PProvenance
Enter
Korean · VI The Beverage Tradition

Daechu-cha (대추차)

Korea, nationwide; the jujube groves of Boeun and Gyeongsan

‹ The Beverage Tradition

I

Origin

Daechu-cha is the jujube tea of the Korean table, made from the dried fruit of the jujube, Ziziphus jujuba, a tree long established on the peninsula. It belongs to the tradition of cha made by decoction rather than from the tea leaf, alongside the citron, ginger and quince teas drunk in winter. It is carried by the household: every Korean kitchen with a pot and a handful of dried fruit can make it, and it appears at the end of meals, at the holidays and in the sickroom of custom.

II

Description

The tea is a decoction of dried jujubes, Ziziphus jujuba, simmered in water until the fruit gives up its sugar and its dark, reddish-brown colour. The fruit is rinsed, often split or sliced so the flesh yields more readily, and the stones may be left in for their bitterness or removed for a softer cup. Fresh ginger is a common companion, and the tea is sweetened with honey or sugar to taste only after the simmer. It is served hot in a small cup, frequently with a few pine nuts floating on the surface and a slice of the cooked fruit.

III

The Thread

—Both are hot winter drinks of the end of the meal, thickened and sweetened by the body of the main ingredient and finished with a scattering of nuts. Sahlab is thickened with orchid-tuber flour and milk, while daechu-cha takes all its body and sweetness from a simmered dried fruit and water alone. Turkish
—Both are preserved or dried fruit infused in hot water to make a sweet, fragrant tea drunk in the cold months. Yuzu-cha rests on citrus peel and its bright aromatic oil, whereas daechu-cha rests on the dark, caramelised sweetness of a dried stone fruit. Japanese
—Both simmer dried red dates in water to make a sweet, warming decoction served after the meal. The Chinese version is usually combined with dried longan or goji berries, while the Korean cup keeps to the jujube, often with ginger, and is finished with pine nuts. Chinese
IV

Flavour Context

Daechu-cha is drunk at the close of a meal, with rice cakes, hangwa confections or fruit, and on cold afternoons on its own. Its gentle bitterness from the skin and stone and its deep, raisin-like sweetness cleanse the palate after salted, fermented and chilli-bearing dishes. Sweet cakes sit well beside it because the tea is only lightly sweetened and does not compete with them.

Pillars V — VII
The full training pages are part of membership.
Quality hierarchy, sensory tests, and where the dish lives or dies — on every entry in the Library.
Enter · from $49 a year
← PreviousDabang coffee (다방 커피)

‹ The Beverage Tradition · Contents · The Library