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A green tea tasting
March 2010

Jade Pole Supreme Yunnan green tea from Yunnan Sourcing
Yunnan Bao Hong spring 2009 early green tea from Yunnan Sourcing
Jeong Seon green tea from Hankook (a summer green tea, picked around the solstice)
Jeung Je ‘not fermented’ green tea (label says www.sulloc.co.kr and nothing else in English)

I could hardly wait to try the new Korean green teas I bought last week.  They are quite interesting, seeming a bit like a cross between a long jing and a sencha, and clearly a bit tricky to brew.  The two Yunnan greens are quite similar to the Yunnan Mao Feng I got from Norbu.   I would like to compare these last three together another time to get a better handle on the subtle differences between them, but doubt that I’ll feel a need to keep all three different kinds on hand at the same time in  the future.

Used 1.8 grams of tea in small 40 mL gaiwans
Infusions 160°F/71°C-170°F/77°C
30”,  30” (probably too long, with all the bitterness coming out), 30”

Jade Pole Supreme Yunnan green tea from Yunnan Sourcing

Dry Leaves:  long twists of intact leaves, camphor, vegetal, grassy aroma
Liquor, 1st infusion:  pale ivory liquor; mild, camphor, floral
Liquor, 2nd infusion:  peachy, sweet, camphor
Liquor, 3rd infusion: peachy, sweet, camphor, first astringency, hints of bitterness
Wet Leaves: beautifully intact yellow-green leaves, in pairs of one very small bud and one larger leaf


Yunnan Bao Hong spring 2009 early green tea from Yunnan Sourcing

Dry Leaves:   flat thin small leaves and fragments, some stems, scent of hay, grass
Liquor, 1st infusion:  yellow liquor; thicker body; hay, warm, less camphor, but very similar to the Jade Pole
Liquor, 2nd infusion: nutty, dark, vegetal, astringent
Liquor, 3rd infusion:  sweet, vegetal, bit nutty, but much less astringent
Wet Leaves: more broken pieces, leaves are quite  small, yellow-green,and also mostly buds and small leaves

Jaksul green tea from Hankook

Dry Leaves:  curled small leaves and fragments, sweet, woodsy, piney
Liquor, 1st infusion:   green clear liquor; grassy, a little sweet
Liquor, 2nd infusion: more astringent, even bitter, still grassy
Liquor, 3rd infusion:  nutty, vegetal, mildly astringent
Wet Leaves: larger, broken leaves, fairly flat, very deep green

Jeung Je ‘not fermented’ green tea (label says www.sulloc.co.kr and nothing else in English)

Dry Leaves:   very thin flat leaves, deepest green, sweet grass scent
Liquor, 1st infusion:   green clear liquor; grassy, sweet, vegetal
Liquor, 2nd infusion:  liquor very bright deep yellow; astringent, grassy, some bitterness
Liquor, 3rd infusion:  astringency,  grassy, vegetal
Wet Leaves:  broken leaves, very curly even now, hard to flatten,  darker green than the first two but less than the Jaksul

Photos:
Upper left Jade Pole Supreme Yunnan green tea from Yunnan Sourcing
Upper right Yunnan Bao Hong spring 2009 early green tea from Yunnan Sourcing
Lower left Jeong Seon Jaksul green tea from Hankook
Lower right Jeung Je ‘not fermented’ green tea (label says www.sulloc.co.kr and nothing else in English)

dry leaves

dry leaves

liquor

wet leaves

wet leaves

Jeong Seon Jaksul Green Tea from Hankook

Tea tin  tea tin

Jeung Je "Not Fermented" Green Tea

tea tin  tea tins  

label

Update:  I brewed the Korean greens again, and with a little more care--sipping to determine when the infusions were ready--and the "Jeung Je" was more delicate and interesting, really quite like a sencha, but a briny sencha.  It doesn't really fit my preferred flavor profile, and I doubt I'll buy it again, but if you like your sencha deep, green briny, this might be one for you.  The liquor was particularly full bodied and pleasant.  The Jeong Seon is interesting, with a very dominant flavor element that is a little peachy but also something else that I just can't figure out how to describe.  I'll finish what I have, but probably won't seek it out again for a while.


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