Mind Origin Tea

Last week, an old friend visited from Seoul and brought a package of yellow tea handmade by an old Korean nun (above). Yesterday I enjoyed this rare tea, with its rich melon flavor - very special!

Most Westerners don't know much about Korean tea, and I have only a slight acquaintance of it. High-quality Korean tea is known as chak seol cha, or "sparrow's tongue tea." This green tea, made from the tiniest new leaves, differs from anything I've had from China or Japan in that it's both salty and herby.

The records indicate that Camilla sinensis (the tea plant) was brought to the Korean peninsula by Buddhist monks early in the 7th century CE.  At that time, the beverage was known as neu woun cha, or "mind origin tea."

During long retreats, monks and lay people frequently step out the walking meditation line to down a quick cup of tea. I've done it myself, but have yet to discover the origin of mind.

During retreat, most of us employ single-serving tea sets (shown below). Boiling water goes in the cup until it cools to around 170 degrees. Then it goes into the tiny teapot with the leaves and steeps for about 3 minutes. The tea gets poured back into the cup and gulped down before the 10 minute walking period ends.

In 18th century Kyoto, an old Zen monk named Baisao ("The Old Tea Seller") left the temple life behind and sold tea on the streets. He wrote many poems about his experience. Here's one:

Pure water from a clear spring

simmering over the clay stove

battered robe and tattered cap

brown with fume and tea smudge.

Don't think I'm some old gaffer

with a wild-eyed love for tea.

My purpose is to awaken you

out of your worldly sleep.

Poem from Baisao: The Old Tea Seller, by Norman Waddell

Comments

[pete]

loved the history in this post... is there a korean zen tea ceremony? also- does the tea leaves strain through the tea pot itself...

funny story (not to take up too much of you blog). i have a coworker who brought me in some homemade chinese tea... i leaned over to take a sip and all the leaves and small sticks were floating in the cup. i asked him how you strains the leaves and small twigs.... he smiled at me pulling back his lips to expose his teeth.... his teeth of course had tea leaves stuck in the spaces of his teeth :-)

[Suzanne]

I'm off to make a cuppa.

[Genju]

Sitting here with my lotus tea in the gai-wan. mmmmmm....

Here's drop of Kuan Yin tea for you! http://shopstashtea.com/113031.html

[Barry Briggs]

Hi Pete - yes, the brewing bowl (with lid) strains out the leaves - you can see the grooves in the spout!

There is, indeed, a Korean tea ceremony - much less formal and complex than the Japanese ceremony. Here's more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_tea_ceremony

Suzanne, I hope you enjoyed your tea! Genju's was smiling when she wrote her note.

Here's my tea vendor of choice: Tao of Tea
http://www.taooftea.com/

[Genju]

For a bit of fun, I will ask friends if they'd like some tea from my tea-pee http://www.teaopia.ca/products2.cfm/ID/2/c/Teaware.

Just bad to bone, I guess, eh? ;-)

[jill i]

Hi Barry,
How wonderful to have a friend bring you some rare tea. I brought home a small packet of oolong tea raised and fermented on the Big Island on a small estate--apparently tea is the "next big thing" to come from Hawaii. We'll see.

I'm going to go have some now and perhaps be awakened out of my worldly sleep! (or more thoroughly out of my last night's sleep at least.)

jill

[Joseph]

Just wondering if you meant to cool the water to 70 degrees... 170 seems a bit hot! ^^

You can aslo try the first steep at around 50 degrees, it's a subtle, but very special taste that emerges.

[Joseph]

ah, I just realized you meant 17O°F, I was thinking Celsius...
Sorry!

50°C would be about 120°F.