Picking Tea in Korea: Part 1

I recently changed the heading image on my blog Tea at Morning Crane Tea to an image taken from the image below.  I made that change to give you a better idea of where the teas from Hwagae Valley actually come from.  Compare this image below to the header above taken at Boseong.

click image to enlarge

On the left of this image semi-wild tea is growing.  The bushes were grown from seeds that came from wild tea bushes.  These semi-wild bushes were planted in rows for easier picking.  Looking closely and you will see what appears to be white posts scattered across the field.  Those ‘posts’ are actually ‘insect collectors’ used to avoid the need for insecticides.  No insecticides are used and essentially no fertilizer that would cause the roots to spread.  While these plants are growing in an organized manner, they are left to grow ‘wild’ or naturally in the same way as their ‘parents’ the wild bushes seen on the right. Thus they are referred to as ‘semi-wild’.  On the right of the semi-wild bushes are tea plants growing around the trees and up the hillside.  They are wild tea bushes descendants of the first tea seeds planted not far from this spot in 828 CE.

 Pickers picking from very old bushes where tea was first planted.

The tea bushes on Jirisan and beyond are known as ‘Hadong’ cultivar tea bushes.  Connoisseurs of Korean tea will tell you that the very best tea comes from this type of wild bush followed by their children the semi-wild bushes.

  

In both cases the roots grow deep into the earth and therefore absorb the ‘energy’ or Cha Qi from the earth.  Actually, Korean tea connoisseurs will tell you that the very best tea from this type of bush is from wild tea leaves growing in a bamboo forest where the morning dew from the bamboo provides special nourishment and moisture to the wild tea plants

By contrast we now go to Boseong where during the Japanese occupation the Japanese tea cultivar Yabukita was planted.  I have read that the Japanese were looking for a place to grow tealeaves for hongcha or red (black) tea when they planted these bushes in Korea.  Today they produce primarily green tea.  After the Japanese occupation, Koreans eventually took over those tea fields and developed beautiful cultivated fields.  Here, I have been told, fertilizers are used and in with some growers very small amounts of insecticides.  After further research into this question, I discovered that only a few tea producers in the Boseong area use chemical fertilizers and insecticides and that a number of producers there are now growing their teas organically as they are in Hwagae Valley and Jerisan.

There is no doubt which bushes are more beautiful.  The sweeping Boseong tea fields can’t be matched for pure beauty.  Many movies have been made highlighting these bushes.
However, as in many things, outside beauty should not influence your judgment of true character. Beautiful bushes do not necessarily produce the most delicious teas.  While there are excellent tea producers in the Boseong area (and I’ll be bogging about one soon) if you are looking for authentic completely Korea tea, you would not choose Boseong as your only destination.  The key to great tea like great people doesn’t lie in the outward appearance.

Hwagae's rugged terrain speckled with wild tea bushes.

  

Likewise, Hwagae Valley should not be your only stop for wild and semi wild tea bushes.  Dotted across the southern tier of Korea, from the east coast to the west coast, wild and semi-wild tea bushes can be found.  Many independent tea growers have replanted those wild Hadong cultivar seeds in rows, often like small gardens behind their homes or even in large green houses to create personal semi-wild bushes for easier picking and to make their personal teas.

What might the experience of picking tea leaves be like?  Before I look further at this topic, I have to note that I will not be referencing the books The Korean Way of Tea or Korean Tea Classics for historical notes on picking.  Rather I simply want to give you a sense of what the pickers are experiencing.

Here is our group on Tea Tour Korea 2011 picking tea behind Hwaom-sa and the Hall of Gucheung-am in a very rugged wild tea field where the bamboo had been recently cut to ‘prevent fire’.  But the bushes, some several centuries old, now often suffer from drought and to quote Brother Anthony, “Snakes seem happy to frequent their roots.”  The hill is steep and footing rugged and very uneven.  We nearly had a disaster when one of our members fell landing between pointed bamboo stakes.  After 2+ hours of hard picking our group of 10 pickers had just this amount of tea to show for our work.  I spoke to one of the members of that group .  When I told him that I was writing a post on picking, he said, “Don’t forget to tell them the picking was excruciating.”

