Teance in Berekley is a great community forum in the San Francisco Bay Area for tea education. Last week, students of tea were treated to a Korean tea ceremony performance by Korean tea master, Yoon Hee Kim.
While tea was first mentioned in Korea over 5000 years ago, it gained public attention when Buddhist monks used tea in a royal funeral in the seventh century. Korean poets and intellectuals engaged in tea ceremony and gatherings for tea for hundreds of years, but then tea lost its footing through a series of unfortunate events in Korea, including war and occupation by foreign forces. It was in the 1960s that tea made a comeback in Korea, and then again, it was through Buddhist monks, artists and intellectuals who celebrated its renaissance.
"What you begin, you end; what you start you bring to closure," said Kim, as she demonstrated the correct hand motions for this beautifully poised tea ceremony. "We see what tea does best when the three aspects of tea come together in harmony: color, fragrance, and taste," said Kim. "One should not overpower the others for tea to be in perfect balance."
According to Yoon Hee Kim, there are four types of Korean tea ceremony: Woman's Tea Service; Scholar's (Men's) Tea Service; Royal Tea Service (for royalty, of course); and Outdoor Tea Service, where poets and artists gather to talk about tea, art, and literature. And within a tea ceremony, there are often three steepings: the first for taste, the second, which is served with snacks, and the third, if the hostess wishes to continue, is for discussion.
Korean green tea is steeped at about 160-170°F, but according to Kim, tea growers of the finest teas claim that the water temperature shouldn't matter so much, and that special notes of a tea will be brought out at different temperatures. I found this fascinating, and, quite honestly, it reinforces my own experience in steeping tea. Kim also mentioned that while first flush teas are considered the most precious, summer and autumn teas have a complexity that can't be found in spring teas, and so in their own way, hold as much value. "A tea might have its own story that can be told only in the autumn flush," said Kim.
With the characteristic grace and humility of a great tea master, Yoon Hee Kim, gave us the sensual and delightful experience of Korean tea ceremony. If ever you have an opportunity to see it, take it.
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