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OSULLOC is Korea's best-known tea brand, built on tea fields that Amorepacific's founder began planting on Jeju Island in 1979. Its range splits into pure Jeju green teas, post-fermented "Samdayeon" blends such as Honey Pear and Moon Walk, black tea blends such as Signature Earl Grey, Jeju oolongs, caffeine-free herbals, matcha and milk tea sticks, cold brew sticks and gift sets. If you are new to it, start with Honey Pear, Jeju Tangerine or Peach Black.
Ask a Korean which tea brand to buy and the answer is usually OSULLOC (오설록). Its green tea fields and tea museum on Jeju are a tourist stop, its tea houses are a Seoul fixture, and its flavored blends are the gift Koreans bring abroad. The range is large, though, and the names (Samdayeon, Moon Walk, Woojeodam) mean little until someone explains them. This guide does that. All of our OSULLOC guides are listed in the OSULLOC hub.
At Daebak, a Seoul-based Korean culture and product company, OSULLOC is the most-ordered brand among the brand-shipped products in our shop, so we also know which teas people actually come back for. Product details below come from OSULLOC's product pages; the company facts come from Amorepacific's announcements and the sources listed at the end.
OSULLOC Honey Pear Tea, the tea Daebak customers order most. See details.
The brand in brief
OSULLOC began in 1979, when Suh Sung-whan, the founder of the Amorepacific Group, started turning rocky, barren land at Dolsongi on Jeju into a tea farm. Seogwang followed in the 1980s and Hannam in 1995, and the fields are now organic. The OSULLOC Tea Museum opened beside the Seogwang fields in 2001. The brand belongs to Amorepacific, the company behind LANEIGE, Sulwhasoo and innisfree: according to Amorepacific's August 2019 announcement, OSULLOC was run as a division of Amorepacific until it was set up as a separate company, wholly owned by Amorepacific Group, from 1 October 2019, and its Jeju tea fields hold USDA-NOP and EU organic certifications. The scale is larger than the tea-house image suggests; The Korea Times reported in 2016 that the Jeju fields produce about 1,000 tons of organic green tea a year, around a quarter of Korea's total. For the longer story of Jeju tea, see Jeju Green Tea Culture; for where tea sits in Korean life, see Korean Tea: What Koreans Actually Drink.
The range at a glance
| Family | What it is | Examples | Caffeine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pure Jeju green tea | Unblended green tea from the Jeju fields | Organic Sejak, Organic Pure Green Tea | Yes |
| Floral green tea blends | Jeju green tea with flowers or flavor | Wedding Green Tea, Jeju Orchid Green Tea | Yes |
| Post-fermented (Samdayeon) blends | Jeju post-fermented tea with fruit, honey or flowers; mellow and smooth | Honey Pear, Moon Walk, Jeju Tangerine, Cherry Blossom | Yes |
| Black tea blends | Black tea, often with Jeju post-fermented tea, plus fruit or citrus | Signature Earl Grey, Peach Black, Fig Chocolat, Marron Glacé | Yes |
| Jeju oolong | Semi-fermented Jeju tea, roasted or blended | Jeju Volcanic Rock Tea, Volcanic Oolong, Tangerine Blossom Oolong, Milky Oolong | Yes |
| Herbal, caffeine-free | Hibiscus, chamomile, rooibos blends | Sweet Hibiscus, Chamomile Lavender, Rooibos Moonlight | No |
| Matcha and powders | Shade-grown Jeju matcha and green tea powder | Organic Premium Matcha, Organic Green Tea Powder | Yes |
| Milk tea sticks | Instant powdered milk teas | Jeju Matcha Milk Tea, Jeju Hojicha Milk Tea, Original Milk Tea | Yes |
| Cold brew and kombucha sticks | Bottle-sized sticks for cold water | Honey Pear Cold Brew, Sunshine Muscat Cold Brew, Kombucha Calamango | Varies |
| Gift sets | Samplers of 4 to 10 flavors | Premium Tea Collection 40, Tea Edition Island | Mixed |
What "post-fermented" means, and why it matters here
Most of OSULLOC's famous blends are not green tea. They are built on Jeju post-fermented tea, which the brand sells under the name Samdayeon (삼다연): tea leaves that are fermented after processing, the way dark teas are, giving a mellow, rounded base with none of green tea's grassiness. Honey Pear, Moon Walk, Jeju Tangerine, Cherry Blossom and Camellia Forest all use it, and it is the reason OSULLOC blends taste smooth even to people who think they do not like tea. If you see "fermented tea (Jeju)" on an ingredient list, this is what it means.
