Saturday, September 20, 2008

2008 Nok Ya Won Wild Hadong Ddok Cha


This was a delightful sample of traditional Korean style tea that I received from Matt. If you haven't visited his blog yet, you don't know what you're missing. I often go over there just to see his wonderful photos.

According to Matt, "this tea was produced in eight steps. The first step involves the hand picking of this tea, in the clean and serene Jiri Mountain valley at a wild tea plantation just outside Hadong on the 10th of May, 2008. Secondly, the tea is dried in a large, gas-fired aluminum cauldron for 20 minutes. This acts to partially stop its oxidization. Next, the tea is removed from the cauldron and is placed on a rough, fibrous rush mat where it is violently rolled by hand. At this step the leaves break a little giving way to a reaction between tea and air. Then the tea is shade dried where it is exposed to the open air of the mountain valley for 48 hours. Next, the tea is separated and weighed into 100 gram piles. Then the leaves are steamed to soften them. When the leaves are supple they are pressed into cakes. Finally, they are left to dry in a warm room for 3-5 days."


According to Cha Dao, ddok cha "is a form of Korean compressed tea. The term ddok refers to the pounding method used to process the tea. In tradition, a pestle and mortar or a mallet and plank were employed. The name ddok is popularly thought to come from the sound of pounding with a large, wooden mallet on a large, thick wood plank: ddok, ddok, ddok."

The leaves smell fruity and light, similar to many Chinese greens I've had. When put in a heated kyusu, a caramelized sweetness emerges. The tea itself is light, fruity, sweet, with a distinct green finish and a delicate but full mouthfeel with layers of nuance. Everything that I like about Chinese green tea, only better.


Matt, thanks so much for my first introduction to Korean tea.

9 comments:

Brent said...

Mmm, this is good stuff. I'm glad you liked it too.

Brent

Anonymous said...

Is that wooden thing in the picture for cutting pu-ers or just for effect. It looks pretty cool.

Space Samurai said...

green tea lover:

more or less for effect; it was part of the theme through the pictures, knife, spoon, fork, but I did use it to pry apart the leaves. It's part of a set of bamboo utensils from Totally Bamboo.

Matt said...

The nuances are what make ddok cha, ddok cha. Glad you enjoyed it. Your blog is also enjoyed on a regular basis. Thanks.

Peace

Jamus said...

A friend of mine introduced me to ddok-cha recently and I've got an order on the way. I'm eager to taste it and will definitely share my thoughts with you when it arrives. Nice blog, by the way. I've been reading for a little while, but this is the first time I've stopped by to say hello. ^__^

jamus~

Space Samurai said...

Hi Jamus, thanks for stopping by.

Tealover said...

Thanks for the informative post on Korean green tea. I really enjoyed reading your article. Just one thing I would like to comment on is the word 'ddok'. 'Ddok' means poisons in Korean while 'cha' refers to tea. The correct Korean language for green tea is 'Nokcha' - although 'Nok' means green in Korean, green tea (Nokcha) is just one word in Korean. For more information on Korean tea, read this http://visitkorea.or.kr/enu/FO/FO_EN_6_3_3.jsp

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Allen said...

I enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing