Tea Tour Korea 2013 Update

It is hard to describe in words how excited we are about Tea Tour Korea 2013.  If you are on this tour, you will not only be visiting with some of the most important artisan tea producers in three of Korea's most important tea producing regions but also will be visiting with some of the most interesting and important teaware artists and tea masters in Korea.  You will witness the prestigious Mungyeong Teabowl Festival and the exciting and spiritual Lotus Lantern Festival.  You will be in Korea during the 'pick' so you will have the first choice of the freshest teas.  You will experience the beautiful Korean tea ceremony presented by one of Korea's most renown tea masters, discuss Korea's tea history with Brother Anthony co-author of both The Korean Way of Tea and Korean Tea Classics - the two most important books on Korean tea. (Bring your copies and have them signed).  Among the teaware artists we will visit are 3 Human Intangible Cultural Treasures.  The tea artisans include artisans who often makes tea with Hong Kyeong Hee the other co-author of The Korean Way of Tea and Korean Tea Classics.  (Steven Owyoung is the third co-author of Korean Tea Classics.)  One of the tea masters we hope to meet is Park Dong Chun the only 'direct descendent' to Cho Ui's way of making nokcha.  It is an unusual processing method we are hoping to witness. In other words you will be meeting artists, artisans and tea historians who are among the most respected in their fields in Korea.  This is truly a unique Korean tea tour.             

Following is the 2013 Tentative Itinerary:

April 28:  The group will meet at our hotel.  The hotel information and time will be sent to tour participants.
After meeting together, Brother Anthony will discuss with the group the history of Korean tea and begin to lay the foundation for our journey.  Brother Anthony is co-author of both The Korean Way of Tea and Korean Tea Classics, the two most important books in English on Korean tea.
Following brother Anthony's discussion, we will visit the  Panyaro Institute for the Korean Way of Tea and meet with the Director the renowned tea master Chae Won-hwa.  Chae Won-hwa is arguably the most respected tea master in Korea.  Will we experience ‘Chaseon’ - Seon (Zen) Tea? 

This experience is like being a living part of the history of Korean tea itself.  We are honored and humbled that both Brother Anthony and the great tea master Chae Won-hwa have agreed to meet with us.  

April 29:   

The group will visit selected teashops and galleries in Insadong to become acquainted with Korean tea and teaware before we board the bus to travel to the Yeoju/Icheon areas to visit some wonderful teaware masters.  You are not in tea country yet, so we begin our adventure with teaware.

April 30: Starting the day early, we will visit with several wonderful teaware masters and the world ceramic galleries in Icheon and Yeoju. 

May 01: We will visit the Mungyeong Teabowl Festival. This may be the most interesting Teabowl Festival in the world.  Two days is hardly enough to experience these teaware artists, visit with artisan tea producers and absorb all that this festival has to offer.

May 02: We continue your visit to the Mungyeong Teabowl Festival and experience some planned private meetings with select teaware masters.  In the late afternoon you will travel to Daegu where we will experience a wonderful tea ceremony conducted by 선생 Oh Young Hwan one of Korea's premier tea masters.

May 03: The early morning will find us at the Seokguram Grotto.  Many travelers call this their 'favorite place in Korea' for the spiritual power emanating from this amazing grotto.  Then we visit Bulguksa, also a UNESCO World Heritage temple and companion temple to Seokguram.  

Nearby is the home and studio of ICA (Intangible Cultural Asset) Park Byung Teak known for his Silla Dynasty style work.  His tea ware is very exciting.  The Day ends with a visit to the national Museum of Gyeongju.  It was during the Silla Dynasty that tea was introduced to Korea.
We are in 'Buddha Land' and Buddhism lies at the heart of Tea.  It has been said that 'Tea and Zen are one' (Post). 

