Camellia Sinensis Teahouse’s Jeju Organic | Tea Review

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This week is part 2 of tasting Korean teas from Jeju Island! I will be tasting a black tea from the same producer, Osulloc Tea Farms.

Description: “Leaning towards the more « atypical » side of our selection, the Jeju organic bears rich scents of dark chocolate. Its woody and mineral body (tree bark, forest floor) reveals fruity undertones and a finish that really steals the show: with its briny seaweed-like aromas, one can almost feel the maritime breeze.”

Instructions: 250ml | 1 tsp | 90°C/194° | 3 – 4 min | Rinse leaves

Review: As stated last week, I wanted to conduct a comparative tasting of two Korean Yabukita teas, a green and a black tea, both picked in April 2020. The producer, Osulloc Tea Farms, is located on Jeju Island, which was formed by volcanic eruptions. I wanted to taste these two teas side-by-side because they shared many similarities such as region, cultivar, picking season, and producer. One of the largest differences is how the teas were produced.

The black tea was made of small dark brown leaves and had a herbal, earthy, cocoa, and musky smell. Once the tea was infused, the wet leaves were small broken brown-green tinged leaves with an earthy and musky smell. After 4 minutes, the liquor was a golden honey colour with a herbal, earthy, musky, and damp wood smell.

While the liquor had some classic black tea flavours like earthy, sweet, and fruity notes, it also carried some mineral notes at the end of the sip. When cooled, the liquor was slightly earthy, nutty, and mineral. When tasting the tea during a 3 minute infusion, the tea had a stronger cocoa note when freshly brewed and cooled.

There was a slight discrepancy between the website and the packaging which mentioned rinsing the leaves. So, I tried the tea once the leaves were rinsed. After 4 minutes, the liquor smelled and looked the same. The first few sips had a stronger cocoa and malty note, however, the salty/mineral taste crept in with some herbal flavour.

The flavour was unique to me and had a salty/mineral taste that I normally do not associate with black teas! I wonder if it is due to being grown on an island. It did not have the briskness of some breakfast blends and was on the mellow side. When it came to food pairings, it was quickly overpowered by savoury foods but did complement sweet desserts. Overall, it was interesting to try this tea and the green tea and I’m looking forward to trying more Korean teas in the future (3.5/5 rating).

The question of the post: Have you had tea with a mineral or salty note?