Wednesday, December 7, 2011

2011 Kim Jong Yeol (Butea) Jungjak Hwagae Valley Green Tea


This tea is available for purchase from Martin at Tea Mountain. This 15 gram sample was kindly gifted from Pedro of Daotea. This is another tea from the hands of Kim Jong Yeol, this one was produced on the second week of May- a Jungjak grade. Interestingly, this tea was prepared with the usual amount of dry leaves and yielded quite unexciting results. The second time preparing this tea a very liberal amount of dry leaf was used and the results were quite nice. The following notes are from this second attempt at these dry leaves on a cool fall late afternoon...


These soft sugary-sweet smelling, longish, darker green dry leaves are prepared and the first infusion is enjoyed. It pours a pale green with very light sweet foresty taste which presents first and finishes with a very soft sugary sweet bean finish. The mouthfeel is dry and soft and covers the mouth and throat.


The second infusion has that same very light intial taste, this time it seems slightly creamy this lighter presentation moves into a forest base. There is a very soft, faint, forest-creamy, sugary-sweet finish. The mouthfeel is a touch dry and moves the saliva away from the surface of the tongue but at the same time makes the mouth salivate- the effect is subtle.


Infusion number three offers vivid, crisp, soft and creamy-sweet greens. These tastes fade into a very soft frosty sweet sugary orchid aftertaste.

The fourth infusion is even more crisp and fresh but still relatively soft and mild. There is an undercurrent of sugary sweet notes under the whole taste profile. A barely fruity sweetness is detected just under the surface of these sweet notes. A sugary wood taste holds the base of this tea steady. This tea is very pure tasting and when steeped right can be refreshing especially for a jungjak grade.


The fifth infusion is similar to the last infusion but with deeper, dry, woody-forest notes starting to increasingly sneak into the fray. The fullness and depth of this tea is realized here in these later infusions. The aftertaste is of sweet, long, fruity notes.

In the sixth infusion drier wood notes now dominate with very little fresh vibrant green left- instead deeper forest notes reside in each sip. A dry, barely fruity aftertaste lingers before fading away. The tea is drying in the throat. The qi ascends to the head and softly releases as it climbs softly into the mind.


The seventh and eight infusions offer somewhat bitter, dry, gritty wood with flashes of muddled long forest fruit taste that disappears fast as it arrives. The aftertaste is light but is of a deeper forest taste. The mouthfeel is dry and descends deeper into the throat.

Peace

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