May 04: In the early morning you will visit Park Jong Il tea ware master (and artisan tea producer).  This is at Park Jong Il's studio high in the mountains above Gyeongju.  This is an important stop since he will be joining us for our trip to Jirisan the 'holy mountain' of Korean tea and will act as an extra guide during our tea experiences in Jirisan.

In the afternoon we travel to Sancheon our entrance to Jerisan the holy mountain for Korean teas.  There we will meet with Min Young Ki. Min Young Ki is one of Korea's most prestigious teabowl artists.  One of Japan's most prestigious teabowl connoisseurs said of Min's work, "I personally have never seen a tea bowl that exceeds the quality of Mr. Min's.."  Before we leave Sancheon we will meet Jeong Jae Yeun the artisan tea producer who makes our delicious Hwangcha.  

May 05:  Here is where the tea part of the tour gets interesting. By very special arrangement, in the early morning we move to the humble tea compound of Kim Sung Tae not far away.  There we will pick leaves and process them in both the Korean and Chinese ways for green tea and make hwangcha and ttok-cha as well.  Kim Sung Tae is a premiere tea master’s teacher and has many followers who study with him both in Seoul and also in Busan.  Several tea artists also study with him.  He is probably Korea’s leading authority on Chinese teas as well.  I know that he is planning a museum to house his collection of more than 25,000 tea ware pieces that date from ancient times to the present.  That is just part of his vast ceramic collection. We will be with Kim Sung Tae and his student, the tea ware artist and tea master, Park Jong Il, our tea guide, May 5 and part of May 6.  Park Jong Il will remain with us until May 7.

May 06: After finishing our self-made teas, we travel to Hwagae Valley the home of many artisan tea producers.  Having just processed tea leaves ourselves, I am sure we will appreciate the work they do even more.  We will be meeting with some of the best artisan producers in Hwagae Valley.  It is also the home of the Dong Cheon Tea company a very special tea cooperative that regularly produces some of the best teas produced in Korea.  Morning Crane Tea is proud to be their international representative.  Tea masters have told us we made the best choice.  We will visit this excellent company, but this day is mostly about artisan tea producers and a tea temple or two.

May 07: We continue to visit tea producers and the Hadong Tea Museum.  Later in the afternoon we move to the Bosong area on our way to Gangjin.  We hope to visit an artisan tea producer and perhaps the Bosong Tea Museum on our way to the Gangjin area.  

May 08: The Bosong / Gangjin areas have many tea artisans and teaware artists.  Gangjin is also the home of the most important celadon produced in Korea.  It was also the historic home of the great Korean tea master Cho Ui (Korea's Sen Rikyu) so our stay in the Gangjin area will be filled with the history of tea, exceptional tea artisans as well as some amazing teaware.  In addition to our visit to the historic Gangjin Celadon Complex, we hope to meet the teabowl master Myeong Jae Hyun, the celadon master Jung Ki Bong, the female celadon master Kim Yu-sung and visit the new ceramic center now associated with Morning Crane Tea.  Both Jung Ki Bong and Kim Yu-sung have won the prestegious Grand Prize at the Gangjin Celadon Festival in competition with all celadon artists throughout Korea.    There you may even try your hand at forming a teabowl on a traditional Korean kick wheel. 

May 09: You can't leave Korea without experiencing onggi and its production.  Lee Hak Soo, a cultural treasure, is also one of only a few onggi masters who make teaware.  In Bosong we will visit tea artisans and the most famous tea fields in Korea.  Should we hope to visit the O'Sulloc tea plant before we leave Gangjin?

May 10: We leave Gangin early in the morning.  Beginning with visiting a teaware master or artisan tea producer and travel on to Damyang, Korea's best known bamboo area, to explore their museum and to find bamboo tea implements.  Watch this post to learn more about who we will be visiting in the morning.  We have several very interesting options we want to  explore.  That evening we arrive in Seoul.

May 11: This day is dedicated to visiting some select tea and teaware shops as a group in the morning and free time for you to explore the Lotus Lantern Festival in the afternoon and their breathtaking parade in the evening.  It is a rare treat to be in Korea during this spectacular festival.  For the first time in many years it is on a Saturday.

