Imperial

This is a beautiful green tea! The aroma instantly told me that it was going to be special. It is a sweet, vegetal tea with accents of grass and spinach. I’m loving it!

One of the nicest greens that I’ve tried so far, I think. I may have slightly under-steeped it, but in my experience that’s always better than the opposite. It steeps up a very light yellowish-greenish (but mostly clear) color with a delicate fragrance. When I taste it, there’s a hint of a seaweedish flavor that usually puts me off but in this tea it seems to meld pleasantly with the other notes, so that’s a good sign. And, oddly enough, it’s hardly astringent at all and not at all bitter, which I like a lot. It has a tinge of sweetness, too. Overall pretty great! (As usual, I’m just estimating water temp. Ugh. I need to get a tiny thermometer or something.)

Thanks so much for the sample, Wooree! This green tea is long and twisty. The look of the leaves reminds me more of a Bao Zhong oolong or the biggest leafed Mao Feng tea I’ve seen. The leaves have a lovely fresh vegetal fragrance. The flavor is high up there with the best green teas I’ve ever had the pleasure of sipping. The flavor is sweet and light but complex at the same time – a little brothy, fruity, nutty, buttery. Basically all of the best green tea characteristics in one cup. This is one of those green teas that could easily be the one green tea to represent all green teas in your tea collection, if you only could choose one! The second steep was also very similar – no astringency either. I love green teas that are smooth and also full of flavor. Wooree is described as “Handmade Korean green tea that gives back”. Ten percent of sales go back to South Korean orphans.
Steep #1 // one heaping teaspoon for a full mug// 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
http://www.wooree.co.nz/

Thank you to Wooree for this sample. I have been wanting to begin writing tasting notes again and this seemed like a good tea to start with. I didn’t follow their suggested steeping guidelines my first time with this, although I plan on trying that next. Instead I put 7g in a 120ml gaiwan and gave it a quick rinse. I ended up steeping it for 10s, 10s, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 1min.

This is a very enjoyable tea. It has very strong summer grass/toasted rice flavor that is incredibly similar to a good genmaicha but with more body. Drinking it I kept picturing myself in a field of flowing grasses in the afternoon on a late summer day. It is very warm and welcoming and as I continued to drink it a noticable energizing calm came over me that I usually associate with Japanese greens. I look forward to exploring this more.

This tea is awesome! The leaf is made up of dark forest green curls and tendrils, all chaotically tangled up. These dry leaves give off a fragrant vegetable aroma with a slight spice or pepper undertone. I warmed my kyusu and poured these in. The aroma instantly deepens to a more seaweed and roasted asparagus scent. I washed the leaves briefly and prepared for brewing. The steeped leaves smell amazing! This brew is highly aromatic with nice warm tones of veggies, grass, and steamed greens. The brew is a soft yellow jade color. The taste is superb. The flavor begins with some sweet nectar then it quickly moves into buffalo grass and juicy greens. I note a brief sharp bite that compliments the sweet and vegetal flavors. The aftertaste is a long lasting thick sweetness that lingers in the mouth. I was able to pull three steeping sessions until the brew falls flat. I really enjoyed this, and it has nice little pep to it. This helped me kick a cold and get motivated.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-ZB3UQzGbb/

This tea is excellent. If my tea cupboard wasn’t already overloaded I would order some of this tea. Thanks to Wooree Tea for the free sample.

I brewed this up the way I enjoy most green teas – in a cup with an infuser, 2 min, 80C. It’s got such a fresh spinach taste to it. That’s what I noticed at first but it’s very sweet, smooth & vegetal with a hazelnut note as well. Delicious!

A very nice Korean green tea – this one has a really nice balance of fresh vegetal notes, nutty and a wonderfully thick texture that makes you lick your lips. This green also resteeps well, giving you a more sweet and savory contrast with a more cooked vegetal taste. This Korean green isn’t too grassy, marine, or corny like other Korean greens, so it’s a nice balance and starting point.

Full review on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/imperial-blend-hadong-green-tea-from-wooree-tea-tea-review/

This tea was very good. I attempted to follow the directions on brewing. I used 3.2g leaf for 8oz of water at 175 degrees. I steeped it for three minutes as per the directions. The result was a tasty tea that I liked more than most unflavored greens. The first note I noticed was a grassy note, you might instead use the word vegetal. It also had behind this note a buttery sweetness to it that in my opinions most greens don’t have. This is definitely a tea I would consider buying at some point. I think right now it is the only tea on the website. It would be interesting if they had a Korean black to to sell next to this.

I brewed this twice in an 8 oz glass teapot with 3.2g leaf and 175 degree water. I steeped it for 3 min and 4 min.

