Korean Tea Ceremony - 다례

I was reading this article and made me want to write about TEA!

Last year when I visited Seoul, we went to a Traditional Tea Ceremony, so here's a little explanation on how it's done and some pictures about it.

According to Wikipedia "The Korean tea ceremony or darye is a traditional form of tea ceremony practiced in Korea. Darye literally refers to "etiquette for tea" or "day tea rite" and has been kept among Korean people for a few thousand years.The chief element of the Korean tea ceremony is the ease and naturalness of enjoying tea within an easy formal setting."

Drinking green tea is an art in itself, and the rhythm and ritual of the ceremony is an aid to help the mind relax and achieve a higher level of spiritual enlightenment. In order to achieve that, the following movements are all performed with slow grace, and in a very smooth, controlled and artful motion.

First the cloth cover is removed from the top of the table and the tea ware. 

Next with the right hand the lid of the tea container is removed and placed on a stand or on the table in front of the container, and then the lid of the teapot is removed in the same manner. Then with the left hand the tea container is picked up, and with the right hand the spoon is used to place the proper amount of tea in the teapot. The tea container is then returned to its place and the lid restored At this time, hot water from the kettle is poured into the cooling bowl and one must wait the appropriate amount of time for the water to cool sufficiently - generally one to two minutes.  After the water is cooled, the bowl should be lifted with two hands and the water poured gently into the teapot, then the cooling bowl placed back on the table. The lid is then placed on the teapot, and the tea is allowed to steep for the proper amount of time. 

The tea is then poured into the cups and served. After drinking the first cup of tea, the last steps of pouring the water into the cooling bowl, then into the teapot, and then into the cups is repeated two more times. Each time a serving of tea leaves is placed in the teapot they are steeped three times.

When making Green Tea DO NOT use boiling water!!, the extreme heat can burn the leaves and it tends to draw the bitter flavors out of the leaves. Boiling water should first be poured from the tea kettle into the cooling bowl where it should sit for a several minutes to attain the desired temperature. While the water cools, place the tea leaves into the pot.

  Green tea is said to be an aid to digestion after a meal and some claim it helps the complexion as well. It has no calories and is much lower in caffeine than coffee. But the real joy in drinking green tea is the experience.

    Drinking green tea should be a calming experience that brings peace to your soul, and calms your nerves while allowing you time to think, dream or simply enjoy the fragrance and taste of the tea.

The coolest thing (besides the Ceremony itself) was get to wear a Hanbok (Jeori and Chima), they thaught us how to wear it and how to tight the know :) 

After completing the ceremony we went to another room and were shown how to make Kimchi Pancakes and how to make this "painting" with wood and black ink (forgot the name!) we also put a 도장 (dojan) witch is a seal used to identify someone's work. 

Me - K Jin - Mely wearing Hanbok

Room with "removable" walls

"Paintings" ?

Kimchi Pancake!!

-Gisela V.