This is a very nice Balhyocha made by Yi Ho Young who has unfortunately recently passed. Thank you to Arthur of Morning Crane Teas for providing the tea. Please check out https://www.facebook.com/MorningCraneTea/ for more details on specialty Korean teas.
5 responses to “Morning Crane Tea Balhyocha Yi Ho Young [Episode 230]”
Thanks for the great review of Yi Ho Yeong’s Balhyocha. Yi Ho Yeong is the Korean tea producer who is featured in the Korean tea book The Korean Way of Tea by brother Anthony and Hong Kyeong Hee. When I asked Brother Anthony if he felt that she was the best in Korea, he answered that he didn’t endorse any particular producer but that he could not imaging anyone with more knowledge and who understood her tea plants better than Yi Ho Yeong.
Unfortunately, Yi Ho Yeong unexpectedly died so this is the last of her wonderful teas.
I have two posts on Yi Ho Yeong on my website MorningEarthKorea.
I have two posts on her. To find them
Thanks Arthur. Loved the tea, very sad to hear about Yi Ho Yeong..
Incidentally, the Kyushu style teapot you are showing with the side handle had it roots in Korea. It is really the Korean style teapot that went to Japan during the Imjin War that among many others took hundreds of captive Korean potters to Japan between 1592 and 1598. many of those potters settled in the Kyushu area of Japan. So you have Korean tea prepared in a Korean style teapot.
Very interesting. Thank you Arthur!
Not to go “teaware” nerdy but I think you are right in that among many of the variables that affect the potency of the tea experience is the choice of teaware.
The pursuit of the right teaware to aid and enhance tea experience has continued from the the beginning of tea culture. A number of accounts are documented detailing tea utensils intentionally broken, Furuta Oribe (1544 –1615), well renowned Japanese tea master, is said to have cracked a tea bowl and made a smaller bowl out of the fragments that was “more in tune with the tea”.
Personally, the heavier japanese raku chawan is perfect for strong matcha in respect to the combined experience on the lips and mouth, whereas for Liu Bao I might choose a large thin porcelain bowl to encourage large gulps and quicker cooling of old compact tea that has had a hotter brew. Yes, size and feel in the hand is also important.