Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea

These leaves are so fresh, bright and pretty. I just love the way dragon well looks, but this one especially. The scent of this tea is rather mild – quite vegetal, a little buttery, soft. Sipping… I like this one a lot. I taste creamy snap peas and minerals in the finish. I also detect some leafy cut grass long after I’ve sipped. All of these notes are quite soft and delicate, though. It’s not a tea that hits you in the face. What I am enjoying about this one is that it’s sweet, smooth and quite drinkable. I’m nearly finished with the cup and I feel like I’ve just started! Thank you very much, TeaVivre, for a sample of this tea.

This morning, courtesy of Angel Chen & TeaVivre, I brewed Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Green Tea Western style: 7g / 8 oz / 176*F / rinse, 1, 2, 3 min. without sweeteners, milk, or cream. (This sample packet contained 7.1 g.)

Intro: I’ve been enjoying black tea all my life. To date, my green tea experience has been limited to Gunpowder Green tea. Yesterday, I enjoyed my first ever cup of Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing. It will be interesting to see how these two Dragon Well Long Green Teas compare.

Leaf: Beautiful whole leaves: 2.5 cm long x 5mm wide & flat – not as large as the Superfine.
Fragrance: A pleasant green tea fragrance that is hard to describe given my experience as a black tea drinker.
Liquor: Light gold
Aroma: Very sweet
Flavor:
1 min.: Wow! TeaVivre’s Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing is so very smooth and rich. It’s like a slightly salty, sweet butter with mild savory notes. The buttery smoothness persists on the palate. There is no hint of astringency, bitterness, or off-putting strong vegetal flavors all the way to the bottom of the cup. I’m very impressed with this excellent green tea.

2 min.: The 2nd cup also tastes like the first with just slightly less butter & slightly stronger savory notes. There’s no hint of astringency, bitterness, or off-putting strong vegetal flavors.

3-min.: Very similar flavor profile to the previous cups with slightly less body. Like the 1st & 2nd steeps, there’s no hint of astringency, bitterness, or off-putting strong vegetal flavors.

Impressions: This is the elegant, understated, more refined version of Dragon Well Long Jing green tea and should not to be missed – highly recommended! The similar Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing is half the cost, and thus, a very good value: http://www.teavivre.com/organic-green-tea/.

Thanks to Angel Chen and TeaVivre for their gracious sample of this superb tea!

Method:
RO water re-mineralized with an Aptera filter http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/37731-my-weigh-durascale-d2-660-digital-scale
Brewed western-style conveniently in a tea mug with a brew basket http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/29177-finum-brewing-basket.
http://steepster.com/teas/davidstea/36677-thermometer-and-timer

Um.. wow. I don’t know why but for some reason I was scared to try this. I thought it would be like eating a bowl of salad or something, I guess I took ‘vegetal’ the wrong way. HOWEVER, this is amazing. I don’t really know how to describe the flavors but it’s delicate, smooth, and a little sweet. Guess this is going on the shopping list…