The Dry leaf appearance is small twisted leaves with a good amount of what I believe to be buds, with its aroma fresh and pine like with hints of grass and unidentifiable flowers.
Quick rinse with boiling water (don't even bother to fill the pot up all the way just cover the leaves) and immediately pour off. The rinse had wonderful aromas of Pine, corn and an unidentifiable berry (goose berry, red current,...).
The infusions in general have a rather light but incredibly pleasant aroma which just teases the senses. The first infusions taste was rather potent, though in no way over powering or overbearing, though I had a really hard time identifying the taste, I might have to go with a bean like taste (now that Matt has me looking for it in teas, I am noticing it more and more and more). But possibly slight hints of a chocolate and hazelnuts?
The second infusion was significantly lighter on the taste profile, and reminded me of nice fresh leafy vegetables. In the third infusion somehow I was getting a citrus profile.
This tea had a powerful Mellowing/ Depressing Qi that struck me after the 3rd infusion, and in general was incredibly cooling and refreshing. I went for 8 infusions with this tea before I had to give up, it probably could have went a bit more, but after 8 infusions I had a stomach about to burst with tea.
Admire the teaware,
sniff the venerable leaf,
drink up its goodness.
--Adam Yusko
5 comments:
Adam, you didn't really use "boiling water" on this tea, did you?
Wonderful writing, I really felt like i was there drinking with you and smelling the aromas after the light rinse.
I've never had any Korean tea before and was wondering if you rinse all greens or only ones from Korea. It's pretty impressie that it went for 8 infusions; i'm not used to such stamina with a green tea.
Thanks for the introduction to an unfamiliar tea,
@chanteashop
Bret,
I should have explicitly stated, I used boiling water only for the flash rinse. I've heard it helps loosen up the tea oils and allows them to come out even with the very low brewing temps, as my first infusion is often closer to 55 Celsius or possibly slightly lower, and then I slowly raise the temperature from there.
Chan,
I think my response to Bret explains why I rinse Korean greens, and it is mainly to give them a slight nudge as the brewing temperatures start so low.
Adam, I've never seen tea people in Korea do a flash rinse on sejak. This kind of thing is usually reserved for oolongs and roasted teas, and Puerhs, too. Greens are delicate. I love to start slowly with them. 55C is good, building up that subtle, complex, flavor. Hmm. Wish I had some right now. :)
Ho Go,
I honestly do it both ways, and should I actually do the flash rinse, the next steep is with 55 C water. When I do not rinse I just go straight to the 55 degree water.
I honestly like it both ways, and I may have to try each side by side to adequately describe the differences, as it does offer a different experience.
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