Boseong Jungjak Nokcha

Boseong Jungjak Nokcha tea is a bright and grassy late spring green tea from a fully organic plantation run by the Choi family in Boseong County. The wiry leaves produce a light green liquor with a vegetal aroma. The taste is smooth with mouth-coating, umami, vegetal and citrus flavours.

The 2021 harvest of this tea will be available in our shop late August 2021.

Brewing guide: 2.5g in 250ml water at 70°C for 2-3 minutes

(10-50g)

This product is currently out of stock and unavailable.

View wishlist
Category:
Origin:Boseong County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea
Elevation:160m
Cultivar:Native Korean Cultivar
Harvest time:Early May 2017
Sourcing:Direct from the Choi family

Description

Boseong Jungjak Nokcha (보성군 중작 녹차) is an organic green tea from the Choi family plantation. Located in the famous Boseong County of South Jeolla Province, they produce some classic teas that all have a distinctive ‘Korean’ taste and unique characters. The spring Jungjak (중작) grade is plucked in early May and is the third flush. This tea has full organic certification, was picked in 2017 and is sourced by us directly from the Choi family.

We visited the Choi family plantation in early spring of 2017. While still being early for the first harvest of the year we were able to see their beautiful plantation and facilities. The family has owned this plantation for 3 generations and the tea making knowledge passes down from one generation to the next. Sampling some of the teas, our particular favourite was a traditional fermented tea, or Hwangcha, handmade by Mr Choi’s grandmother according to her secret recipe. We were equally impressed by the classic green and black teas offered by the Choi family plantation. They take great care in producing their organic teas and this results in some fantastic teas that showcase unusual traditional Korean tea flavours.

Boseong Tea Plantation, South Jeolla Province, South Korea 3
The Choi family plantation, Boseong, South Korea

Korean teas are distinguished by having a clear classification system of flushes. The first flush Ujeon (우전) is the most prized one, which is the ‘pre-rain’ picking of the tea leaves. This is followed by Sejak (세작) ‘thin sparrow’, Jungjak (중작) ‘medium sparrow’ and Daejak (대작) ‘big sparrow’ flushes. These names refer to the shape and size of the leaves and their resemblance to sparrow tongues. The earlier the harvest, the more expensive the tea is. Earlier harvests also have more intense characteristics and heavily feature dominant green, savoury and umami flavours.

The types of tea produced in South Korea broadly follow the types everyone is used to from other countries, however they do have interesting classification and a distinct terminology. We tend to follow the Korean terminology at Curious Tea in order to accurately describe the type of tea on offer. Broadly speaking, there are four types of tea produced. Nokcha (녹차) green tea is the most common type and is an unoxidised green tea. Hwangcha (황차) ‘yellow tea’ is a partially oxidised tea that is unique to Korea. It is not the same a either yellow tea from China or oolong tea, but rather is a wide range of partially oxidised and sometimes partially fermented teas from Korea. Each tea master will have their own version of Hwangcha and their own unique method of production so it is extremely difficult to exactly define this type of tea. Hongcha (홍차) ‘red tea’ is a fully oxidised tea that is closest Korea produces to a ‘traditional’ black tea. Finally there is the very rare Tteokcha (떡차) ‘cake tea’ and Doncha (돈차) ‘money tea’ that are both post fermented shaped dark teas akin to pu-erh.

This tea is a Nokcha (녹차), meaning it is a green tea. It is processed as a classic green tea according to the traditional way of tea processing in Korea, resulting in a style that is somewhat similar to a Japanese green tea. This Boseong Jungjak Nokcha has small twisted dark green leaves with a fresh vegetal aroma. The liquor has a bright yellow-green colour with a savoury vegetal taste. It is light but quite grassy and smooth, with a mouth-coating texture. The flavours are savoury and umami, with notes of citrus and a creamy finish.

It is best brewed at 70°C for 2-3 minutes and should be brewed multiple times.

We offer a whole range of teas from the Choi family plantation: Sejak Nokcha, Sejak Hongcha and Sejak Hwangcha, Jungjak Nokcha and Jungjak Hongcha and Daejak Hongcha.

Boseong Jungjak Nokcha green tea was first featured in our February 2018 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.