It was a remarkable experience but for various reasons we probably won’t be picking there again.  Hwaomsa a beautiful place to visit, lying among thick woodlands on the western slopes of Jiri-san near Gurye-gu.  It is one of the first places where tea was planted in Korea.  Had they not cut the bamboo, that tea would have been called juk-no-cha 竹露茶 (bamboo-dew tea). 

To find authentic juk-no-cha 竹露茶 (bamboo-dew tea) we visited the artisan tea producer Ha Gu. 

Ha Gu makes delicious tea from leaves picked from wild bushes growing under bamboo and processes them by hand.  These teas demand a much higher price than from other artisan producers.

Fourteen professional pickers took four hours of hard picking to gather just this amount of tea.  It is about 6 or 7 times more leaves than we amateur pickers gathered but when you realize how much tea shrinks in the drying process. This is still not much tea.  Simply put picking wild tea is difficult and sometimes dangerous work.
What are tea pickers looking for?  This is what they see:

This is what they are after. . .

 

 . . . just the three lead leaves.  The leaves on the left are what is know as ja soon cha or ‘purple tea leaves’ even though these particular leaves are more orange, the top of the larger leaf does have a purple tint.  This is caused by cold nights and warmer days resulting in the need for phosphorous.  But these are wild or semi-wild organic bushes so they will not be adding phosphorous and the pickers like these ja soon cha.  The leaves on the right are ready to be picked.  I should say the leaves are ready to be “plucked”.  “Don’t use your fingernails to cut the stem.  That will interrupt the flow of juices and qi.”  We were asked to simply grasp the stem and pull i.e. ‘pluck’ the leaves.
There is little wonder why tea farmers from those with small gardens to commercial producers have planted tea bushes in rows for easier plucking.

While these organized bushes behind Dong Cheon Tea may look similar in form to Boseong bushes, these are semi-wild bushes.

The bushes are cared for and monitored – yes - but these bushes are organically grown with no insecticides or chemical fertilizer – simply allowed to grow in the same manner as wild bushes.

Dong Cheon is a cooperative of about 80 tea farmers each growing tea using strict organic procedures.  Because the farms are scattered throughout the Hwagae Valley area, an area that can experience wide weather conditions, even after the harshest winter Dong Cheon Tea can continue to produce excellent teas. 

Please continue to Part 2

Special Note:

To learn about Tea Tour Korea 2015 that will take place in May 2015 and host between 4 and 8 guests, contact us.  We already have some folks on that list.  Contact us now.  It could be the last tea tour we personally host.  There is no obligation.

Note:  We seldom post the exact same post on two different blogs.  This Morning Crane Tea blog is reserved more for informational topics while our Tea at Morning Crane Tea blog focuses specifically on our teas.  For this post I have made an exception but if you are interested in information about our teas, please also follow our Tea at Morning Crane Tea blog.  We also have a morning Crane Tea Ware blog.  One day I hope to have a website where everything can be easily found.  

Remember that although I have what some consider a nice logo as seen on our tea bag labels and try to provide excellent teas.  I am not a big tea company.  I am just a potter and retired professor, trying to also promote Korean arts and culture.  

If you have never tried any of our teas or bought any of our tea ware I hope that you will do so soon.  Search what independent tea blogs are saying about Dong Cheon teas and Morning Crane Tea.  Then tell us about it for a special discount.

Returning from Tea Tour Korea 2013 with a Darjeeling !?!

Tea Tour Korea 2013 was an extraordinary adventure into Korean tea ware and Korean tea.  In the process we identified more than twenty Korean teas we would like you to try plus a delicious Darjeeling.  “What!  A Darjeeling !!???!?”, you might exclaim.  “How did a tea tour to Korea come back with a Darjeeling? 

