Green

Korean green

Korean green teas are organized by harvest timing rather than processing style: Ujeon (before Grain Rain) is the most prized and delicate; Sejak (around Grain Rain) is the most widely recognized; Jungjak and Daejak are coarser and bolder later picks. Processing resembles Chinese pan-firing more than Japanese steaming, producing a mellow, roasty character that sits clearly between the Chinese and Japanese poles without being a copy of either. The tradition is concentrated in South Jeolla province, particularly around Boseong and Hadong.

teabert, the tealytics teapot, keeper of the kettle

Korean green is sorted by when it was picked rather than how it was made, the earliest leaf is the prize, and it is mellow and a little roasty. In style it sits squarely between Chinese and Japanese green, which in a part of the world with very firm views about tea is a brave place to stand.

Styles in this family

Ujeon (Pre-Grain-Rain)

Ujeon is the top grade of Korean green tea, plucked from the very first, smallest spring buds before Gogu (Grain Rain, around April 20). The name literally…

Sejak

Sejak is one rung on Korea's harvest-timed grade ladder for green tea, plucked in spring from small, young leaf shortly after the very first pluck. The grades…

Jungjak

Jungjak is the mid-harvest grade of Korean green tea, picked after the delicate ujeon and sejak pluckings but before the coarse, late daejak. It uses slightly…

Daejak

Daejak is the latest and coarsest grade in Korea's spring green-tea ladder, plucked after the more prized ujeon, sejak and jungjak harvests have passed. The…

How it's made

The steps overlap in practice; this is a reading order, not a set of separate stages.