Dragon Well Green Tea

Get hype, yo, it is Evo2014! It is the event I have been waiting all year for, what is essentially the World Cup of the Fighting Game Community. Since I am unable to travel to Las Vegas to watch the tournaments, Ben and I will essentially be glued to various Livestreams over the weekend. This is a big deal, for the first time in our almost five years together, we will actually be in the same place to watch Evo together, it is going to be awesome.

Today’s tea came all the way from Turkey, compliments of Kedocay. Dragon Well Green Tea, from Zhejiang, China, is one of the ‘Ten Famous Teas of China’ and I can believe it, even back in my youth when I knew nothing about tea, I had heard of Dragon Well and thought it sounded magical. Opening the bag, I was hit with a delicious aroma, I love when I open a bag of tea and I do not need to stick my nose in it, the aroma comes to me! The aroma is a mix of vegetal and toasted, with notes of toasted sesame seeds, green beans, and a touch of actual toasted bread. There is a slightly sweet honey finish, it vaguely reminds me of halva, a delicious honey and sesame seed dessert.

Into the gaiwan the leaves go, fun fact, I always brew my greens with the gaiwan lid off, I find that if I leave the lid on it tends to burn the tea. The aroma of the now steeped leaves is very richly vegetal, there is a combo of green beans and spinach with a strong finish of asparagus and a sesame seed finish. The liquid away from its leafy friends (or is it more leafy creator?) is the exact opposite of the leaves, delicately sweet with notes of honey and a touch of toast.

The first steep is delicate and soft, I say soft because the mouthfeel is smooth, almost to the point of velvety. The taste starts off vegetal with a gentle notes of green beans and asparagus , this transitions to toasted sesame seeds. The finish is honey sweet leaving a lingering sweetness as the aftertaste. This steep was a nice, mild beginning, I look forward to seeing if it build in intensity and will it be sweet or vegetal?

Second steeping time! The aroma is much more vegetal this time with stronger notes of asparagus and lesser notes of green beans. There is a slightly sweet honey note at the finish. The taste certainly took a note from the aroma, it is richly vegetal, almost broth like. There are notes of asparagus, green beans, and spinach, it has a buttery smoothness and a touch of a buttery taste at the finish. Sneaking in at the aftertaste is a bit of toasted sesame.

Time for round three, the aroma this time is faintly vegetal, faintly floral, and faintly sweet. Yep, third steep and this tea seems to have given up the ghost, but after the previous steep I do not feel cheated. The taste starts out with a gentle vegetal tone, with notes of asparagus and buttery green beans. This fades to sesame and lastly woth honey. A gentle finish to a pleasantly delicate and very smooth green tea.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/07/kedocay-dragon-well-green-tea-tea-review.html