We thought you might ask so I decided I would get that question and this tea ‘on its way’ before we introduce you to some truly amazing Korean teas, the classic and new Dong Cheon teas and their producers.

We first learned of the tea Treasure Gold from our good friend Frank Benjowski owner of Teehandelshaus Benjowski in Berlin, Germany.  Frank is a passionate teashop owner and connoisseur who has traveled the world in search of special teas for his impressive teashop.  Those who have been there, tell us that it is the best teashop in Europe.  Frank has personally visited tea plantations throughout the world traveling to each one alone.  The only tea tours he has ever taken have been with us on Tea Tour Korea 2011 and again on Tea Tour Korea 2013.  We are honored that he joined us.

Frank is particularly known for his knowledge of Nepalese and Indian teas some of which are available exclusively at his shop.  We first learned about Treasure Gold from him as a very special autumnal Nepalese tea (a Nepalese Darjeeling) when he shared it with us in 2011 and gave it as gifts to several tea and tea ware artists on that tour - to their great response.  Our version is officially a Darjeeling from the famous Oakyti plantation in India.

Treasure Gold’s story is fascinating.  Nepal and India share a common boarder separated by the Mechi River.  Citizens from both countries travel back and forth easily and even work in the other country.  The countries also share similar tea plants particularly in this small area.  Occasionally some of these plants develop a distinctive golden leaf.  One of the tea advisors oversees tea plants in both Nepal and India.  It is this advisor that produces this prize winning tea - Treasure Gold.  These leaves don’t develop every year but when they do he has the tea pickers harvest them for this special production.  

They may be harvested in Nepal or India and are always carefully picked and processed mostly by hand.  The production this season was very small - just 15 kilo.

 

Quick hands inspect the pick

Frank Benjowski buys them all, for he knows how delicious this tea is.  Because of the friendship we developed with Frank, he allowed us at Morning Crane Tea to purchase a kilo so we could offer it to you.

Let’s look at the tea. 

I am first struck with the amazing bouquet emanating from the container - the rich flavor permeates the air, envelops me and draws me in.  The leaves are rich and varied and obviously all gold.  Only the drying and oxidation has changed them, imbuing each with a delectable provocative flavor.

On closer examination we discover tiny ‘hairs’ covering the leaves.  They must contribute to the savory taste that follows.  Are these the same as the coveted  tiny hairs on orange pekoe leaves?

For this tasting, I decided to use 4.25g of leaves in an 8oz glass teapot because I wanted to show you the leaves in action and the rich color of the liquor. 8oz is as large as I personally go when brewing any tea.

This image is of the first infusion taken about 10-15 seconds after pouring the water; i.e. pour the water grab the camera and take the shot.

With the first sip, I am struck at the abundant qi-cha that hits me quickly.  The tea is not bitter but rather smooth and tasty with floral hints that coat the mouth and tongue - slightly sweet with subtle spice and notes of citrus.  The taste is deep and long, holding its own after four infusions and it could have gone several more but I was eager to write this post.  In addition, with 8oz I was drinking a lot of tea.

Sorry, I’m still not one who is good at describing taste with each infusion, but hopefully I can give you a sense of the experience.

This image is after 3 infusions.

After four infusions I decided to image the leaves. 

They have not yet begun to open and, as I said, they seem to have much more to offer.  I’m not familiar with Darjeeling teas.  Will these leaves ever open?

As I type this post, now long after drinking the last cup, I am struck with the still lingering ‘mouth memory’ of this wonderful tea. 

I must end by saying a word about the cup.  

I selected a beautifully simple celadon cup of the perfect color for this tea.  The cup was made by the wonderful female ceramic artist Kim Yu Sung.  Kim Yu Sung is one of the only female celadon artists to have won the prestigious Gangjin Celadon Award at Gangjin Korea’s annual celadon competition held each year during the Gangjin Celadon Festival.  Receiving this award placed her among the nation’s best celadon artists.  I particularly like celadon for these darker teas - the perfect cup for this delicious tea. 