My experience with this tea is a little different than the other reviews. I used 2 tsp as I was making a 12 oz mug. The recommended was 1/2 to 1 tsp per cup. I did use the recommended 175 F (80 C) water and though shooting for 3 minute steep, it ended up 4 because I couldn’t find my strainer.

The glass teapot was a flooded forest of whole leaves. The aroma was a neat spinach. The cup looked like liquid sunshine.

The taste wasn’t anywhere near what I consider bitter. It does have a touch of bite, though overall this is very smooth. Amanda called it, I think, almost brisk. Yes almost brisk, but so easy to sip. Vegetative but to me not grassy. Nicely sweet. There is a sensation (not a taste) like a citrus tartness, late in the sip. What really sets this apart from a Chinese green was the additional note that I interpret as hazelnut.

Mug two at 1 1/2 minutes was very similar to the first. The nondescript vegetative is more seaweed here and there is a touch of mineral. The hazelnut is present but reduced.

This would go 3 rounds, I pretty sure, but I am already at 24 oz so I’m being a quitter.

If you love Chinese green but want something a little different, this Korean green would make a good choice. Also 10% of sales go to aid Korean orphans.

Ice Ice Baby! Yeah, we are covered in a nice coating of ice, freezing rain has been coating the world since late yesterday, and it looks so beautiful. My only problem with this wintry beauty is poor Ben is out delivering pizzas in it, which of course has me worried. Luckily between deliveries he is texting me and letting me know all is well, which is immensely considerate of him! On the one hand I love the weather when it is like this, on the other, I do not like my perpetual fear of cars to have any justification for being a logical phobia, illogical fear of cars is best I think.

My random phobias (phobi?) aside, it is time for tea, and I have a special one today: Wooree Tea’s Imperial Blend Hadong Green Tea. Why is this particular tea special you might be asking, because it is Korean, and I have a bit of an addiction to Korean tea, an addiction and a perpetual lack of it in my stash. See Korean tea is not impossible to get a hold of, but it is certainly a pain and not at all cheap, especially for the amount I drink when I have it in my collection. Some expensive teas I can drink in moderation, others I just find myself gorging on and then running out super quickly…and I have never met a tea from Korea that I did not do that with! This particular green tea comes from Hadong, Wooree Tea says this is the best and oldest growing region in South Korea, and checking in one of my books on Korean Tea (specifically The Book of Korean Tea) it seems this area is famous for wild growing tea trees in the mountains, which sounds quite beautiful. The aroma of the curly leaves is delightful! Notes of sesame seeds, rice crackers (I believe they are called Arare, and I will inhale them given the chance) peanuts, toasted nori, and an underlying sweetness of sesame butter and a touch of corn silk. This tea is delightfully nutty, and the green notes come from a seaweed quality, which I am sure you all know by now I find delicious.

Into my shiboridashi (it totally counts) the tea goes! The aroma of the plump olive green leaves is so nutty and umami, notes of sesame and peanuts mix with rice crackers, kelp, toasted nori, edamame, and a finish of miso. These leaves smell like food! The liquid blends green and sweet with a touch of savory quite well, with notes of gentle sesame seeds and kelp, sweet freshly cut hay, fresh grass, and a finish of edamame and roasted peanuts.

The thing I really like most about Korean green teas is their crisp, brightness, it is just such a refreshing mouthfeel. Tasting the tea, it starts out savory, with fresh grass and kelp, this moves to toasted nori, rice crackers, peanuts, and a touch of sesame seed sweetness. The finish is a blend of miso and edamame, with a mineral quality at the very tail end that lingers as the aftertaste.

For this steeping, the aroma is nuttier, lots of sesame seeds and roasted peanuts, with rice crackers and just a gentle touch of kelp at the finish. The mouthfeel is crisp and bright, it almost borders on brisk, but it does have a smoothness to it so I would not go as far as to call it brisk. This steep brings out more of the green from the green tea, it starts with notes of spinach and fresh seaweed (like that oh so yummy seaweed salad) and fades to fresh grass and a finish of sweet sesame seeds and rice crackers. The sweetness at the finish lingers for a bit.

Onward to the third steep, fresh notes of kelp and edamame mix with sesame seeds and roasted peanuts. The finish is a savory and sweet blend of rice crackers and a touch of miso. Like the previous steeps, this tea has a crisp and refreshing mouthfeel, I appreciate how it is so crisp but not drying, it is like biting into a juicy veggie. And speaking of veggies, I was greeted by a note of fresh bell pepper along with spinach and edamame at the front. The finish is a blend of rice crackers and sesame, with a sweet, gentle honey finish. This tea has staying power, I got several more steeps out of it before it finished with a mineral green quality.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/11/wooree-tea-imperial-blend-hadong-green.html