Tea Review — Fancy Grade Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea
Seller: Yunnan Sourcing
Price: 0.20$/gram
Our grade: 8/10
Seller’s description:
Our Dragon Well (Long Jing) Teas were picked in the early Spring before the Qing Ming holiday. They have been selected from trusted growers located on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The temperate, overcast and rainy winter climate of Hangzhou contributes to the tenderness and sweetness of the buds and leaves which are picked early in the Spring and are then expertly pan-fried in a wok which further brings out the tea’s unique characteristics, with slight sweet and bitter subtleties and the distinguished ‘roasted chestnut’ aroma.
This grade of tea has slightly larger leaves than the higher grades, but has a robust and thick taste with a nutty fragrance. It is sweet at first but gradually coats the back of the mouth and throat with a very slight astringency and a pleasant bitterness. The taste and aroma last through many infusions!
During the Qing Dynasty, the imperial Qing court considered Dragon Well to be the tea of choice for summer consumption while they favored Pu-erh tea during the winter. This is likely due to the soft, refreshing, and cooling taste that the tea provides.
Review:
The dried leaves: are fairly green, in relatively fresh hues for a Long Jing and have some yellow tones as well. As it ages, the colour of the tea becomes dark, similar to pickles, but this is not the case with the tea we’re drinking now. This tea was picked during the spring and we drank it and wrote this review at the end of June.
The warm leaves: give off a sweet, pleasant aroma, a combination of fresh grass and roasted nuts. Once it’s quickly rinsed, it becomes savory, it has this umami fragrance, and the smell becomes more intense. Our friends whom we served this tea said the leaves smell like chicken soup.
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Tea colour: initially green, it stays green as it’s steeped, but also acquires some yellow hues as the session progresses. The tea fluff can be seen floating atop of the tea soup in the cup.
The tasting was done in one session consisting of 4grams/100ml in a white porcelain gaiwan along with a porcelain serving pitcher and 40ml drinking cups.
Steeping temperature and times: initially 70℃ and 10s; 65℃ and 10s; 70℃ and 15s; 70℃ and 20s; 85℃ and 15s; 90℃ and 15s.
Texture and body of the tea: fine, thin.
The first infusion: fresh, clean, green, sweet. It’s velvety, it pleasantly covers the tongue and throat. I can honestly say it’s a pleasant tea to drink. The flavour of the tea is a combination of cucumber and almond milk — it may sound odd, but it’s tasty!
The second infusion to the fourth: the taste is slightly more intense from the second infusion, which makes it even more pleasant. It’s still sweet, vegetable like, with notes of roasted nuts. I’m noticing some minerality, but also some bitter notes. It leans towards green grass, arugula, lettuce, and perhaps baby spinach. It’s slightly astringent.
It’s easy to understand why it’s one of the most popular teas in China. It has a persistent sweetness, but also something savory that makes you want to drink a little more. It doesn’t change much as it is infused, and it’s easy to prepare, meaning that if the water is hotter than it should be, or the tea is left longer before it’s poured (maybe even both), it still tastes very good.
Fifth infusion onwards: it maintains a well defined flavour as it’s steeped for longer at higher temperatures. It’s pleasant to drink throughout the session.
The spent leaves are small, in that it’s obvious it was carefully picked. They are mostly 1–2 small leaves on the same twig. They are all green, from more pale hues, to more intense ones (for the bigger leaves). Considering how uniform they are, it’s obvious it was picked and processed with great care, and the end product is quite tasty.
I think this is an excellent tea for drinking at work, or while undertaking tasks that need our focus. The taste isn’t overpowering, it’s not distracting, each sip is pleasant and allows for easy focus on the task at hand — although it might make you want to reach for a second sip, and then another one, an so on.
Originally published at http://ceaiteacha.wordpress.com on July 19, 2020.
