Tag Archives: Tea

South Korean Green Tea

Tea Photo from Republic of Korea

Like Japan and China, tea in South Korea has been very much influenced by Buddhism. The introduction of tea to Korea initially occurred somewhere around the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392 AD) at a time when the king would give tea as gifts to religious leaders and the military. It was also incorporated into funeral rituals in the form of tea boxes placed with the deceased. Unlike Japan and China, however, tea was not reserved for the upper classes and in fact was enjoyed by all classes in the country.

Tea, however, was not to last in South Korea. At the start of the Choson dynasty, which ushered in Confucianism as the replacement for Buddhism, tea was pushed to the background. Tea was heavily taxed, the tea fields destroyed, and many Buddhist temples destroyed. What little was left of the tea industry in South Korea was crushed in the Seven Year War with Japan. Most of the remaining tea fields were destroyed and many South Koreans skilled in pottery and other crafts were taken and forced to work in Japan.

Korean Tea Set

Though it had never died out completely, tea began its re-introduction in the 1800’s by Confucian scholar Chong Yag-yong who in turn passed along knowledge for drinking and producing tea to the Buddhist monk Cho ui who wrote a poem praising tea. Then from 1945-1970 tea culture grew substantially with schools and universities devoted to tea and ultimately the writing of The Way of Tea by Hyo Dang. (Jane Pettigrew, 2008)

Green tea field in Boseong, Jeollanam-do South Korea

Today most tea is grown in the southern part of South Korea, with the Boseong area producing nearly 40% of all tea grown in the country. Virtually all tea produced in South Korea is green tea grown on plantations that were formed from the 1930’s onward (Boseong County, 2014). Though tea production for the Republic of Korea is on the rise it still doesn’t rank anywhere among the top growers. In 2012 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates it produced 3,000 tons of tea while Japan produced 85,900 tons and China produced 1.7 Million tons (United Nations, 2014).

Tea production in South Korea is generally from new growth coming in April and May. Tea produced before April 20^th or Kok-u are referred to as Ujon and are the most sought after and highest priced. Sejak is produced between April 20^th and May 5-6, or Ipha. After May 5-6 the tea produced is referred to as Chungjak with tea produced beyond May not considered to have the right qualities for good tea.

In Korea, like Japan, tea may be finished using industrial methods for drying and rolling or by hand. There are two primary methods for crafting the finished products, resulting in Puch’o-ch’a and Chung-ch’a. For Puch’o-ch’a the tea leaves are heated in an iron pan then removed and rolled, repeatedly alternating between heat and rolling until the finished product is produced. For Chung-ch’a the tea leaves are immersed in near boiling water then removed and drained for several hours before being rolled and dried over a fire with no rest until fully dried (Anthony, 2014).

According to United Nations FAO statistics, the Republic of Korea production has generally been on the rise over the past ten years. This is promising since Korean tea can only add to the breadth of experience in your tea experience. South Korean tea can be had though one hopes for greater availability and diversity in the options over the coming years.

Have you tried South Korean tea? What do you think of it?

Works Cited

Anthony, B. (2014, 04 3). Making Tea in Korea. Retrieved from Brother Anthony/An Sonjae: http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/kortea07.htm

Boseong County. (2014, 04 3). Green Tea Plantation. Retrieved from Boseong County, Jeollanamdo, South Korea: http://english.boseong.go.kr/index.boseong?menuCd=DOM_000001404000000000

Jane Pettigrew & Bruce Richardson, B. R. (2008). The New Tea Companion. Perryville, KY: Benjamin Press.

United Nations. (2014, 04 3). FAOSTAT Gateway. Retrieved from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: http://faostat3.fao.org/faostat-gateway/go/to/download/Q/QC/E

Welcome Zen Tara Tea Fans

Kenyan Tea Industry

2 Replies

If you are an American, it is highly likely you have consumed Kenyan black tea and not even known it. Unilever, parent company to Lipton, is the largest single tea plantation owner in Kenya. Not to turn my nose up at Lipton, because sometimes that is all you can get your hands on in the country that runs on coffee, but what about the other 40% of tea plantations?

