Imperial Dragonwell

I had thought Shanti had gone away as a company, but then I realized I got it confused with the Simple Leaf. I’m glad the company is still around. I don’t remember it being Canada-based, but maybe it has been all along?

As you can tell, it has been a while since I thought about this tea. I am cracking it open because I’m about to sip down another green. Law of conservation and all that.

It took me a while to develop a taste for Dragonwell, but now I quite like it as a rule. I like the juicier China greens as well, but Dragonwell is great for those days when I’m looking for something a bit less vegetal. Gunpowder green can fill that void as well, but like lapsang, it’s something that I like as more of a sometime thing than a regular thing.

In the tin, the leaves have a grassy-hay-like smell, almost tending toward the woody. After steeping, the tea is pale golden yellow and clear. It has a sweet, vegetal aroma that is reminiscent of asparagus with a grassy overtone, and a nuttiness in the finish that tends toward the cashew. As is characteristic, it’s less juicy in its vegetalness than some other China greens, which gives it a sophistication.

Very nice indeed.