Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘dragon well’

I am just finishing my fourth infusion of this elegant Dragon Well green tea and it is going strong. I have worked a bit at learning how to prepare green teas properly. A little bit of attention to detail–water quality, water temperature, steeping time–repays itself abundantly. The dry leaf does not give away an enormous amount of aroma but seems slightly fragrant and nutty. The leaves are firm and a bit tippy. The wet leaf, as is typical, provides a fresh and vegetal fragrance and resembles broad bright green pine needles.

The vivid tea is a pleasing pale yellow color–the relative pale color testifies to the youthfulness of the leaf. The taste is fresh, light, and buttery–almost like a sweet pea that has some delicately inserted wild rice grains. The taste develops a floral overtone that could be described as “orchid-like”. It’s not at all astringent or bitter.

I think that this tea is youthful and light yet it can sustain multiple infusions. It’s got an extremely fresh and natural taste and the hints of orchid, rice, corn, and vegetable are delightful flirtatious. This is a tea to ponder over and to enjoy. I would not use sweeteners at all with a nicely delicate and bright tea like this one.

I most certainly plan to try more teas form Grandtea.com. Visit their website athttp://www.grandtea.com/. Based in Hong Kong, they specialize in Chinese and Japanese teas of high quality and ship inexpensively to the USA and the rest of the world.

You can purchase the Xi Hu Premium Dragon Well directly from the Grand Tea website.

I’ve been dipping my toe into the waters of the world of green teas and discovering the results can be sensational.  I’ve only tested and tasted Japanese green teas, so I’ve been eager to try more Chinese green tea.  Knowing that Dragon Well (Lung Ching) has a reputation for being the champagne of Chinese green teas and that it’s known as being a fairly light tea, I thought that this was the ideal time for me to try this tea from Tea Frog.

The dry leaf is long, pretty and fairly flat. It’s green but not the neon green of some Japanese greens. It smells a bit nutty with hints at complexity that will arise with steeping. Brewed at approximately 175 degrees, the results are very pleasing. The brew is mid-yellow in color and the aroma is both vegetal and nutty. It is not ostentatiously sweet but it is fresh, mellow, and not the least bit bitter although one cduld argue that there’s a natural bitter-sweetness to this Dragon Well.   I use the “bitter-sweet” as a word of tribute, not a word of warning.   Tea Frog has done a beautiful job of presenting a Dragon Well that balances toasty roasty goodness with some natural sweetness.

Drinking this tea is a great adventure in unfolding layers of nuttiness and some vegetation—not so much that you can call it a “spinach” or an “artichoke” tea but enough so that the vegetal taste plays a strong third fiddle to the primary taste of roasted or toasted nuts.  I detect roasted walnuts more than other kinds of nuts although I taste a strong complementary chestnut overtone.   This tea is  very satisfying and would make a great accompaniment to a meal or as an after-dinner tea. It would also be a great afternoon tea.  I can see it as a great accompaniment to solitary study as well as a great social tea.   It’s versatility is impressive.  So many teas pigeon-hole themselves as “reading teas” or “wake-up teas”.  Tea Frog’s Dragon Well (Lung Ching) has variable facets like a beautiful gemstone and is a great tea option for many occasions.

SECOND infusion: Tea Frog’s Dragon Well has not lost any potency but has gained perhaps more of a nutty focus. I added a few sugar crystals and the added sweetness was nice, but did not open up any new vistas.   The tea stands well on its own. I will serve this to myself without the sugar but would offer some sugar to guests who might like it.

The rich toasty nuttiness and the deep flavor make this tea well-worth trying. I think it will become a staple at my house.  I would also say that any green tea aficionado should start to learn the primary green teas of China,  which has a longer green tea producing history than does Japan.    Dragon Well justly deserves its reputation as one of the star teas of China and Tree Frog’s Dragon Well is a spectacular introduction to a tea that I immediately came to admire and then love.   I am off to a third infusion, confident that the tea will stand up and not lose any potency.

You can purchase the Dragon Well – Lung Ching directly from the TeaFrog website.

Dragon Well is one of the first green teas I tasted and one of the flavors that won me over from my coffee addiction. It’s been difficult for me to find a Dragon Well that I truly enjoy because I find the flavor of green tea to be a bit overwhelming for me but this is a fine grade.

The green flavor comes through at just the right level, not grassy or bitter, just really balanced, nutty and fresh. It is forgiving (over steeped it once and it was still sweet) and the quality stayed true through all three brews on my next attempt with it. This is a very aromatic green that is truly easy to enjoy.

You can purchase the Dragon Well Lung Ching directly from the TeaFrog website.

If there is one single tea China is known for it is the green teas produced around the Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. (Just south of Shanghai.) These teas from gardens in the Xi Hu (West Lake),Mi Jia Wu (Mi Family Valley), Long Jing (Dragon Well), and Shi Feng (Lion Peak) districts are what most westerners know as ‘green tea’. Today, cousins of these greens are grown in various parts of china, but the best are from this region.

This is the everyday tea of most Chinese households – it comes in many different grades from most common (cheap) to Imperial Tribute (extremely rare and expensive). It is consumed in great quantities by the masses, and is found in virtually every home and tea house.  Long Jing (sometimes Long Ching or Lung Ching) is a great entry into green chinese teas. Picked in the early spring, these leaves are hand shaped and tend to have a spear head or “sparrows tongue” shape.  The traditional characteristics of the style are the leaf shape, a bright green liquor in the cup, a fresh taste with a little dryness in the after, and a delicate flowery nose.

This specific tea is a Special Grade Long Jing Ten Ren Teas (the less unbroken leaves the better the grade – this one has very little broken leaf.) It is equivalent to a better tea served in a better tea house in China. It is a vivid spectrum of green and jade, and the leaf is long and uniform. Unsteeped it has a very earthy vegetative smell.

Brewed in my green xing teapot, 2 tsp (3g) of tea, infused in 6oz of water at 160F for 2 minutes. ( If you are brewing this in a normal tea pot, 2 tsp tea per 8oz of water, plus 1 extra tsp “for the pot”.) Bright light Jade in the cup, with a green fresh vegetation nose. Taste of chestnuts, with a touch of astringency and a good mouthfeel. The great thing about this green, and most greens is they can be re steeped multiple times – I use a little hotter water – 165f and add about 15-20 seconds, and got 4 more decent steeps. The aromas fade and the flavors as well with each, but it is still a nuanced cup. This is an all day every day good drinking tea – and if you are new to greens, I would recommend trying some.

You can purchase the directly from the Ten Ren website.