Handmade Lotus Leaf Tea • 수제 연잎 차

Lotus leaf tea (연잎차, yeon ip cha) has been popular tradition in Korea for a long time. There are several different mixtures of the different parts of the lotus plant. The most common is just lotus leaf, then there's a slightly more expensive lotus leaf and flower mixture, a very expensive lotus flower tea (연꽃차, yeon kkoht cha), a newer lotus root tea (연근차, yeon geun cha) and and a lotus tea combining all three. All of these teas are usually very expensive, even as much per gram as the best Korean green teas.

During our year and a half of living in the Korean countryside, there was a lotus pond near our house, and I cut a couple of lotus leaves at the end of the summer. They made for perfect umbrellas when walking home a sudden but quick summer downpour passed over. In the house, I hung them from the ceiling for three days until they were completely dried. Commercial lotus leaf tea appears to be machine shredded but I cut them with kitchen shears into small strips, then bit by bit into smaller fragments.

I was excited to brew my first pot and see how it turned out. The smell was much greener than other lotus teas I've had, as was the bright colour of the infusion. It had the expected grassy but very sweat taste balanced by a deep, murky undertone. Lotuses are famous for emerging unsullied from the mud, but their humble, muddy origin is betrayed in the finishing taste. The more leaves used, the stronger the murkiness but but a good scoopful made a deliciously fresh brew.

Lotus tea is cleansing, and is known in Korea for its ability to flush alcohol and nicotine from your blood, which certainly explains its popularity! Aside from being a tonic, it has also gained much popularity as a slimming tea for its alleged fat burning ability. In other circles, it's also appreciated for its ability to calm mind and body, making it a great meditation tea.


























(I know it looks bad, but I was pushing the stroller! (◕‿-) Just ran ahead a bit to take this shot!)

Professor Ahn's Scholar Tree Tea • 회화나무차

Not long ago, I dug out a small package of tea that Mrs Kim (Mr Ahn's wife) had given me a few years ago. It was a special tisane, handmade with leaves Mr Ahn had harvested and roasted from his Scholar Tree (회화나무, Hwei-hwa namu).

In days of old, Scholar Trees were reserved for the royal courtyards and it was forbidden for common folk to own one. It was believed that Scholar Trees were a source of power and the king did not want to share. It was, however, permitted for temples to keep them and just up the block from Kkik Da Geo, at Jogyesa, the head temple of Korea's largest order, there is a massive Scholar Tree in the courtyard that blossoms in August, filling the entire ground with little light-yellow petals.

Emblematic of Mr Ahn's scholarly character (professor of calligraphy, tea master, traveler, patron of art), he keeps some Scholar Trees in his home, as well as outside the teashop, and in spring, when the leaves begin to bud, he crafts his own tea from it.

The leaves had reddened noticeably since she gave them to me six years ago, and I was concerned that maybe time had wasted them. Something I've learned is that some of the best teas are best enjoyed quickly even though there's an urge to treasure them slowly.

The tiny, curled, dusty leaves reminded me of a high-quality green tea. I gave them a quick rinse then steeped them for about 90 seconds, which was much too long. The colour was more ochre than I remembered, consistent with the change of the leaves, but it may have been a result of over steeping. The scent and flavour were as they were when fresh, though; reminiscent of autumn leaves, deep grassiness, slightly sour, with a strong herbal sweetness that emerges late.

The leaves yielded three full-tasting infusions, fading to a gentle, grassy sweetness at the end. I tried the tea a second time using fewer leaves, and the sourness did not appear. The brew was also much greener than the first tasting.

In traditional medicine, Scholar Tree leaves are one of the fifty fundamental herbs. It's notable medicinal properties include antibacterial, anti-cholesterolemic, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic.