Although monks and scholars have written ancient guidelines on how to fully appreciate Korean green tea, Merchant of Seoul heavily recommends every customer to experiment a brewing technique of their own.
Every tea is different and everyone has their own distinctive taste.
The brewing guide provided on our website and products are merely a standard guide provided by the farms in which they come from. They can be a great starting point in finding how you can create your own method.
Here are some tips:
-More tea; stronger flavour, faster infusion, more caffeine.
-Hotter the water, the sharper the flavour. Also more caffeine is released.
-<70-80ºC water bring out subtleties of the leaf, widening the flavour palette. It is recommended for higher grade tea using younger leaves.
-Changing steep time is decisive on tea to water ratio. Longer steep time means more time for the tea to reach its equilibrium with water. Delicate leaves are usually enjoyed with lower steep time.
-Bottled spring water not completely boiled to 100ºC but slowly heated will give a much cleaner taste, especially with garu-nok (malcha/powdered green tea).
-In ancient tea scriptures, acquiring Chi from green tea is a major part. It is written that ceramics (Earth element) should be used to store Water as Earth calms it. They also claim that placing hard water in ceramic pots will make it soft by absorbing its minerals. Connoisseurs claim ceramic pots and tea cups amplify the experience.
