About this episode
The episode explores the unique characteristics and complexities of balhyocha, a distinctly Korean tea, through a conversation with tea expert Eric Glass.
Balhyocha is a tea unique to Korea - it's not produced anywhere else - and its rich and varied flavor profiles are also unique, not quite like any other teas we've tasted here at Talking Tea. But for many tea drinkers, even afficianados of balhyocha, it's also rather mysterious. What exactly is balhyocha? How is it processed? What gives it its unique, lovely complexity? To explore these questions we're chatting with Eric Glass, who, with Arthur Park, runs the annual TeaBuy Korea at Morning Crane Tea. Eric talks with us a bit about his own tea journey and how we came to discover Korean tea and in particular balhyocha, and then we delve into what balhyocha is and what it isn't. We discuss what defines balhyocha and what makes it difficult to categorize, we talk about the subcategory of balhyocha known as hwangcha or "yellow" tea (not to be confused with Chinese yellow tea), we discuss flavor profiles of balhyocha and we look at comparisons with oolongs and black tea or hongcha. We look at the origins of Korean tea cultivars and the impact of seed-grown versus clonal bushes, terroirs and processing techniques unique to balhyocha on the flavor profiles and body-feel of the teas. In…
People in this episode
Host: Ken Cohen
Guest: Eric Glass
Topics covered
- Korean tea
- balhyocha
- tea processing
- flavor profiles
- tea culture
Keywords
- balhyocha
- Korean tea
- tea processing
- flavor profiles
- hwangcha
- tea cultivars
- terroir
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: TeaBuy Korea, Morning Crane Tea
Places: Korea, Korean
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