Sunday, September 8, 2013

Handmade Lotus Leaf Tea • 수제 연잎 차

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

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.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug



Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug



Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug



Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug



Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

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

6 comments:

  1. I still have about two brewings left from this tea. Thank you, Joseph!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That looks incredible! I'm really envious, that sounds like a fascinating tea, and bonus for being able to dry it yourself at home.

    Can you recommend any websites where I can buy lotus leaf tea? I know it won't be as good as the homemade kind, but I live in far too cold a place to grow lotuses.

    Cheers,
    Kate
    http://sagacitea.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kate. I wasn't able to find any of the Korean brands I know online (in English) but I a search on Amazon turned up a few things. Vietnamese Lotus tea is supposed to be the best. They've been making it for ages!

      http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/279-2305585-0681241?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=lotus%20tea&sprefix=lotus+te%2Cgrocery&rh=i%3Agrocery%2Ck%3Alotus%20tea

      Delete
  3. Vietnamese Lotus tea is not the same as Korean. It's not the lotus leaf. It's green tea that is absorbed by the scent of the lotus flower.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://thedragonswell.blogspot.kr/2014/09/korean-lotus-green-tea.html?m=1

      Still not exactly the same but Korea also has green tea that's infused with lotus.

      Delete
  4. Hi, I want to know how did you make homemade leaf lotus tea? Is it using a method for white-tea process or green-tea process? Thank you.

    ReplyDelete