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When the freshly sprouting leaves are plucked from the tea bushes in late April or May, they are a vivid green color. To make a green tea, they have to be dried before they wither; this means within a few hours of being picked. Tea bushes only grow in the far south of the Korean peninsula, on the southern slopes of Jirisan, around Boseong, and on the hills of Jeju Island off the south coast. On the slopes of Jirisan, individual tea-makers spend hours crouched over heated cauldrons, turning and rubbing the tea by hand until it is perfectly dry. This is the finest and most expensive variety of Korean tea, although tea made industrially by such large companies as Taepyong-yang can also be very good. The first, small sprouts gathered in April give the most delicate tea, known as "Ujeon". The leaves gathered in early May yield "Sejak" and in last weeks of May, when the taste of the leaves is beginning to grow weaker, the tea is known as "Jungjak". Menus in tea houses will often list green tea by these categories.

For further info about green tea, visit: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto

Photo credits: http://www.mellowmonk.com/labels/EGCG.html