland]

.... and fluffy mouthfeel.........

What is intetesting is after 7 infusions- I turned up the heat to boiling- resulting in powerful honeyed and floral aromatics and cantaloupe like sweetness.

"fluffy mouthfeel" , I know you do not mean like having a plush towel in the mouth but the phrase still throws me off understanding the description except I think it is a desired feeling.

It definitelly is interesting to read that raising temperature resulted in sweetness rather than harsh and/or bitter flavor...

I don't enjoy many green teas & possibly would not enjoy this as delicious; yet, you certainly describe a most interesting tea session. thanks for sharing

[LeoFox]

.... and fluffy mouthfeel.........

What is intetesting is after 7 infusions- I turned up the heat to boiling- resulting in powerful honeyed and floral aromatics and cantaloupe like sweetness.

"fluffy mouthfeel" , I know you do not mean like having a plush towel in the mouth but the phrase still throws me off understanding the description except I think it is a desired feeling.

It definitelly is interesting to read that raising temperature resulted in sweetness rather than harsh and/or bitter flavor...

I don't enjoy many green teas & possibly would not enjoy this as delicious; yet, you certainly describe a most interesting tea session. thanks for sharing

Well I wouldn't expect bad things to happen with a boiling treatment at 7th infusion. I would for first infusion if the tea is not up to snuff

In fact I had suspected this tea wouldnt be able to handle my usual Chinese green protocol of 2-4g in boiling water starting at 1 min. But I was wrong. It worked beautifully. The starchy sweetness (like taro) integrated fully with the sharp floral and fruity aromatics. My one complaint has to do more with my preference against plantation sheng pu erh- as the aftertaste vaguely reminds me of it.

Also this tea has a lot of stamina- did 20 or so rounds yesterday and then an overnight- was quite nice in the morning

[Ethan Kurland]

Also this tea has a lot of stamina- did 20 or so rounds yesterday and then an overnight- was quite nice in the morning

Wow! That means that even if it is "expensive" per gram, it is not really expensive. Seems that you found a wonderful tea. Again, thanks for sharing.

[botlofchaz]

Thanks for sharing @LeoFox. Sounds like a great tea. I bought 5 or 6 different teas from the tea buy this year and just received them yesterday. I am still a little ways off from dipping into any of them as I have too much other tea open right now that needs drinking. But will get to it soon, and will be sure to post here with some reflections when I do.

[LeoFox]

After 2 days of this tea being open, I suddenly find it has developed some characteristics that remind me of lightly oxidized gaoshan oolong

Not a bad thing for me at all - but I can see how some may see this as a flaw.

This tea Is quite interesting- reminding me of kamairicha, sheng pu and gaoshan at the same time. It makes me wonder if the kill green was a little lower in temp and if some extra oxidation occurred- as If the concept of Korean green tea is quite broad ranging from light oolong to sheng pu - maybe analogous to how balyhocha seems to range from yellow tea to hong cha.

[LeoFox]

Trying this tea again with tozo's reduction akitsu mumyoi - the result is very poor. The clay seems to kill the body to the point it seems stale. Going back to porcelain- the tea returns to life.

[Ethan Kurland]

Trying this tea again with tozo's reduction akitsu mumyoi - the result is very poor. The clay seems to kill the body to the point it seems stale.....

Just wondering if the comparison of the pots' effects here comes down to unglazed clay versus glazed. (I don't know about tozo's pot.)

[LeoFox]

Trying this tea again with tozo's reduction akitsu mumyoi - the result is very poor. The clay seems to kill the body to the point it seems stale.....

Just wondering if the comparison of the pots' effects here comes down to unglazed clay versus glazed. (I don't know about tozo's pot.)

This was between porcelain and an unglazed reduction fired clay from sado island, Japan.

My experience has been that that this clay can smoothen the body of tea and put an emphasis on aromatics and aftertaste.

However in this case, the clay simply destroyed the experience.

[LeoFox]

Heard from Eric Glass that the hard-core korean tea drinkers like super cool 40C infusions for green- didn't specify amount but maybe relatively low. So I tried it with Kim Jong Yeol's 2023 Chungiljem Sejak green tea as posted above. Having tried 80C, off boiling and now..40C.. I feel boiling is still best but the 40C is quite good as well- and highlights some unique aspects of the tea.

[LeoFox]

Been enjoying the sejak in a 230 ml glass pot - 6g really open up to fill the space

[GaoShan]

Today I tried the Dosim Dawan Sejak from the nokcha sampler. I used 3 g of tea in 85 ml of water at 175F for 30, 10, 20, 30, 40 ... seconds. I got notes of toasted rice, grass, and veggies, with some corn and something fruity in the background. There was a touch of bitterness, though nothing terrible. Not sure I'll go higher with the temperature on this one, and I might actually go a bit lower.

@@LeoFox, I remember you saying somewhere that you bought this sampler. Have you tried this tea yet?

[LeoFox]

Today I tried the Dosim Dawan Sejak from the nokcha sampler. I used 3 g of tea in 85 ml of water at 175F for 30, 10, 20, 30, 40 ... seconds. I got notes of toasted rice, grass, and veggies, with some corn and something fruity in the background. There was a touch of bitterness, though nothing terrible. Not sure I'll go higher with the temperature on this one, and I might actually go a bit lower.

@LeoFox, I remember you saying somewhere that you bought this sampler. Have you tried this tea yet?

No, I only got their balhyocha

[GaoShan]

Today I tried the Dosim Dawan Sejak from the nokcha sampler. I used 3 g of tea in 85 ml of water at 175F for 30, 10, 20, 30, 40 ... seconds. I got notes of toasted rice, grass, and veggies, with some corn and something fruity in the background. There was a touch of bitterness, though nothing terrible. Not sure I'll go higher with the temperature on this one, and I might actually go a bit lower.

@LeoFox, I remember you saying somewhere that you bought this sampler. Have you tried this tea yet?

No, I only got their balhyocha

Ah, okay. . I got a bunch of balhyocha as well, but thought I'd start with the greens while they're fresh.