To learn more about how you might purchase some Treasure Gold go to our tea blog to learn the reasonable pricing on this rare tea. 

Kim Yu Sung is one of a group of tea ware artists whose work we will be introducing this year. Click here to learn more about the cup.
Were you looking for our 2013 teas?  Some of them can be found here.

Is This the Best Hwangcha Made in Korea?

Throughout Korea’s tea growing region there are hundred perhaps thousands of individual artisan tea producers with very small farms, picking and processing their own tea by hand in the same way that their ancestors did many years ago.  Almost all use wild or semi-wild bushes that are organically grown.  Most limit their production to ujeon, sejak and sometimes jungjak, far fewer Korean producers make hwangcha or balhyocha, and very few make hongcha, even fewer make ttokcha or matcha especially for commercial purposes.  

For the most part these small producers never get known outside of their personal group of friends or home villages.  Many produce tea simply for their own consumption and to give to friends.  Occasionally a tea is so good it is shared with a passing monk or nun who tells his or her friends and the word slowly gets out.  One day a nun who knows Shin In-suk told her about a delicious hwangcha she had in Jiri-san.  Jiri-san, the 'holy mountain of Korean tea'  has many villages  each with their own fine artisan tea producers.  The nun explained to Shin In-suk that the producer, Jeong Jae Yeun, makes her hwangcha before Buddha’s birthday and dedicates her entire tea production to hwangcha.  

That the tea is made before Buddha’s Birthday is extremely important to the production of the best hwangcha. 1  Tea made before Buddha’s Birthday is made of fresh ‘energetic’ young leaves that thus contain the most qi.  The difference in taste is remarkable explained the teaware artist Park Jong Il, Shin In-suk’s husband.

But who does that?  Most other hwangcha producers make their green tea first.  That puts their hwangcha production after Buddha’s Birthday and because it is made from older leaves the tea has less qi.

We have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Jeong Jae Yeun but hope to do that on Tea Tour Korea 2013. 

This is what we know about Jeong Jae Yeun.  In her mid-60’s Jeong Jae Yeun, who lives near Sancheon has dedicate most of her life to tea and produces only hwangcha, from organically grown wild and semi-wild bushes.  We also know her tea becomes highly recommended by the nun who told Shin In-suk and it also comes highly recommended by both Shin In-suk and her husband Park Jong Il.  If you have ever visited Park Jong Il most likely you have tasted Jeong Jae Yeun’s hwangcha.  On Park Jong Il’s recent trip to China he took this tea and tells me it received great reviews.

We at Morning Crane Tea are honored to be the only Western source for Jeong Jae Yeun’s hwangcha.  Supplies are limited.  Please go to our tea blog to learn more about this special tea offering and its price.  Contact us if you are interested in this tea.

 1. Note: Some artisan tea producers follow the lunar calendar. 

Go To First Park Jong Il Post

A Quick Note: Tea Tour Korea is Coming- May 2013

This is the first of a series of posts leading to Tea Tour Korea 2013.  It will also be one of the last tea tours we personally host so we want to make this tea tour as culturally rich as possible.  To that end, Tea Tour Korea 2013 will be a 'complete' tea tour with exceptional perhaps unparalleled tea and teaware experiences.  It will include:  1. Visits to selected Korean artisan tea producers,  2. Visits to selected Korean teaware artists,  3. The History of Korean Tea,  4. Meeting Important figures in the contemporary Korean Tea world,  5.  Participating in Korean Tea Ceremonies, 6. Witnessing tea being produced, 7.  Producing our own teas and  8. Investigating artists who make Tea related items     

Tea Tour Korea 2013 will be a non-profit tour hosted by us at Morning Crane Tea and Morning Earth Korea. 

