Dragon Well Tea (Xi Hu Long Jing), Jipin Grade

Special steeping instructions for this fresh tea resulted in a pleasant surprise. About 2 grams of leaves, 2 dl of hot water in a gaiwan and steeping until the leaves sink.

I did not manage to wait until all the leaves had sunk, but when the most had and the rest were hanging from the surface, I decided to it was ready. I poured 2/3 to a pitcher and left the rest as a seed for the next infusions.

The intensity of the flavour was not completely unexpected, considering the time of over 5 minutes. But how balanced it turned out, was indeed. There was the bitterness anyone could predict, but it did not take over completely. Along came that familiar vegetal long jing taste — that in my opinion is greatly enhanced by a good amount of bitterness. Also I found prominent a pleasant sweetness and to balance it, some lemon or lime like sourness.

Drinking long jing prepared like this reminded me more of drinking gyokuro than anything else. The resulting liquid is a very potent extract of the essence of the leaves. I still have to repeat this with the Wang Grade I have waiting.

If I could afford it, I’d drink this constantly and never so much as look at another Dragon Well. But as it is, I just get a small packet every so often and eke it out, brewing up a gram or two in my smallest gaiwan as a treat.

The mouthfeel is spectacular – not thick, exactly, but extremely satisfying, and there’s something almost indefinable – it’s in the scent of the wet leaves, too, a kind of young grass freshness that has the smell of rain about it.

Looking at my tea notes, the last time I put a note in about this tea was after I found an old unopened pack of it in one of my tea-tins. The fresh tea (this is a 2015 harvest, so about 8 months old since picking) is a world away from that, and I’m on my 5th steep of about two grams of leaves, and expect to get another steep or two from them.