May 12: Within walking distance of our hotel are beautiful and historic palaces, a great Korean Folk Museum and many galleries and shops of many kinds.  This is a day to explore these under our guidance, our suggestions or alone.  We may top the tour off with an evening of Korean Music and Dance.  

May 13: This day is simply a day to say farewell or continue your journey.  We have nothing formally scheduled.

We at Morning Crane Tea are looking forward to a great adventure with you into the heart of both Korean tea and Korean teaware.  When you are involved in one of our tours (designed by Morning Earth Korea), you will have experiences that truly touch the heart of Korean arts and culture.  This year is very unusual and fortunate because you will experience both the Mungyeong Teabowl Festival and the Lotus Lantern Festival.  Since the Lotus Lantern Festival dates are determined by the lunar calendar, it is rare that we can offer this exceptional festival combination. 

For those of you not joining us, please join us here on this site as we continue to discuss our tour before, during and after what promises to be a great tea adventure.

Please also contact us if you would like to try some the special Dong Cheon Teas we offer or the artisan teas we hope to bring back.  Is there an interest in pre-purchasing some artisan teas or registering to be on a possible Tea Tour Korea in 2014?  There is no obligation to register if you are among the first 8 it simply reserves your spot until you decide.  Let us know here.

  

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A Quick Note: Tea Tour Korea is Coming- May 2013

This is the first of a series of posts leading to Tea Tour Korea 2013.  It will also be one of the last tea tours we personally host so we want to make this tea tour as culturally rich as possible.  To that end, Tea Tour Korea 2013 will be a 'complete' tea tour with exceptional perhaps unparalleled tea and teaware experiences.  It will include:  1. Visits to selected Korean artisan tea producers,  2. Visits to selected Korean teaware artists,  3. The History of Korean Tea,  4. Meeting Important figures in the contemporary Korean Tea world,  5.  Participating in Korean Tea Ceremonies, 6. Witnessing tea being produced, 7.  Producing our own teas and  8. Investigating artists who make Tea related items      

Tea Tour Korea 2013 will be a non-profit tour hosted by us at Morning Crane Tea and Morning Earth Korea. 

Anyone can take you to Korea and introduce you to some people who make tea by hand and some ceramic artists who make teaware.  We have been told that no one else can give you the depth of a Korean tea experiences Tea Tour Korea will provide.  We will select from hundreds of possible choices the best tea producers, the best teaware artists, introduce you to some of the most significant figures in contemporary Korean Tea, take you into tea factories and have artisan tea producers teach you how to make various teas.  It is not just nokcha anymore.  You will meet personally with tea artisans who make jakseol, hwangcha, balhyocha, hongcha and ttokcha (possibly even matcha).  In addition, you can't leave Korea without experiencing some of their herbal teas.  

Will we have a temple stay?  Yes!  Will we visit Jejudo? Yes!  Will we go to historic sites? Yes!  Will we visit teashops in Seoul? Yes!  Will we visit onggi potters? Yes!  This list would in itself be a great tour to Korea but with the exception of Jejudo, they are add-ons to Tea Tour Korea 2013.        

We are waiting for the date of the Mungyeong Teabowl Festival to be announced to confirm our Tea Tour Korea 2013 dates.  That festival may be the most exciting teabowl festival in Asia.  Tea Tour Korea 2013 will be open to no more than 8 guests and we have some waiting on that list now -  including some who were with us in 2011.  Why would they return?  They have told us Tea Tour Korea 2011 was the most comprehensive tea tour they have ever experienced and while some of our visits will be the same, Tea Tour Korea 2013 will expand on the 2011 tour and will be even more comprehensive.  Have you read Madeleine's post? Are you interested in joining us or learning more?  Contact us. 

Are you looking for illustrations?  Please wait for the follow up posts.

