Tea Cultivar · Camellia sinensis var. sinensis
Jukro
- Origin
- South Korea - Hadong
- Primary use
- green tea, specialty hand-rolled
Overview
Jukro - literally 'bamboo dew' - is less a single registered cultivar than a regional Hadong selection from old seed-propagated tea gardens that grow naturally interspersed with bamboo groves along the Hwagae valley of the Seomjin River. Local farmers selected and propagated bushes from these wild-ish stands whose buds set early and whose cups carried the distinctive cool, mineral character attributed to the bamboo understory. The name is now used both for the cultivar material and for the prized hand-rolled green tea (jukro-cha) made from it under the Hadong wild-tea designation.
Characteristics
Bushes are small to medium, multi-stemmed, and adapted to the dappled shade of mixed bamboo-tea cultivation. Leaves are narrow, dark green, and slightly leathery, with shorter internodes than commercial Boseong cultivars. Yields are low and plucking is exclusively by hand, but the leaves' high amino acid content (the result of natural bamboo-shading) gives an excellent umami-to-catechin balance.
Flavor profile
The cup is delicate, sweet, and unmistakably mineral - bamboo shoot, fresh spring water over stone, and a cooling menthol-like finish unique to the Hwagae terroir. Early ujeon pluckings show pronounced marine umami and a custardy mouthfeel; later sejak grades become more herbaceous and floral.
History
The Hwagae Jangteo market in Hadong has traded wild-style tea from these bamboo gardens since at least the Joseon dynasty, and the area was designated a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) by the FAO in 2017 specifically for its traditional tea-bamboo cultivation.
Where it grows
South Korea - Hadong