A Map of Tea Production Areas in Kenya By Philippe Rekacewicz assisted by Cecile Marin, Agnes Stienne, Guilio Frigieri, Riccardo Pravettoni, Laura Margueritte and Marion Lecoquierre CC BY SA-3.0

The Kenyan tea industry began in earnest in the 1930’s, almost thirty years after the first tea seeds were planted. There are two main areas in Kenya that produce teas located on the east and west of the Great Rift Valley. The Great Rift Valley is a large trench first described by English explorer, John Walter Gregory, that stretches from Syria down to Mozambique. The rift in Kenya is now called the Gregory rift and lies along the edge of two tectonic plates that were once very active volcanic regions. These now dead volcanoes left a very valuable soil base that allows for agriculture to thrive in Kenya. Thanks in part to that soil, Kenya is now the third largest producer of tea on the globe and the largest exporter in Africa. Over 60% of the tea is grown on small farms and sent to one of 62 licensed manufactures that are overseen by the Kenyan Tea Board.

Kericho Tea Plantation By Victor O’ (Flickr) CC By SA-2.0

These manufacturing facilities are within 50 km (31 miles) of the farms they have an agreement with and the Kenyan Tea Board heavily regulates which manufacturers serve which farmers and only allow for a farm to do business with one manufacturer. The manufacturers combine all the delivered teas to produce their end product. So, unfortunately, if you want a single estate tea from Kenya you have to look to larger growers who also own the manufacturing process.

Even on the larger plantations, most of the tea is harvested by hand with the Kenyan Tea Board promoting the two leaves and a bud standard for plucking. This is not that surprising when put into context around Kenya’s overall economy, which is still very much agrarian. It has introduced a host of challenges for larger companies like Unilever, which faced a strike by its workers in 2007 concerning wages. Much to Unilever’s credit they have been very open with the public on the wages and benefits they provide their workers and how they have worked to improve these.

Tea Field – Kenya, By Shared Interest (Flickr) CC By 2.0

The majority of the Kenyan tea is manufactured using the Crush-Tear-Curl method or CTC. There are some teas produced with the more traditional methods but in much smaller quantities that are harder to find outside of the country. Even with the CTC method, Kenyan black tea carries a strong distinctive taste that holds up to milk and sugar or even just being drunk straight.

Have you had Kenyan tea? What is your favorite?

Japanese Tea Culture

Leave a reply

A number of years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Japan on business. It was only for two weeks but I dare say it changed me, far more than any other foreign travel had to date. Perhaps it was the right time in my life or perhaps it was being a bit overwhelmed traveling solo throughout Tokyo and Kyoto. Either way, by the end of the trip I found myself a full on tea convert who loved sushi; very big changes in my life, which set the stage for me to look at Japanese tea culture a bit more closely.

Very old painting of Emperor Saga of Japan.

Emperor Saga of Japan (9th Century)

Tea made its way to Japan via cultural exchange back in the 9^th century through religious interactions with China. According to legend, tea was brought to Japan by a Buddhist monk who traveled to China and on returning home served it to Emperor Saga. For his part Emperor Saga enjoyed tea enough that he supported the initial cultivation of tea plants in Japan even though it didn’t spread widely at the time.

Japanese tea culture really started to take shape in the 12^th century. At this time China had developed a new process which was better suited to the storage and transport of tea without it rotting. This new process involved steaming, grinding and forming cakes of powdered tea. One would then break a bit off the cake to make tea. Another visiting Buddhist monk, Eisai, traveled to China and brought back the powdered tea, seeds, and knowledge to support the preparation of the powered tea. Eisai is credited with the introduction of the tencha style of tea preparation, where hot water was added to the powdered tea, or matcha, and whipped into a thick froth. Integration with religious ritual and adoption by ruling classes drove the import of more tea plants from China and cultivation expanded further.

Photo of frothy green tea made by whisking powdered tea and water.

Green Tea Matcha and Whisk by Kefisreal

Over time, the Japanese Tea Ceremony, also known as The Way of Tea, chanoyu, chadō, or sadō, developed as a distinct ritual. Initially developed and performed by Buddhist monks, the ceremony has historically been performed by men. According to Etsuko Kato, author of The Tea Ceremony and Women’s Empowerment in Modern Japan, starting in the 20^th century, wealthy women and doctors began learning about tea and practicing the ritual, and today about half of those practicing chadō are middle class women and housewives (Spinks, 2012)

It was around the 13^th century that the game of tōcha developed, in which participants would taste teas and try to guess the region from which it came. Held in a kissa-no-tei and hosted by a teishu, or tea gathering host, it was a betting game with the winners receiving luxurious prizes. While tōcha started out as a game for elites, it ultimately helped spread tea gatherings across Japan. (Greater Victoria Gallery of Art, 2014)

Kissaten or Japanese Coffee House by Flickr user Melanie M

Finally, beginning in the late 1800’s, coffee began making inroads into Japan. (Kuniko, 2002) Today, there is much less observation of ritual as many in Japan, as in other countries, seem to have shifted toward a faster pace with more coffee. Where tea and the associated ritual that comes with it used to sit one now finds the kissaten, or coffee houses, favored for the relaxed atmosphere and light fare, and more recently chains like Starbucks throughout.

