After a busy Monday, I wanted a nice green tea with its lower caffeine and its characteristic buttery taste. 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.
The dry leaf is long and pretty and fairly flat. It’s green but not the neon green of some Japanese greens. It smells a but 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 particularly sweet on its own but I will use some sugar crystals when I’m half way done.
The tea is a great drink 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 second fiddle to the primary taste of roasted or toasted nuts—I’d like to say roasted walnuts more than other kinds of nuts. It’s 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.
SECOND infusion: This Dragon Well has not lost anything but has gained perhaps more of a nutty focus. I added a few sugar crystals and the added sweetness was nice. There were not enough crystals to take away from the tea’s essential flavor. I would serve this to myself without the sugar but would offer some sugar to guests.
The rich toasty nuttiness and the deep flavor make this tea well-worth trying. I think it will become a staple at my house.
“rich toasty nuttiness”…yummy!