Anyone can take you to Korea and introduce you to some people who make tea by hand and some ceramic artists who make teaware.  We have been told that no one else can give you the depth of a Korean tea experiences Tea Tour Korea 2013 will provide.  We will select from hundreds of possible choices the best tea producers, the best teaware artists, introduce you to some of the most significant figures in contemporary Korean Tea, take you into tea factories and have artisan tea producers teach you how to make various teas.  It is not just nokcha anymore.  You will meet personally with tea artisans who make jakseol, hwangcha, balhyocha, hongcha and ttokcha (possibly even matcha).  In addition, you can't leave Korea without experiencing some of their herbal teas.    

Will we have a temple stay?  Yes!  Will we visit Jejudo? Yes!  Will we go to historic sites? Yes!  Will we visit teashops in Seoul? Yes!  Will we visit onggi potters? Yes!  This list would in itself be a great tour to Korea but with the exception of Jejudo, they are add-ons to Tea Tour Korea 2013.  

We are waiting for the date of the Mungyeong Teabowl Festival to be announced to confirm our Tea Tour Korea 2013 dates.  That festival may be the most exciting teabowl festival in Asia.  Tea Tour Korea 2013 will be open to no more than 8 guests and we have some waiting on that list now -  including some who were with us in 2011.  Why would they return?  They have told us Tea Tour Korea 2011 was the most comprehensive tea tour they have ever experienced and while some of our visits will be the same, Tea Tour Korea 2013 will expand on the 2011 tour and will be even more comprehensive. 

Have you read Madeleine's post? Are you interested in joining us or learning more?  Contact us.  

Are you looking for illustrations?  Please wait for the follow up posts.  Those posts will not be found here but will be on the blog Tea Tour Korea 2013.  Follow that blog to learn more as Tea Tour Korea 2013 becomes a reality.

Tom's Moldy Pu-erh: What Would You Do?

For a number of years I have been interested in tea and teaware.  I enjoy a wide variety of teas including pu-erh.  There is a particular large 'black oil' pu-erh made by a Korean master in Yunnan but sold in Korea that I particularly enjoy.  But what little expertise I have regarding teas is limited to Korean teas.  That limited knowledge didn't seem to bother my friend Tom.  Tom had been to China and became interested in pu-erh tea.  Tom lives in Georgia in a fairly damp climate.  He is often plagued with mold in his home. Recently he called me to ask what he should do with the mold he is getting on his pu-erh.  I guess he thought I could help.  I told him I couldn't be of much help on this subject.  I called a friend who knows teas quite well but he too couldn't help because he knows how to prevent the mold and has never had to deal with it.  So I'm hoping some of you readers can help.

As you can see the mold is gray not the yellow mold that I'm told can be toxic.  I have also heard that one can simply brush it off with a dry toothbrush.

But 'common sense' tells me there is more to this situation than simply 'brushing it off".  Wouldn't that affect the taste of the tea?   In addition that won't solve his general moldy tea problem.  I suggested that Tom buy a dehumidifier for his house  and that If he does 'brush off' the tea that he should also blow it off with his air-gun to get rid of any mold pores that will remain on the tea after the brushing.  But basically, I'm wondering if he shouldn't just throw the tea away and take precautions to prevent it in the future.  Of course there is the other big issue for Tom.  He bought the tea while in China and really hates to throw it away.  What would you do?

Here is a closer look.

Here is an even closer look.

So, what would you do?
     

The World of Korean Ceramics: Available Book

 

This is a very quick post on the availability of the book The World of Korean Ceramics.  

I recently was able to make arrangements with the surviving author of this book Dr. Alan Covell for us to handle sales of the remaining copies of this out of print book.  Several of you have contacted me about this book but it was not yet available.  Now it is available, please contact me again if you are still interested.  I will accept orders in the order I receive them after this post. 

