2011 Jukro Hwagae Valley Jungjak

So here's the follow up to yesterdays post. In yesterdays post we tried Jukro's 2011 Sejak. Today lets get into Jukro's 2011 Jungjak. Sejak is typically the second flush and the Jungjak the third. I think these are just general rules, depending on the weather there's room to fudge a little with these classifications.

Once again the packaging of Jukro teas is DELUXE. So many layers of stuff to open before you get to the tea. The Sejak is packaged in two 40 gram sealed packets. The Jungjak is packaged in one 80 gm. packet but inside the foil bag that you see in the picture below is guess what?.......Another bag, this time a bag made of wax paper. Jeez...............I,m getting excited over wax paper?

The sign of a true tea head, bull dog clips. There never seems to be enough of them. Thank you Jukro for packaging your teas with these indispensable tea accessories.

The dry leaf is noticeably chunkier and larger. Not a great picture here, too much glare, kinda washed out and dull, but you get the idea. The leafs aroma is heavier and sweeter smelling than the Sejak. The toasted, malted grain aroma's take dominance. Woodsy, earthy and sticky sweet. Smells delicious!

Like the Sejak, the Jungjak's flavors accurately match the teas aromas. The Jungjak's mouth feel is heavier, coating the palate with woodsy, nutty, toasted grain and honey flavors. Lacking the pristine clarity of the Sejak, substituting  equally delicious but simpler flavors. In the later infusions the fruit and florals make an appearance, but they are more like stone fruits. Where as the Sejak has more of a  lighter fruit flavor, such as pears. The notes of pine and sap found in the Sejak are not present here.

Like the Sejak, the Jungjak's durability is excellent. I get three good infusions, maybe four if I was a little more careful with my timing, I tend to let the later infusions steep for a little longer than necessary, not intentionally but because I get distracted easily sometimes. You would think that when dealing with teas that are this pricey I'd learn to pay more attention, but no, sad to say, but I don't.

You can see that the tea brews up almost as clean as the Sejak. Maybe just a tad more yellow. Jukro's teas are for me a special treat, not something I could afford to drink regularly, that is, were they always available. Sam at  Good Green Tea has only a couple of these teas left in stock, and they probably won't last long. 

I accidentally deleted the picture of the used leaves, I,ll add another at a later time.