Brewing Korean Nokcha, Ddeokcha & Citrus Tea

Brewing Korean Nokcha, Ddeokcha & Citrus

 

 

Nokcha

I have been asked to reveal my way of brewing Korean green teas (nokcha) particularly Sejak, and also how to brew the ancient, but still relatively new to the Western market, Korean tea - Ddeokcha.

I usually don’t offer suggestions for brewing, as most of my clients are tea enthusiasts and don’t need advice. However, these wild and semi wild organically grown deep-rooted Korean teas are a little different, and ddeokcha and Lady Hadong's Citrus Tea3 are relatively new to the Western market.

The big thing to remember about Korean green tea is to infuse it for seconds not minutes.

That last comment is also the basic crux of what Brother Anthony co-author of The Korean Way of Tea has suggested. He, like me, is very hesitant to make brewing recommendations. Brother Anthony’s other suggestion is simply that we should not be shy about the heat. These hand pickled and hand processed organically grown leaves from older deep rooted plants can take the heat - yes, even the green teas.

The tea master Kim Jong Yeol explains this, “Normally, we know, the water for green teas must be cooled down to 70C (160F) or lower, but that is for machine picked, machine-processed leaves that have crushed and broken leaves that have been machine roasted. 

The crushed and broken leaves of these other teas allows some tea leaf flavors to emerge that are weakened or destroyed by using very hot water, so most often the water is cooled down to 70C or below.

The higher temperature for my teas allows all the flavor elements like amino acid, catechin and polyphenol to emerge.”(1)

This is true for leaves from all organically grown, deep-rooted hand picked and hand processed tea plants. I must also note that Master Kim’s teas are excellent and he is the winner of the 2019 Hadong Tea Festival Award for Best Green Tea.

After this drawn out introduction you might guess, and would be correct, that I’m still hesitant to make brewing recommendations. However, I set out to do so and although I believe there is no magic in “my way”, here it is.

My Way:

A. I use 3-4g tea leaves with 100ml good water in a Korean yeohanggi (shiboridashi) aka traveling tea set or a small 100ml teapot.

By using the term “good water” I mean that the quality of the water is very important. Water from wells is not the best for tea, spring water is preferred especially that with little or no limestone.

B. Near the beginning of the water heating process before adding the tea leaves and before the water reaches full temperature, I heat the yeohanggi or teapot and it’s cup(s).

C. Then I add the leaves and splash a little hot water on the leaves at (120f-160f or 49c-70c) to wake the leaves. As mentioned, these leaves are from deep-rooted plants and can take the heat.

D. The brewing temp is between 160f and 190f or 70c and 90c. I like to adjust the temperatures to leaf size. Smaller leaves lower temp. (With Woojeon I will go lower in temperature to taste. I do this mostly because it was ingrained in me to brew Woojeon at 140f or 60c. So psychologically I lean that direction but seldom go that low. The common temperature for Sejak is 70c or about 160f (2). I normally go much hotter. The 1st infusion is 30-40sec. If you infuse too long the best teas can become bitter. My second infusion is about 10sec followed by several other infusions while increasing the time and most often the water temperature. I adjust the time relative to the quantity of leaf ratio to water that would give me more or fewer infusions.

Because I am using a yeohanggi or a small teapot, all the tea is decanted into the cup(s). With larger teapots I quickly decant all the tea into a warmed cooling bowl or serving teapot to insure consistency.

How many infusions are possible? One client claimed 15 infusions but did not share leaf weight etc. I usually get 6-8 sometimes more. These leaves have a lot to give. I get 4 infusions with tiny amounts of leaf (1.5g).

To increase the number of infusions, Korean tea masters simply add a small amount of additional leaves to the pot.

While I obviously am hesitant to share my brewing strategies I do enjoy hearing others. One of my tea friends, Eric Glass of The Fragrant Cup and the interesting tea blog Tea Crimes, has evolved a strategy for brewing Korean green teas. As the lead detective for Tea Crimes, perhaps he has solved the “Green Tea Mystery”.

Eric claims that using this method the tea is both sweeter and more infusions are possible.

Eric’s method is inspired by the method used by Ha Ilnam the president of Dong Cheon Tea.

Eric’s Nokcha (Green Tea) Infusion Method:

After the preliminaries:

1.            Using lukewarm water, barely cover the tea leaves and soak them for 20 seconds.

2.            Fill the pot with hotter water at 200f - 212f for 10-20 seconds. Yes boiling. Try it only with these leaves from deep rooted plants - the leaves we offer at Morning Crane Tea. 

3.            Pour out all the tea and enjoy.

 

Brewing Ddeokcha

Korean ddeokcha or tteokcha is perhaps the oldest form of tea in Korea. Ddeokcha producers tell me its production and use dates to Korea’s Three Kingdom Period (57BC-667AD).

Ddeokcha is a post fermented tea but the artisan producers are united in telling me it is a green tea and only one has discussed making ddeokcha from balhyocha tea.

Brewing Ddeokcha Coins

 

1 coin to 1 liter of spring H2O.

Roast the coin in a hot pan like a frying pan turning the coin with chopsticks or use the traditional method and hold it over hot coals of glowing bamboo charcoal to roast. DO NOT BURN.

Many brew without the roasting process but roasting reduces some of the ‘green’ qualities and enhances the flavor.

Method 1: Bring the water to a boil in a glass kettle. When the water in the kettle is boiling, place the coin in and continue to boil for 30 minutes.

Pour the tea into a warmed teapot or cooling bowl and then into cups. Enjoy. Note: Some simply remove the ddeokcha coin and leave the glass kettle on the burner to keep the tea hot. Some extend the infusion time by simmering the coin longer.

For the second infusion use 600ml water and repeat as above.

Some producers suggest that the coins can be dried and used later for up to 3 or 4 times.

Method 2: This is a classic method often uses with wafer shaped ddeokcha. We have not been able to identify a producer who will offer us wafer shaped ddeokcha for our clients. The method also works with ddeokcha coins.  Boil the coin for 5 min on full boil and than reducing the heat to a simmer. Simmering the coin might last for up to 3hr while checking color and taste.

Note: Traditional ddeokcha coins age well and get better with age. Because they age so well, each year the price per piece increases. So if you like ddeokcha, buy it now and store some for future use.

Brewing Lady Hadong's Citrus Teas3

 

 

We are offering Lady Hadong's Citrus teas for the first time this year. It is brewed with tea and rind included use the amount you wish and save some for later infusions.  

The tea company Liquid Proust who also sells some of Lady Hadong's teas created a video on brewing it. Here is a LINK to that video. Note: Lady Hadong brews this tea a little differently than Andrew essentially for a longer period as in her image above. Try different methods.

We sell this tea essentially at our cost It comes in various sizes at various prices. 

 

(1) Kim Jong Yeol’s statement is from my article: Kim Jong Yeol: From Tea Plant to Cup. It is also found on my FB Page and the Internet.

(2) I am aware that most of my Fahrenheit to Centigrade equivalents are not precise.

(3) Don't confuse Lady Hadong's Citrus Tea with Koran citron tea also made with yuja. That tea has no tea leaves and is made combining yaju and honey. The recipe is on the web.