Despite the increase in coffee however, tea continues to have immense popularity in Japan. Almost all domestic production is consumed within Japan as loose leaf, matcha, bottled ready-to-drink teas, or other tea products. In fact, a recent resurgence in popularity for matcha has even resulted in its importation from China.

What’s your take? Have you been to Japan or are you from there? Have you noticed any particularly interesting changes in the culture and ritual of modern Japanese Tea Culture?

Works Cited

Greater Victoria Gallery of Art. (2014, March 20). Tocha: A Game of Tea. Retrieved from Tea: A Journey: http://tea.aggv.ca/teachers-activities-tocha.asp

Kuniko, S. (2002, March 15). Coffee Shop Culture. Retrieved from Nipponia: http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia20/en/topic/index.html

Spinks, R. (2012, April 28). Steeped in Tradition: Japanese Women and the Modern Tea Ceremony. Retrieved from ecosalon: http://ecosalon.com/steeped-in-tradition-japanese-women-and-the-modern-tea-ceremony/

What is Earl Grey Tea Really?

Earl Grey – The Fruit of the Bergamot Tree

Bergamot is a citrus fruit about the size of an orange that is not eaten by humans, but grown for the oil produced in the rind of the fruit. If you were to try it, it is supposedly less sour than a lemon but more sour than a grapefruit. Prior to becoming the key ingredient in the world’s most famous flavored tea, it was the base to perfumes. Historical records show that bergamot appeared in the first perfumes in the 1700’s made by Farina (LaCapra, 2013). Earl Grey tea itself only appeared on the scene in the mid-1800’s.

Earl Grey comes from Reggio Calabria, located in the tip of the boot of Italy.

Reggio Calabria, Growing Region for Bergamot

The bergamot tree has been found in varying regions around the world, but only seems to produce enough oil to be commercially viable in the province of Calabria Reggio in southern Italy. Eighty percent of the essential oil of bergamot produced annually comes from this small region in the tip of Italy’s boot. Much like tea, the intensity, flavor and smell of bergamot oil is affected by its growing location with many growers claiming the limestone and other sediments in the Reggio soil are responsible for a less bitter taste to this bergamot (Arrigo, 2011).

To extract the oil, the fruit is picked and then run through a machine that scrapes the rind off the fruit while in a cold water bath. The water and rind mixture then flows into a centrifuge that then separates the oil from the rest of the mixture. Despite an annual production capacity of approximately one hundred tons, there are over three thousand tons of bergamot oil claimed to be in products or sold on its own in the global marketplace.

Various Flavors of Earl Grey Tea

The essential oil is often adulterated with lesser quality oils, like bitter orange, to stretch the product further. Thanks to modern science, synthetic or artificial bergamot oil is also easily produced. Without a gas chromatograph to prove the differences in properties, it is virtually impossible for the end user to identify natural vs artificial bergamot unless tasting different samples side-by-side. To protect the reputation of its bergamot crop, the Italian government has placed regulations and testing requirements on bergamot to ensure that what is going to marketplace has not been adulterated (Arrigo, 2011).

So when one Earl Grey doesn’t taste like another, don’t be surprised as it is highly likely the bergamot being used is either artificial or thinned with other oils given that demand for the oil far out-strips supply. The other item to look at is the tea base. It is believed that the original base to Earl Grey may have been Keemun given the types of Chinese blacks brought into England at the time. However, many of the teas in the tea bags here in the US are coming out of India, Kenya and Argentina. So that Earl Grey in the grocery store is probably not true to the origins of the tea in the first place. Like tea, bergamot oil tends to change with exposure to light and air. So it is best to buy smaller quantities and drink regularly so the flavor does not fade.

There are more variations to Earl Grey appearing on the marketplace. While it is tempting to discount them, you may find you like many of the blends that are becoming available, like lavender and rose petal. The have added variety to my daily cup of tea. What is your favorite Earl Grey?