Osulloc Tea Museum Jeju South Korea

When I travelled to South Korea, one of my stops was Jeju Island, which is very popular with South Koreans for their holidays, honeymoons in particular. South Koreans rave about the produce of Jeju and it has a special place in their hearts. Putting it on our itinerary was a no brainer. 

Tea bushes trimmed into a large cup of tea

I’m a tea lover, so when I heard about premium Korean tea producer Osulloc having a huge “tea museum” on Jeju, I knew I had to visit. Having visited the Osulloc shop in Busan where staff let me sample some of the teas, I thought going to the source would be a worthwhile experience. Jeju’s volcanic soil and climate provide great conditions for growing tea.

 

The tea fields at Osulloc

We hired a taxi driver to take us on a day tour of West Jeju, and Mr Kim was a funny, thoughtful and helpful person, perfect to guide us and take us around. He made sure we arrived mid-morning, because he told us the place gets very busy.

The tea fields stretching out were the most bright and vivid green, the tea bushes evidently enjoying spring time. You can walk among them and bathe your eyes and soul in their natural splendour.

Another view of the tea fields at Osulloc

 

What of the museum itself? I have to say that this is not a true “museum”. There are no large displays of the history of tea, tea culture, Jeju tea history, or Osulloc’s history, bar a couple of cases of old branding and packaging. If you are wanting that kind of museum, I have heard that the Tea Museum of Korea (Boseoung) has that covered. But I still say Osulloc Tea Museum is worth visiting; for its café and shop. For a guide on visiting the tea fields in Boseong, please see Kavey’s post here: https://www.kaveyeats.com/visiting-tea-fields-boseong-south-korea

Mr Kim said I should have my photo taken with the tea bushes, thank you Mr Kim!

The shop area is huge, light, airy and well designed, and there are so many fabulous tea products. I’m not just talking about tea leaves, tea bags, and matcha tea powder, although they have plenty of those. I’m thinking tea biscuits, chocolates, and other dainty and delectable treats.

Tea themed treats in the Osulloc shop

Kavey (who writes Kavey Eats as mentioned above) recommended I should buy the Matcha Langue de Chat biscuits, and as ever, she didn’t miss. A light-textured and crisp biscuit with a gentle green hue, and a delicious matcha cream in the middle. We brought the packet home, but it didn’t last long, I’m feeling a little forlorn I didn’t buy 3 more boxes. The wafers I bought got battered in transit, so they all looked a bit ragged, with corners missing, but they still tasted gorgeous. My husband (Him Indoors) and I may have squabbled over what was a fair share of the Jeju Green Tea Chocolate Bar; dark chocolate and matcha tea perfection. The Osulloc signature biscuit, individually wrapped for optimum freshness, had delicate matcha white chocolate on top of a dark, cocoa rich biscuit crisp.

 

Some of the fine quality tea products at Osulloc

Shoppers browsing the products

There is such a variety of tea based products here

The café is the main reason to visit the Osulloc Team Museum. The cakes are works of art, the drinks span ordinary hot tea, matcha lattes, and iced teas, and there’s the matcha ice cream which, if it is not already legendary, ought to be! You can gawk at the selections before you buy, if you’re having trouble choosing, or you can go straight ahead and use the techy ordering system. Your order, when ready will buzz on a pager for you to collect.

Ordering at the techy menu stations

 

The food and drink collection point

 

The staff making up orders with care and dedication

Some of the tea based desserts

The tempting tea based desserts

As you can see, I opted for the crepe green tea cake. The skill involved in making so many paper thin crepes and stacking them so precisely, with a layer of matcha cream between each, is mind boggling to me. The taste? Out of this world. Creamy, delicate, with a gentle whisper of tea flavour. There are other Osulloc cafes in South Korea, but there are a number of exclusives both at the shop and café at Jeju. This awesome cake was one of them.

Crepe matcha green tea cake

 

Mr Kim was right, after we finished our shopping and treats, two huge coaches of visitors arrived. It’s a popular stop and getting early will give you the chance to sit on the terrace to eat and look over the tea plantation. Otherwise, the café is very large, and there is plenty of space for everyone.

Delicious matcha green tea ice cream

As for that crepe green tea cake… we still talk about it fondly. It might seem strange, but for me, it was one of my greatest food highlights on an amazing trip full of wonderful food.

If you love green tea, and want some products to take home or give people as gifts, Osulloc’s regular shops are worth a visit, but their flagship shop at the Tea Museum is something special. All the Juju exclusive products are labelled at both the café and shop. I would also suggest, if you want to discover K-skincare, the Innisfree shop next door is worth a visit.

This blog post represents the honest views of Snigdha, who was not paid by Osulloc to write this post in any way. Snigdha bought and paid for the Osulloc products mentioned in this blog post.