Dragon Well Green Tea (Long Jing)

Thanks to Teavivre for a sample of this tea! I haven’t tried too many dragon wells yet, so am happy for the opportunity to try out another one and see how it compares!

The aroma of the brewed tea is light and sweet and a bit like boiled veggies (although that’s really only a hint). Unfortunately, I think I really underleafed this tea (forgot I was using a bit mug, and probably only scooped in ~1.5 tsp), and I am not getting a lot of flavour from it in spite of oversteeping it by over a minute. What I can taste is a bit of rock sugar sweetness in kind of a boiled veggie broth. Not astringent at all (but I’ve found that dragonwells don’t seem to get as astringent as some other greens for whatever reason). I’ll have to give this another shot later, but it’s certainly promising!

Tea sample provided by Teavivre for review
Follow up to my last tasting note on this tea

Today my first to the third steeps were lovely, and the fourth was ok but not as enjoyable. Not bitter at all or off putting in anyway.

Having tried both this and the premium version with quick steeps, I can taste the difference. But if you hadn’t tried the “good stuff”, this tea does a good job of standing on its own. Still, I think I prefer the flavour of the short steep method. If I were buying this type of tea, I would prefer the premium Dragon Well even though it is more expensive. But if you are looking for a cheap everyday Dragon Well this regular version is still a tasty option.

100ml gaiwan, 2 tsp, 4 steeps (50s + 10s resteeps)

Thank you Angel and Teavivre for this generous sample

I enjoyed the first steep of this tea the best. It was a tad softer and had a more elegant appeal. The 2nd and 3rd brew brought on a stronger and more bitter taste, which I didn’t mind, but didn’t love either. Subsequent steepings were mellower but maintained the depth of flavor with considerably less bitterness.

I must admit, my palette is a little biased towards Japanese green teas as that is just what I am more familiar with. But having said that, perhaps by time I finish all the generous samples of green tea from Angel and Teavivre, I might acquire a new-found love for the Chinese green tea. As for the number of times I steeped these leaves – I’m on number 5 and the leaves are still going strong.

This sample was generously sent along by Angel from Teavivre – thank you!
This is the first dragon well I have tried. The liquour was so light I was afraid I hadn’t used enough leaf (I might not have – I don’t have my little gram scale right now).
The flavor is subtle and interesting. It has a buttery scent to it, with a nutty flavor with a funny vegetal aftertaste. I’m not sure that I like it, but I am going to experiment with it and try a shorter steep with more leaves.

I am finishing off one the small sample bags today with my husband. It’s our first time using the gaiwan together instead of a traditional teapot so this could be interesting.

I think I may be adjusting to the perfumey taste, it doesn’t seem to be getting to me much today…infact it’s quite nice. Maybe this is one of those drinks that you like the more of it that you drink, I found Lapsang Souchong to be that way for me too.

Such a lovely way to relax on a Sunday.

I’ve had two pots of this today. A nice break from flavored teas. It has a warm, almost nutty flavor to it. There are light floral undertones. It’s sweet and slightly rich.

Dry leaves look as if they were freshly cut, they are bright green, they smell of fresh green vegetables and grass and they seem so succulent as if one could soak the fresh juice out of them. Tea soup is light greenish-yellow. After 3 minutes’ steep, the smell is unchanged from the dry leaves, very fresh and inviting. The taste is mild, again it feels as if biting into an incredibly succulent apple or pear. But there is a slightly bitter aftertaste. Steeped leaves haven’t lost the pleasant juicy smell and they have uncurled.

High in fluoride, so good for teeth and bones?

Do you mean the naturally occuring fluorine? Or fluoride? Because fluoride is a toxic bi-product of several industries including: aluminum, nuclear and phosphate fertilizer. It is put in toothpaste and municipal water. It is also sprayed on crops. It is not good for your teeth. Not only that, but calcifies the pineal gland, lowers IQ, contributes to cancer, Alzheimer’s and more.

I received this tea as a free sample in my last order. It seems to be the least expensive longjing in Teavivre’s catalogue, and I don’t think I’ve had it before. I steeped about 2.5 g in 250 ml of 185F water starting at 4 minutes, refilling the cup as necessary.

The dry aroma of these extra-long, sometimes broken leaves is of chestnut, sesame, orchid, and spinach. The first steeps have notes of chestnut, sesame, butter, faint florals, spinach, kale, and green beans. I taste some bitterness that I typically don’t get with higher-quality longjing. Subsequent steeps are buttery, nutty, and vegetal, with cashew, chestnut, sesame, kale, spinach, umami, and beans being prominent. The final steeps have some bitterness, along with lettuce, spinach, nuts, and faint sweetness.

This is a nice entry-level longjing, though there are better ones on the market. I’d recommend this tea if you like nutty longjing and don’t mind a touch of bitterness.

Sipdown! (37 | 314)

I think I only have one more set of old Teavivre samples after this one. Not that they seem to have lost much flavor with age, but it’s always nice to sip down older teas!

This has a lovely buttery, nutty flavor with a bit of dry grassiness as well. There’s also a creamy vegetal note, like fresh edamame or sweet peas.

It’s not very complex to my palate, but eminently smooth and drinkable. Not a hint of bitterness or astringency. I think this would be a lovely everyday green tea for unwinding in the afternoon!