The book will be signed by Dr. Covell.   The price is $35.00.  The original price of this book at the time of its publication was $39.50.  I realize that this is slightly higher than some used copies.  However a blog based on the content of this book is being developed and will be available only to those who have obtained the book from this source.  All proceeds from the sale of this book will go toward our work promoting ceramics particularly Korean.  We are interested only in those who truly want to possess this book for personal research.

Contents:

 1. The Prehistoric World

 2. The Horserider-Shamanist World

 3. The Buddhist World

 4. The Confucian World

 5.  The Japanese World

One my wonder why Japan.  This is part of Korea's influence on Japanese pottery including Chanoyu, Japanese gains in the "Pottery War" and more

 6.  The Modern World

  

 Each section provides very interesting and rare information.

Appendices

Included are chronological tables, kiln Illustrations and maps of Koryo kilns, partial list of musuems and major Korean collections, bibliography, and maps of porcelain and buncheong (punch'ong) kiln sites.  

The book is richly illustrated.

This is just one of the many pages of illustration found in this book.  All of these Korean chawan are in Japanese museums. In case you are interested, the text below these chawan reads:

No one individual could take *Hideyoshi, who first was hospitable to the Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries, as his predecessor Nobunaga had been, by 1587 came to see that they presented a rival power, a rival loyalty, and he demanded absolute obedience from his subjects.  Kyushu had been difficult to conquer, and was not under such strong control because of its distance from his center of power (Kyoto-Osaka).  By sending troops only from the maritime provinces of Kyushu and western Japan, Hideoshi revealed his wariness of these strongly Christian areas.

Dr. Jon Covell now deceased was a learned scholar of both Japanese and Korean.  She was the first person to earn her doctorate in Japanese studies and lived in the Daitoku-Ji Japan for 10 years doing extensive research.  Daitoku-Ji temple houses many famous chawan.  Then she also lived in Korea for 10 years doing extensive research there as well.  That is where we first met.  Her son Dr. Alan Covell is a leading authority on Korean Shamanism and scholar on many aspects of Korean and Japanese culture. 

Again if you are interested in getting a copy of this book signed by Dr. Alan Covell, please contact me and include your shipping address and phone number.  I'll email you a PDF invoice and explain payment arrangements.

 


 

Jung Ki Bong's Travel Tea Set

   Jung Ki Bong is a third generation celadon artist from Haenam, South Korea, not far from the famous city of Gangjin.  Some consider him to be one of Korea's best celadon artists for his mastery in carving and inlay.  The walls of his showroom are lined with many well deserved awards and he receives several million KRW for this work.

 

 

a Jung Ki Bong Double Walled Jar 

A close-up view

Jung Ki Bong is so respected that the Gangjin International Celadon Festival invites him to present the celadon carving workshop for the International ceramic artists who visit that festival each year.  Here he is demonstrating for the American artist Bryan Van Benschloten.

Jung Ki Bong (center) with Bryan

   Jung Ki Bong, whose wife is a tea master, also makes great very reasonably priced teaware including a really exciting lotus travel tea set. 

 Another View

   The lotus flower, the symbol of enlightenment in Buddhism, is a perfect choice on which to base this beautiful teaset.  

   Additional images of teasets by Jung Ki Bong and other artists will be posted on our teaware blog in the near future.   Become a follower of that blog to be informed when they are available to see and for purchase.  Contact us if you would like to be on the  purchase waiting list.

   Turning to Korean tea.  Throughout Korea the "pick" has begun.  It has been a great growing season for tea, especially compared to 2011, and we are eagerly anticipating the results.  

   Morning Crane Tea will be offering a number of new teas from several great Korean tea producers.   We want to bring you some really unusual and very special offerings.  Some of these new teas will be available wholesale but most will only be available through us retail and in very limited quantities.  Because our goal is simply to help expose you to some great Korean teas we will making no profit on some of the teas we will be offering.  To be among the first to learn what will be available please email us to be placed on that list.  Also watch the new blog develop at Tea at Morning Crane Tea.  Follow that blog to learn about our new teas as they become available.