TTN: A frigging fantastic Korean Green tea!

Sparrow's Toungue from Korea embodies everything I want from a green tea. Except that it's bloody expensive: 50g costs £14 + shipping (from EastTeas, London). But I thought it's worth it. It is an early-plucked (1st of May) wild tea from Chiri San in Hwagae.

The nose is exactly what I want from green tea: vegetal and lactic, very savoury and fresh. The taste is fairly light bodied, smooth, perfectly balanced, almost milky in consistency. Very complex and elegant. Absolutely fantastic tea.

-Otto-

Otto, this is very interesting. I cannot ever recall seeing any green tea from Korea - it's all from China, Japan and Ceylon. Perhaps a visit to a few Korean shops is in order - I'd be interestd in trying the teas to see what the flavour differences are.

So far I can say that my favourite teas are Chinese; the Japanese Sencha I've bought on a few occasions has had a very grassy/fishy smell that I didn't like, whereas the Chinese ones have more earthy/fruity complexity.

[Jenise]

Sounds interesting, Otto. I started drinking green tea for health reasons, and in the space of two years I've gone from merely finding it acceptable to outright preferring it to anything else. In particular one I buy at a Chinese tea store in Canada, though I couldn't tell you what it's name is. Have never had or seen Korean teas of any kind. At that price, are you sure it isn't North Korean?

Paul--good characterization of Japanese vs. Chinese. That's rather how the Japs have tasted to me too.

Jenise, my green tea epiphany was very slow in coming. Back when I was a regular French-press coffee addict, I enjoyed black tea but green tea just seemed so vile and nasty - grassy, unpalatable stuff.

I gave up the coffee habit quite abruptly early this year and my stomach has been better for it. That said, I also began to read up on alkalizing and acidifying foods and beverages, and coffee and black tea were definitely on the acidifying side of things, while green tea was said to be alkalizing.

I am not as well versed in these things as some no doubt, but I must tell you that sometimes I would get awful heartburn after coffee - but never has it happened once after drinking green tea - even with lemon juice, which is how I like it.

Nowadays, it's coffee that has become vile and nasty to me ... although I'm still a sucker for the great aroma.