Madeleine's Tea Tour Korea 2011 Post

   Madeleine, an international business woman who enjoys both tea and tea ware, was one of our guests on Tea Tour Korea 2011.  She sent us a wonderful email and has granted permission to share it with you as a post.  The illustrations and footnotes are ours.

Dear Arthur and Mary,

   I am finally home after some rushing about here in the region, and I am finally setting down to write you both a much-deserved note of thanks.

   I have "The Book of Korean Tea", "The Way of Korean Tea", "Korean Tea Classics", all proudly displayed on my table and lately my friends have been looking through them and simply saying "wow".

  That is the best way to describe the trip - an eye opening experience into a world so close to me physically, but where thanks to you both, the veil of mystery has been lifted and one enchantment after another revealed.

   From the moment we got on our magical mystery tour bus and walked through the Spring air and historic gates of the fort at the Mungyeong Tea Bowl festival, to the rushing waterfalls1

Mountain Stream near Hwaeomsa

and temple bells in the Jiri Mountains, the peace of Hwaeomsa temple and drumbeats echoing through the valleys2,

 3:30 AM Drumming Hwaeomsa

the tea fields in Hwagae Valley and rushing river by the mountain side, 3

 

Wild Tea in Hwaegae Valley

A section of the above photo (click to enlarge)

 the soft contours of the sea and mountains as we neared Gangjin, the elegant tea ceremony at the Myung Won Cultural Foundation, the detailed archeology museums that opened up centuries of Korean culture - the trip was a multi-layered exploration of archeology, culture, religion, geography, history all brought together through a tea leaf steeped into a beautiful bowl of magnificent simplicity and energy.4 

Simple Tea 

   Each day was filled with these experiences brought to life through individual contact and exchange with master ceramic experts who all offered us tea in stunning natural settings.5

The Mungyeong Artist Oh Sung Teak serves us tea

  I will not forget the enchanted gardens, mountain top vistas sitting on warmed floors, walks though camellia forests

 Red camellias bloom at the tea temple Baekryunsa near Gangjin

and tea served by Buddhist monks6 and gracious nuns.  

 Tea monk Duk Jae, at Gu Chung Am, Hwaeomsa  2&6

Most of all, the open, warm and generous hospitality of lunch and dinner where small dish after dish flourished bringing regional delights and tastes amid friendship and laughter with our kind and laughing hosts.7

 A Korean Lunch

   The generosity and lack of artifice of highly accomplished ceramic and tea masters is a memory that I will carry for a long time to come - in each and every encounter, we were welcomed to handle treasures, patiently provided with answers to endless numbers of questions about tea preparation, hosted to wonderful and spontaneous tea and then always, provided with a beautiful gift.  Whether this was green tea, blossom tea from a tea master or an individual teacup from a ceramic master's studio, each item is treasured and savored with delight.

   It is a testimony to your generosity and friendship with each master that we were received with such kindness.

  Brother Anthony - An Sonjae

  My special thanks also to Brother Anthony,8 who opened the gates of the temple to us and bid us farewell in Seoul over lotus blossom tea served in a large jet black bowl with floating pristine lotus flower.9

Lotus Blossom Tea at the tea shop Tea Friend

   And finally, my sincere thanks to my travel companions, delightful multicultural group of tea experts consisting of Classic scholars, philosopher/attorney, intrepid world explorer and organic gardener, tea host with quirky sense of humor, attorney turned potter and video expert 10

 Tea Tour Korea 2011 group with Min Young Ki

   Exquisite, gracious, warm, as well as filled with laughter.  These words and sound sum up the trip.

   With very best regards and looking forward to keeping in touch on a regular basis,

   Madeleine

Footnotes: 

1.  These rushing waterfalls are at Hwaeomsa.  We will post on the Mungyeong Tea Bowl Festival later.

2.  Tea Tour Korea 2011 stayed at Hwaeomsa where we picked wild 'bamboo dew' tea under the guidance of the monk Duk Jae (5) who heads the Gu Chung Am at Hwaeomsa.  While there each morning we woke to witness the drum beating before early morning chanting at the temple.

