Tea & dado
Eat & drink

Korean tea, slow afternoon

Twelve teas that grow up next to Korean coffee culture, three tea spaces worth a long sit, and the six-step dado (다도) tasting if you want to do it properly.

Dado — Korean tea ritual in 6 steps

  1. 1
    Warm the cups
    Pour hot water into the pot and small cups, then discard — the cups are now warm to the touch.
  2. 2
    Measure tea
    1 teaspoon per cup. Korean tradition is generous but not heavy.
  3. 3
    First steep — "rinse"
    Pour hot (~80°C) water onto the leaves, swirl 5 seconds, pour off. This is for opening the leaves, not for drinking.
  4. 4
    Second steep — the cup
    Refill the pot, wait 1 min, pour into small cups (50ml).
  5. 5
    Drink in three sips
    First sip = aroma. Second = flavor. Third = aftertaste. Look at the cup, then up.
  6. 6
    Re-steep up to 5 times
    Each steep tastes different. Korean leaf teas reveal more on steeps 2–3 than the first.

Leaf teas

Green tea (Boseong / Hadong)

녹차
HotIced

Grassy, fresh, slight bitterness — Hadong green is more delicate than Japanese sencha.

Pair with
Yakgwa (honey cookie) · Patbingsu · Rice cakes

Antioxidant; afternoon focus.

Fruit teas

Omija (five-flavor berry)

오미자차
HotIced

Sweet + sour + salty + bitter + spicy in one sip — uniquely Korean.

Pair with
Songpyeon · Korean rice cake

Lung tonic in traditional medicine.

Yuja (yuzu) tea

유자차
HotIced

Honey-citrus syrup with rind suspended in the cup — like hot lemonade with bitter complexity.

Pair with
Pancake · Cold winter walks

Vitamin C; sore throat remedy.

Daechu (jujube) tea

대추차
Hot

Sweet, deep, almost date-like.

Pair with
Dasik (pressed tea cookies)

Comforting; sleep aid.

Maesil (green plum) tea

매실차
HotIced

Sour + sweet; aged-fermented plum syrup with water.

Pair with
Sashimi · Grilled fish

Digestion aid after a big meal.

Medicinal teas

Ginseng tea

인삼차
Hot

Earthy, slightly bitter, with floating ginseng strips. Often sweetened with honey.

Pair with
Yakgwa · After samgyetang

Ginger tea (saenggang)

생강차
Hot

Spicy + warming; honey-thickened.

Pair with
Cold weather walks

Cold remedy.

Solomon's seal (dunggulle)

둥굴레차
HotIced

Mellow, nutty, slightly sweet — drinks like a smooth oolong.

Pair with
Pretty much anything

Flower teas

Hibiscus tea

히비스커스차
HotIced

Tart, ruby-red.

Pair with
Light desserts

Chrysanthemum tea

국화차
Hot

Floral, delicate, faintly sweet — small whole blossoms unfurl.

Pair with
Songpyeon · After heavy meals

Eyes / liver in TKM.

Grain teas

Barley tea (boricha)

보리차
HotIced

Mild, nutty, brown. The free "water" at most Korean restaurants.

Pair with
Anything Korean

Hydration; caffeine-free.

Corn-silk tea (oksusu)

옥수수수염차
HotIced

Sweet roasted-corn flavor.

Pair with
Cold cuts

Teahouses worth a slow afternoon

O'sulloc Tea House Bukchon

Jongno-gu · 45 Bukchon-ro, seoul

O'sulloc's tea house in a reworked 1960s house, serving Bukchon-only tea food.

Signature
Bukchon signature tea food made with Korean ingredients
Hours
Mon–Thu 11:00–20:00 · Fri–Sun 11:00–21:00

Reservations on osulloc.com.

Make a cab card →

O'sulloc Tea Museum (Seogwang tea fields)

Seogwipo · 15 Sinhwayeoksa-ro, Andeok-myeon, jeju

Beside O'sulloc's Seogwang organic tea fields, cultivated since 1983. A tea roastery shows how the leaves are processed.

Signature
Tea roastery + a walk in the fields
Hours
Check osulloc.com for current hours.

In Seogwipo near Sanbangsan — pair it with the southwest coast.

Make a cab card →

Beautiful Tea Museum (Insadong)

Jongno-gu · 19-11 Insadong-gil, seoul

A teahouse with a tea-ware museum and gallery; around 100 teas from Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan.

Signature
Korean traditional teas, e.g. lotus-leaf tea
Hours
Daily 11:30–20:00

Near Anguk Station.

Make a cab card →