The onset of spring finds green tea shrubs budding. A program in which tea farm visitors can pick and then process the young leaves into tea is proving quite popular. Mike Balfour has more.
Report
[Slug] Harye-ri, Namwon-eup, Seogwipo
New leaves are shooting out on green tea shrubs under a spring sky.
People are carefully picking the top two leaves and buds from the new shoots, trying not to damage the soft leaves.
The tea leaves are collected in baskets.
The harvested leaves are then roasted in a iron pot at over 300 degree Celsius.
After that, the slightly cooked tea leaves are hand-rubbed.
Participants are learning how hand-made green tea products are processed.
INTERVIEW Gang Chun-ja / Participant I enjoy drinking green tea at home. Today I learned a lot about how to make it. <인터뷰 강춘자/남원읍 위미리> "녹차를 집에서도 마시는데 녹차에 대해 잘몰랐던 것을 오늘 여기와서 체험하면서 배우고 가는 것 같아요.
The program participants taste the tea that they, themselves had just made.
How does it taste? It’s greater than any other green tea.
The program is organized by the Seogwipo Agriculture Technology Center to teach people about the benefits of Jeju green tea.
INTERVIEW Kim Mi-shil / Seogwipo Agriculture Technology Center The tea made from the first leaves of the year is called “saejak.” Program participants pick the first leaves and produce this great tea. It helps them learn about the benefits of green tea. <인터뷰:김미실/서귀포농업기술센터 농촌지도담당 > "첫물차를 새작이라고 하는데 최고의 차를 직접 만들어서 먹어보면서 차에 대한 인식을 새롭게 할 수 있을거라 생각합니다."
With the fragrance of green tea in the air,
[Reporter] Mike Balfour [Camera] Hyeon Gwang-hoon
visitors get a taste of the value of farming by learning about the complex harvest and preparation of tea leaves.
