Korean Teas: Summer Refreshment – Korean Bamboo Leaf Tea (대잎 차)
Bamboo leaf tea
Specifics: A leaf tea available in tea bags but not easy to find. Specialist deli type shops often stock it.
In summer, I prefer water or a chilled, non sweetened cereal drink or a tea as a refreshment. My favourite is probably mistletoe tea (겨우살이) but a close contender is bamboo leaf tea (데잎 차) The tea comes in bags which can be a little difficult to find though it can be bought in other forms. I couldn’t buy the bags in my local E-Mart or Home Plus but I know two small delicatessen type shops which sell them.
I have to be honest, making the tea is hit and miss and I still haven’t worked out the best way to make it. Several times I have made a very refreshing brew but repeating this seems temperamental and on some occasions the tea has been almost tasteless. When right however, the flavour is subtle and distinct and bears a similarity to mistletoe – a very mild lemony tang without any tartness or bitterness.
Not to be confused with Green bamboo leaf - green tea - which is from China!
Like most things that taste ‘just,’ (그냥), bamboo leaf tea has those beneficial qualities,’ it is supposedly a detoxicant and can even help you lose weight. Don’t get me wrong, I love these types of tea but can draw a distinction between refreshing and delicious. A high quality milkshake is delicious – bamboo water is ‘just’ but on a hot day or a sweaty training session, the milkshake comes second.
© Nick Elwood 2010. This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
Elwood 5566 
Bamboo Leaf Tea? i have never heard (and seen) such a thing in my life! how did you come to get introduced to this particular kind of tea in the first place? i’m suddenly curious! i think green tea is one of the most largely-sold tea varieties in Korea, as are roasted barley, Solomon’s-seal, buckwheat, corn silk teas.
Just discovered it in a store. Haven’t you tried 계우사리? Definitely my favourite. Chilled cereal teas I like but I haven’t tried Solomon’s Seal.I will buy some this weekend as I enjoy such drinks mostly in hot weather. Is corn silk 옥수수?
never tried it, either. Solomon’s Seal is called 둥글레 and corn silk is not the corn(옥수수) itself as you’ve probably figured it out, but actually the corn beard, to be more jargon-using, stigmas of female maize flowers, known as 옥수수수염. the latter was, like, proper huge years ago, and still sells well, i heard, as you can easily see bottled corn silk tea at many stores. you can also find some blended bottled tea varieties, like 17-차(tea), which is highly drinkable in my opinion. if you’d like to buy some teas under a good deal, i suggest, you can either buy them at Costco Wholesale, which usually sells them in bulk, or you can check out online leaflets for Emart or Tesco Homeplus Sungseo branch which are issued every Thursday as far as i can remember and see if there’s any reasonably-priced teas there.