Balhyocha, yes, no, and what?

Balhyocha is a term often thrown around the Korean tea world, but I’ve come to understand that it’s poorly understood and confuses many people. I’ve seen it used among terms like oolong and black tea. I’ve seen it used correctly and incorrectly in the same sentence. So, let’s take a moment to define the word:

First, one must understand that the term “fermented,” 发酵 (fā’xiào) in Chinese and 발효 (balhyo) in Korean, is used for both ‘fermentation’ AND ‘oxidation’.

Balhyo 발효, meaning ‘fermented’ (or oxidized in this case) and cha 차, meaning tea. This is exactly what it means: tea that has been oxidized.

Basically, balhyocha is an umbrella term for all tea that has been oxidized past green tea levels.

Sinocentric tea categories, like hongcha and oolong, define a processing method. But a tea can be processed any way and still be a balhyocha as long as it is oxidized. This allows for many freedoms in processing methods, and some masters exercise this freedom greatly.

You may also have seen Hongcha 홍차 and Huangcha 황차 used for Korean teas. Both of these terms are not used in the same way as the Chinese Hongcha 红茶 and Huangcha 黄茶. Korea uses these terms to mark oxidation levels. Hongcha is fully oxidized, and Huangcha is less than fully oxidized. But they do not define the processing steps used to make the tea.

However, some Korean tea masters (I can think of at least three) prefer to use the sinocentric terms, like oolong, as they do use the defined processing steps to make their teas. It can make things confusing, but one of them mentioned it’s a better way to categorize their teas.

So it’s correct to say a tea can be both a balhyocha and an oolong at the same time. I personally like to use the master’s terms for the tea they make. Who am I to argue with the person who makes the tea? You may see me use balhyocha and hongcha or oolong for the same tea. But if I don’t know the preference of the master, I group the tea in the balhyocha category.