Cheong Tae Jeon

5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
6 Reviews
$42

Recommended for an eye opening experience of Korean aged tea with ever-changing complex flavors over 7+ infusions

Did you know that the tradition of making Cheong Tae Jeon (translated "Blue Moss Coin"; also known as tteok cha, doncha) disappeared after the Korean War in the 1950s?

The history of Cheong Tae Jeon dates back to the era of Unified Silla (668-935) when Borimsa Temple, one of the oldest Korean temples in Jangheung, was founded. Monks and the residents around the temples used leaves from surrounding wild tea trees to make Cheong Tae Jeon. However, when such tradition faded away over the years, Ms. Kim helped restore the practice based on historical records and numerous trial and error as she began to frequent Borimsa over 20 years ago.

Luckily for you, we are bringing this extremely rare Korean aged tea that is 100% handcrafted by Ms. Kim herself so that you can taste the recreated Cheong Tae Jeon from over 1000 years ago!

  • Ms. Kim handpicks leaves from wild tea trees located in a bamboo forest in Jangheung before the first rain of the spring season. The trees that grow in the shades of bamboo trees are the most prized as they have high umami flavors and low astringency levels.
  • After withering the leaves in the sun, she steams them in a traditional cauldron called gamasot and pounds them into small pieces in a traditional Korean mortar and pestle called jeolgu. Once she shapes the pounded leaves into a circular coin shape, they are sun-dried on a bamboo basket while Ms. Kim closely monitors and flips them to ensure both sides dry at the same rate. Dried tea discs are thread and hung to be aged for at 6-12+ months to develop a depth of flavor and aroma. This is the most traditional and labor intensive way of making Cheong Tae Jeon, so the quantity produced per year is very limited.
  • Resulting tea draws characteristics from mid-aged raw pu-erh tea, white tea (specifically white peony), and black tea. You can enjoy the taste of peony, strawberry jam, and mango from the dry leaves, nuts and barley from the wet leaves, and even malty yet vegetal notes in the brewed tea.
  • Aged and naturally fermented for 5+ years, this Cheong Tae Jeon has exceptionally high levels of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties from gallic acid and low caffeine content.
  • Gongfu brewing is ideal for more in-depth flavor analysis over multiple brews. These tea cakes take some time to open up so expect to brew 6-10 infusions.
  • Cheong Tae Jeon received various awards, such as gold medals from Japanese international green tea competitions (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2019) and a title of Korean Agricultural Asset (2018).

As part of this tea experience, you will also receive

  • a short digital magazine that explains the history, processing, brewing, and flavor profile of this tea in depth
  • a guided tea tasting video that walks through the tasting process of this tea

Tasting Notes:  peony, strawberry jam, cut hay, hazelnut

Terroir  Jangheung, South Jeolla
Elevation  130 ft
Vintage  Spring 2018
Aging Potential  20+ years

Fermentation
Body
Astringency
Dryness

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Ingredients  Wild Tree Dark Tea

Packaging  contains 3 pieces of 10g compressed tea cakes. 1.1oz total.

1oz / 28g yields 50 cups

Before brewing, lightly roast both sides of a Cheong Tae Jeon tea cake over gentle heat for 3-4 minutes. The roasting adds savory and nutty notes to the tea.

Brew a full tea cake with 20 fl oz of boiling temperature water using your favorite infuser for 5 minutes. You can brew 3 times.

You can also brew in gongfu style for a more in-depth flavor analysis.

All teas from the Camellia Sinensis tea plant contain naturally-occurring caffeine. Our Cheong Tae Jeon tea has medium caffeine content. If you want to lessen caffeine consumption, we recommend brewing with less tea or trying our naturally caffeine-free tisanes, such as Snow Chrysanthemum.

Delivery Timeline

Due to COVID-19, the updated delivery timeline is as follows:

  • US  2-5 business days
  • Canada  5-10 business days (Standard) / 3-5 business days (Express)
  • Worldwide  10-20 business days (Standard) / 3-5 business days (Express)

We ship out the next business day morning. 

For last-minute gifts, we recommend our e-gift cards.

 

Shipping Fee

Our regular shipping fee is as follows:

  • US  $9, or free shipping over $75 purchase
  • Worldwide  quoted at checkout, or free shipping over $150 purchase

All the international orders are fulfilled as DDP (Delivered Duty Paid). Pre-paying duties upfront allows international shipments to be delivered door to door and not held at the customs. 

If you wish to receive a more accurate quote for your international shipment, add the products you would like to purchase to the cart and head to the Checkout page. Once you fill out your address, you should see both the standard and express international DDP shipping costs.

FEATURED IN
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 6 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 6 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
100%would recommend this product
QualityRated 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 5
FlavorRated 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 5
TextureRated 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 5
LongevityRated 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 5
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6 reviews
  • SG Profile picture for Shiloh G.
    Shiloh G.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Age Range 35 - 44
    Favorite Tea Dark
    Brewing Style Gongfu or Other Tea Ceremony
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    1 year ago
    A Multifaceted, Flavorful, And Internally Calming Tea

    This tea is truly multifaceted. It became incredibly complex over the course of several infusions. The main tasting notes (sour cherries, pandan/vanilla, cherry jam, mildly-sweet wheatgrass, and lemon citrus tartness) became more prominent as the first day progressed, and continued to grow in complexity as I continued infusing it the second day. Additionally, my body felt increasingly relaxed with each infusion. I haven’t felt such a grounding calm emerge while drinking a tea in a long time. This was a meaningful exploration into Korean aged teas that will linger in my memory.

    QualityRated 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 5
    FlavorRated 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 5
    TextureRated 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 5
    LongevityRated 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 5
    MT Profile picture for Mansa Tea
    Mansa Tea
    1 year ago

    Hi Shiloh,

    Thank you for taking the time to write a review for us.

    It's good to hear you discovered its complexity over several infusions. We're delighted to know our Cheong Tae Jeon has positively affected your tea journey!

    This kind of review motivates us to do our best, and we look forward to hearing more of these kinds of thoughts from you soon!

  • R
    Renee
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    3 years ago
    Different experience in each infusions

    When I used the full tea cake the other day, I was able to get about 8 infusions throughout the day-each one with a different experience

  • L
    Laura
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    3 years ago
    Fresh Farm Country Aroma

    Sour cherry, fresh cut wood, maybe hay. For me it's like driving through farm country.

  • AG
    Anne G.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    3 years ago
    Honey and Vanilla Cookie

    I get a strong honey, vanilla cookie.

  • MK
    Maya K.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    3 years ago
    Very earthy sweetness, Best Experience with Gaiwan

    it's like a study on the "earthy" note...the dry leaf was the deeper kind of earthy, but the wet leaf is more like sharp and fresh kind of earthy. Very earthy sweetness. Similar to the cocoa dust notes. So cool because I get chocolate aroma in the gaiwan after the 2nd brew. Sour cherries, freshly wet leaves. I also get hops. Some citrus-y vibes and a bit of vanilla from the lid.

  • MW
    Marian W.
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    3 years ago
    Good Post-Dinner Tea

    This tea seems to travel the full flavor wheel :)Feels like such a good post-dinner tea (instead of the classic coffee). Alsoa perfect kettle-boil tea.

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