Hadong Ujeon (Pre-Rain)
🇰🇷 South Korea

Hadong Ujeon (Pre-Rain)

하동 우전 · 河東 雨前

pan-fired

Hadong Ujeon ("pre-rain") is the highest grade of Korean green tea — the earliest spring pluck, harvested before the Gogu (Grain Rain) festival in late April from the four-grade classification (Ujeon → Sejak → Jungjak → Daejak, named after "sparrow" growth stages of the leaf). The most prestigious Hadong Ujeon comes from wild and semi-wild Hadong-cultivar bushes around Hwagae-myeon, the documented birthplace of Korean tea cultivation in 828 CE. Korean processing favours deokkeum-cha — pan-firing in a hot cast-iron cauldron — over the steam-fixing common in Japan.

Quick facts

Origin
South Korea
Region
Hwagae
Harvest year
2025
Harvest season
early spring
Cultivars
Hadong Jaeraejong (Hadong heirloom)

Brewing

Leaf
3.0 g / 100 ml
Water
70°C
Rinse
no
Gongfu steeps (s)
40, 30, 45, 60
Western (min)
1.5

Brew below 75 °C — Korean greens are even more delicate than Japanese sencha. The traditional Korean approach is multiple short steeps from a small pot rather than long Western infusions.

Calculate leaf weight for this tea

Tasting notes

Aroma
sweet hay, fresh chestnut, faint orchid
Flavor
delicate, mineral sweet, light umami
Mouthfeel
silky, soft
Finish
clean, lingering sweet

Sources and review

Last reviewed:

External references used to review this entry.

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