Which to try first
These are the OSULLOC teas Daebak customers have ordered most over the past three months, with what each one is:
- Honey Pear Tea. Post-fermented tea with honey powder and pear. Sweet, smooth, no bitterness; the tea OSULLOC is known for abroad. Brew at 90°C for 2 minutes, hot or over ice.
- Jeju Tangerine Blended Tea. Loose-leaf post-fermented tea with Jeju tangerine and tangerine peel: bright citrus over a mellow base. Also sold as 20 tea bags.
- Peach Black Tea. Organic black and post-fermented tea with wild peach juice. The one to pick if you usually drink black tea.
- Fig Chocolat Black Tea. Black tea with cacao nibs and fig. Dessert-like without being sweet.
- Moon Walk Tea. OSULLOC's pear-and-post-fermented-tea blend with a small star-shaped candy in the leaf, described by the brand as its best-selling premium blend. The 35 g loose-leaf tin is the gift version.
OSULLOC Jeju Tangerine Blended Tea. See details.
If you want real green tea
Go to the unblended Jeju teas. Organic Sejak Green Tea is made from the first-harvest young leaves, which is what the grade name Sejak means, and tastes toasty and nutty. Organic Pure Green Tea is the everyday version, soft and clean with a faint seaweed note. Brew both cooler and shorter than the blends: 70°C for 1.5 minutes. We go deeper in Jeju Green Tea: What Makes It Different.
OSULLOC Organic Sejak Green Tea. See details.
If you want no caffeine
Sweet Hibiscus (hibiscus, Jeju dried lemon, mint, cinnamon), Chamomile Lavender and the rooibos blends such as Rooibos Moonlight are the evening options. The Herbal Tea Life Set bundles three of them.
If you want matcha or milk tea
Organic Premium Matcha Powder is shade-grown Jeju matcha for whisking, lattes and baking. The stick milk teas, Jeju Matcha Milk Tea and Jeju Hojicha Milk Tea, are instant: one stick in hot water, cold water or milk. They are sweetened, so treat them as a café drink rather than a tea.
If you drink tea cold
The cold brew sticks are made for a water bottle: one stick in 500 ml of cold water for two to three minutes. Honey Pear Cold Brew is the cold version of the bestseller; Sunshine Muscat is the lighter, grape-scented one. All the regular tea bags can also be brewed hot and poured over ice. The Kombucha Calamango sticks are the brand's green-tea kombucha; we compare them with TEAZEN's fruit kombucha in TEAZEN vs OSULLOC Kombucha Sticks.
If it is a gift
Samplers are the safe choice because they cover several families at once. Premium Tea Collection 40 has ten flavors; Tea Edition Island has six Jeju-inspired blends in a drawer box. We compare all the sets in OSULLOC Tea Gift Sets: Which One to Give. For brewing every type, see How to Brew OSULLOC Tea.
OSULLOC products in our shop are brand-shipped. If you would rather receive a seasonal mix of Korean snacks, drinks, beauty and goods, the Daebak Box is a separate, curated option.
FAQ
What is OSULLOC?
Korea's best-known tea brand, part of the Amorepacific Group, with organic tea fields and a tea museum on Jeju Island. It began planting tea on Jeju in 1979.
What is OSULLOC's most popular tea?
Among Daebak customers, Honey Pear Tea, followed by Jeju Tangerine, Peach Black and Fig Chocolat. OSULLOC itself describes Moon Walk as its best-selling premium blend.
Is OSULLOC tea caffeinated?
The green, black, oolong and post-fermented teas contain caffeine. The hibiscus, chamomile and rooibos blends do not.
What does Samdayeon mean?
It is OSULLOC's name for its Jeju post-fermented tea, the mellow base used in most of its fruit and flower blends.
Are OSULLOC teas organic?
Many are; the Sejak, Pure Green Tea, Volcanic Rock, Volcanic Oolong and matcha are labelled organic, and several blends list organic tea. Check each product page.