3.  If you look closely you will see hundreds of wild tea bushes scattered across this steep hillside and going into the bamboo forest above. 

4.  I illustrated Simple tea with a bowl made by the international ceramic artist Min Young Ki.

5.  The tea ware artist Oh Sung Teak serves us tea at the Mungyeng Teabowl Festival.  The setting of the festival is one of the most beautiful settings in Korea.

6. The tea monk Duk Jae serves us wonderful hwangcha - yellow tea at his hermitage Gu Chung Am above Hwaeomsa.  We picked and processed 'bamboo dew tea' at Gu Chung Am.

7.  The dishes for this restaurant were designed by the international artist Jeon Seong-Keun best known for his incredible porcelain carving

8.  Here Brother Anthony sits by the mountain stream near Hwaeomsa.  I believe it is one of his favorite spots in the world,  It is certainly one of ours. The first photo is taken from the same area.

9. Tea Friend is a wonderful small tea shop near but not in Insadong.  The owner, Bo Hyun Sim, has many types of tea including a stunning variety of 'herbal' teas.

10.  The Tea Tour Korea 2011 group is seen here with the tea bowl artist Min Young Ki, his wife and son Min Bum Sik who is also a fine tea ware artist.  

11. We are accepting registration for Tea Tour Korea 2012.  There will be no Tea Tour 2013 but possibly another in 2014.  We are looking for 6-10 participants total and have 4 or 6 interested currently.  If you have an interest in joining us on Tea Tour Korea 2012 it is obviously not too early to register.  Contact us through this blog link.

Tea Tour Korea 2011: The State of Tea Bushes in Korea

 

Damaged bushes in Hwagae Valley

 

Tea Tour Korea was in planning for more than two years.  For several years before that we thought about proposing such a tour.  We have many friends and acquaintances that are Korean tea ware artists, have a great interest in Korean tea and have explored Korea’s tea areas - some areas quite often.  But even though I am a passionate consumer of Korean teas, knew some Korean tea producers and have studied Korean tea extensively, our true expertise is in the area of ceramics and tea ware.  I make tea ware not tea.  That is why in developing this tour we asked the advice and help of several experts on Korean teas to assist us in making this tea journey a special one.  I’ll return to these tea experts in subsequent posts.

Normally I would have begun posting about Tea Tour Korea 2011 at the beginning of the tour and followed it chronologically.  But Korea had a terrible winter and their tea bushes suffered terribly.  Have you ever been asked, “What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?”  If I were to be asked that question I would pick the ‘bad news’ to be heard first just to get it out of the way.  So lets begin there.

Concern about the state of the tea bushes began when several of our Korean friends, on more than one occasion, told us that they were experiencing an extremely cold winter.  As spring and the tea tour were getting closer we received an email from Brother Anthony confirming that the winter was truly a harsh one and would have an effect on the tea bushes.  No one knew when tea might be ready for picking.  Tea would definitely be picked later than usual this year.  How much later, no one knew.

In at least two ways, Tea Tour Korea 2011 began as a great leap of faith, faith that there would be tea to pick and faith that we could even form a tour group.  We were not able to form a viable tea tour group in 2010 so we traveled with our friend Park Jong Il through this beautiful country simply to get a better sense of the area.  This year, our guests were slowly but steadily joining the tour and giving us early hope that a tour would form.  Then, for various reasons, some guests suddenly dropped out.  Most were fortunately replaced so once again the tour was on and off and on again several times.  In some ways I understand the reluctance to join a tour such as this.  After all, who are these people who want to take you on a tea tour?  There are so many scams out there.  Can you trust them?  What do they really know about tea or tea ware or even Korea?  To the courageous guests on our final international group we owe a great deal of gratitude for simply joining this tour.  It really was a leap of faith for these guests.  Better yet we could not have hand picked a finer group to travel with.  So if you were one of those guests, thank you again for your trust.

