I first tried this tea in a gaiwan, brewed at about 80 C, which is how I brew most green teas. Like this, it was underwhelming and slightly bitter.
However, I did notice that the wet leaves had a strong umami scent, and so decided to try steeping it like I would gyukuro: very low temperature, high leaf-to-water ratio, in a medium-sized kyusu (210 ml), and with a long initial steep time. This worked far better! The wet leaves smelled vegetal, with a lot of umami and only a slight sharpness – between a gyokuro and a sencha. The flavour was vegetal, but lighter than most gyokuros.
I didn’t expect to find a tea in this style produced outside Japan, but this was pretty good, especially for the price. Other green teas I’ve tried from Korea have been more like sencha or even Chinese greens, so this was a fun and interesting surprise.
Flavors: Astringent, Broth, Smooth, Umami, Vegetal
I really like Simpson & Vail’s Korean Joongjak Organic Green, though that was not a tea I bought this year, so who knows with a new harvest.