[K STYLE] Hadong Green Tea

Here is a green tea field in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province.

Along mountain slopes, wild green tea trees are showing off their splendid, greenish figures.

Due to its warm climate, Hadong is home to a 1,200-year-old history of green tea plantations since the Silla Dynasty.

With a river running near Hadong, the town is foggy and humid.

Hadong is also an ideal location for the cultivation of tea trees because its temperature difference between day and night is great.

The green tea harvest begins in spring as its new buds come out.

The harvest along the slopes is done only by hand.

[Kim Tae-Jong, green tea farmer]
"It's a labor-intensive industry as tea fields are located in the mountains. Labor costs account for about 70 to 80 percent of tea production costs."

The next process is to roast the tea leaves.

During the roasting process, the tea leaves are quickly withered and heated to a very high temperature in the cast iron pot.

This is the core technology to produce traditional Korean green tea.

This roasting maintains the components of tea leaves and prevents them from decaying.

The leaves are then rolled lengthwise to give the tea its distinctive components and flavor.

The green tea is produced after repeated processes of roasting, hand-rolling, and firing.

The traditional Korean green tea is light yellowish green and gives off aromatic fragrance.

The green tea produced in Hadong was drunk by the kings throughout the Silla, Goryeo, and Joseon dynasties.

Hadong's green tea agrosystem was recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for its value as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in November 2017.

Hadong's green tea marked the fourth such entry on the FAO's GIAHS list, following one in Japan and two in China.

The American coffeehouse chain Starbucks has begun receiving Hadong's green teas.

Rising above the sterile environment to be preserved for centuries, Hadong's green tea is one of the world's most valuable agricultural heritage assets.