Wooree Tea, Imperial Blend

Wooree Tea Description:
Wooree Tea's Imperial Blend Green Tea comes from the Hadong region of south west South Korea. Hadong is recognised as the best tea growing region of South Korea. The entire production is done by hand with meticulous care, demanding a sensitive touch and correct timing. Freshly harvested young shoots are gently fired in great iron cauldrons heated by wood-fuelled fires, adding to each vintage’s unique hue, fragrance and flavor.

Sample provided by Wooree Tea

My Review:
Wooree Tea is a recent start up. There is not a lot of personal information on their About Us page. It does state that 10% of sales goes to to help South Korean orphans. The website address and the postal mark are New Zealand based.

At the time of this writing Imperial Blend is the only tea Wooree has listed. There are some teaware items and a link to donate to Korean orphans.

I used the product packaging picture from Wooree's site as my sample came in a bubble wrapped ziplock baggy. The leaf picture is mine. I actually had to post edit the picture to lighten it up as it is a very deep green. The individual leaves are lightly twisted and small in appearance. I didn't notice much aroma coming off the dry leaf.

Brewing instructions were included on an accompanying letter. Preheat cup and pot. Use 1/2 to 1 tsp per person. Add water slowly and cover for 3 minutes. A water temperature of 80 (176 F) was recommended.

I used 2 tsp because I'm making a 12 oz mug of tea. The tea was steeped in my clear glass teapot.

The pot picture is a pretty good indicator that a little hot water made for some major changes. The leaf has turned my pot into a flooded forest. There is a lot of leaf here.

The leaf is the smaller Chinese type as opposed to the much larger Assam leaf. I don't think I've mentioned yet that this is a green tea. One sniff of the spinach aroma coming out of the pot makes that pretty obvious. I might have gone Ooooh out loud, but there are no witnesses.

The color in the pot has a definite green tint. Once poured it looks more like liquid sunshine with just a touch of haziness. That may be my fault as it was closer to 4 minutes on the steep, once I found my strainer, and I did use double the leaf. Notice how clear the tea appears in the pot picture.

OK, so I have a nice looking dry leaf, that becomes a forest of full leaves when steeped, and has a neat aroma. How does it taste?

As good as I imagined.

There is very little of what I would consider to be bitterness. There is a light bite that I find very welcome. The taste is sweet. Vegetative with out being particularly grassy. It is very similar to a Chinese green. The big difference is the additional note that to me tastes like hazelnut. I am also getting something like a citrus tartness (without the citrus taste) very late in the sip. Finishes with a pleasant, sweet, and slightly drying aftertaste.

I have time for a second mug and possibly just as, or more, importantly, I want one. This is an easy sipper. I only steeped for about 1 1/2 minutes on mug two. It is about the same color.

The taste is lighter than the first, of course the steep time is less than half. That said it is very similar to the first and still full of flavor. What I called citrus tartness in the first may be closer to camphor but again without a taste associated with it, just a feeling. Has more of a seaweed taste than vegetative and there is a touch of mineral. Hmmm, the two cups sound very different but in reality they are closer than the description.

As I mentioned this is an easy sipper. I feel certain I could get a third mug, and though I may want it, I am out time for today. If you love green tea and want something a little different this is a good one.

You can find Wooree Tea Imperial Blend here.