The 2015 Korean Sejak is finally here and I’m really pleased. First of all the taste is wonderfully green and vegetal, but the finish really sets this tea apart from other greens with the buttery richness on the back of the tongue.
Sejak is classified as the second picking of the spring tea leaves, with Ujeon being the very first. Ujeon is only the first buds, and is very, very expensive with little actually making its way to the US. Sejak can have different picking classifications with the best being the pluck directly after the Ujeon picking. I feel really lucky to have this particular Sejak in stock right now, but am not sure how long it will be available.
My taste experience tells me 2015 is very similar to 2013—also a late harvest year. 2014 was an early harvest year and while the Sejak was good, it was not the same. With the world’s weird weather over the past few years, the tea crop has varied—not just in Korea, but throughout the world. I tell my customers that when they find a unique single-origin tea they really love, buy as much as you can because it may not be available when you want to purchase again.