Once on the tour, what would these guests experience – especially if there was no tea! 

After beginning Tea Tour Korea 2011 by taking the group to experience some great tea ware, to which we will return in other posts, our small group of dedicated tea connoisseurs began the tea portion of our travels near Hadong in Hwagae Valley. 

Hwagae Valley is the most important area in the ‘holy mountain’ of Korean tea - Jirisan.  Our first view of Jirisan mountain looked promising even welcoming but I was shocked at what we found. 

 Weeds Survive Between Dead Tea Bushes

Sure, we know South Korea is a little north of the best growing zones for tea.  But I have heard that tea areas of China were also hit hard by the weather this year.  In Hwagae Valley we found thousands of dead bushes.  Some areas lost field after field.  When we stopped at The Okro-nokcha (Jade Dew Green Tea) Company, the oldest tea producer in Hwagae Valley, we were told that they lost nearly 80% of their bushes.  Oh Young Soon, a new tea friend and teashop owner in Insadong, who produces some wonderful Hwagae Valley hand picked and hand processed wild juk-no-cha 竹露茶 “bamboo dew” teas [1], said that nearly every one of her bushes were damaged. 

 

Members of Our Tea our View Dong Cheon Bushes w Br. Anthony

Dong Cheon Tea's bushes faired a little better but some fields were also destroyed.

 Still at Dong Cheon a Line is Drawn Between Good and Dead Bushes

By contrast, Ha Gu of Yosandang, a tea master who also produces superb wild juk-no-cha 竹露茶 “bamboo dew” Korean teas, was only slightly affected.

 Some of Ha Gu's Wild Tea Bushes

 

As was Jeon Ju Hyeon of the Yejeoncha Teashop whose Ujeon was very light and smooth.  Gwan-hyang Dawan a producer of extraordinary tea who is highlighted in the book The Korean Way of Tea also escaped great loss.  We will report on these stops in more depth later.

 Gwan-hyang Dawon Was Processing Tea Over a Wood Fire

To be honest I wanted to take photos of the lost bushes but as we drove up Hwagae Valley most of the bushes where we could find a place to stop were fine.

   

Overall in Hwagae Valley the cold winter was devastating yes but a catastrophic disaster no.  Never the less, the winter of 2011 will go down in history as a very bad winters for Korean tea.  Several artisan tea producers said it was their worst winter ever. 

Later in Bosong we also found considerable loss.  

 Two Images Taken of the Same Bosong Tea Area 2006 and 2011

These two di’s above compare images at one of my favorite tea spots. The bottom image taken a few years ago and the top image taken this spring show the damage there.  A total loss in that area.  Ironically the bottom photo was in my ads for the tea tour.  But all was not lost in Bosong.  Some bushes yes but in the distance, if you look closely, pickers are still busy picking and new bushes will eventually replace those that were lost.

 Bosong Pickers in The Distance Provide Hope for Korean Tea

As for what we found at the Gu-Chung-am Hermitage at Hwaeom-sa, stay tuned.  This is just an introductory report on the effect of the cold weather on the tea bushes in Korea.  There is much more to come as we present a series of posts on Tea Tour Korea 2011.

Added June 14, 2011:  I have to end this report on a good note.  Dong Cheong Tea, perhaps the largest organic tea company in Hwagae Valley, just told me by phone that in spite of their losses the prices for their teas this year will be the same as last year.  Thank you Mr. Ha!  Let's buy some Dong Cheong tea.  Incidentally, Morning Crane Tea sells Dong Cheong tea to retailers.    

[1] Juk-no-cha 竹露茶 “bamboo dew” tea is true wild tea growing in the mountains among the bamboo.  The plants are typically shaded and watered gently by drippings from the bamboo.  It is tea of the highest quality.