Mrs. Li's Shi Feng Dragonwell Green Tea

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Green Tea Leaves
Flavors
Citrus Zest, Cream, Green, Guava, Nuts, Roasted Nuts, Vanilla, Vegetable Broth, Vegetal, Creamy, Peas, Spicy, Sugarcane, Thick, Butter, Vegetables, Artichoke, Asparagus, Chestnut, Floral, Grass, Green Beans, Hazelnut, Honey, Mineral, Straw, Nutty, Salt, Broccoli, Kettle Corn, Wheat, Spinach, Garden Peas, Soybean, Lettuce, Pine, Smooth, Cucumber, Flowers, Honey Dew, Sweet, Sweet, Warm Grass, Apple, Lima Beans, Beany
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Vegan
Edit tea info Last updated by CHAroma
Average preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec 4 g 10 oz / 285 ml

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90 Tasting Notes View all

  • “This is possibly one of the most beautiful teas in my collection, it’s beautiful ‘leaf and bud’ sets floating gracefully, gradually swelling and unfolding, and finally sinking to the bottom. I...” Read full tasting note
  • “Finally, I feel like I have enough time to try this tea and do it justice! However, although I’d love to try the authentic dragonwell method, I simply can’t drink hot tea, and can only envision...” Read full tasting note
    93
  • “I’ve had this tea for a while, I can’t remember how long it’s been. It smells so nutty and tastes so sweet and vegetal. I have definitely enjoyed this tea a lot and will consider getting some more...” Read full tasting note
    91
  • “Mrs. Li’s Shi Feng Dragonwell Green Tea has arrived! It seems like this tea present (more than purchase) will be arriving today (and the rest of this week) in households across North America and...” Read full tasting note
    100

From Verdant Tea

True Shi Feng Dragonwell is one of the most admired teas in the world, officially endorsed by Emperor Qianlong as the archetypal green tea. We sourced this limited batch from an old friend, Mrs. Li, whose family has a plot of land at the heights of Shi Feng (Lion’s Peak). Tea lovers make the long hike up gravel and dirt roads to reach Mrs. Li’s farm and buy a bit of her precious harvest. Because of our unique friendship, we were able to secure a few pounds to share.

The aroma of the leaf in the cup is creamy with a sweet tinge of Granny Smith apple, the vegetal notes of soybean and the distinctive crisp mineral quality that Dragonwell green tea is known for. The first sips of this tea are a textural experience with tingling notes that play across the tongue like Sichuan peppercorn, and a building thickness of sweet rice pudding.

As the flavor unfolds there is a hearty confident vegetable sweetness like caramelized Brussels sprouts accentuated by a bursting juiciness of apple coming trough. The mouthfell moves gracefully between a thick Bourbon vanilla and cashew quality to the crisp mineral sparkle of fine Dragonwell. Later steepings bring out a Rainier cherry aftertaste with the herbaceous sweetness of cooked cactus paddle.

As a side note, the beautiful buds are sweet and tender to eat plain or tossed in a salad with a bit of sesame oil after the tea is fully steeped out. Use a glass vessel to brew this tea and get the full experience of the downy buds dancing in the water.

About Verdant Tea View company

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90 Tasting Notes

94
639 tasting notes

I’ve been very very bad. I recently bought my first gaiwan from Verdant Tea! It’s a beautiful, bone china, Jingdezhen, hand-painted, mountain gaiwan with matching teacup. It’s so so beautiful! It arrived today and I could barely contain my excitement! I immediately washed it and tried it out with this tea. I love it so much, and I was so impressed by the quality, that I went back onto the Verdant site and bought three more teacups, a bamboo tea scoop, and 1 oz. of Golden Fleece. AAHHHH!!!! What have I done?! I cannot, should not be buying all this teaware! I’ve been a very very bad girl. Shhh, don’t tell my husband. It’ll be our little secret. ;)

ON TO THE TEA!

Ah, on to this tea indeed. This tea is incredible! I honestly can’t do it justice with a review. I feel like my tea tasting and describing abilities are lacking for such a high quality tea. So I shall defer to the notes that Verdant Tea uses to describe it: silk, watercress, green bean, violet, and cashew. Wow! Silk and watercress indeed! This tea is silky smooth and delightful!

The first few infusions are incredibly flavorful. This being my first gongfu experience, I didn’t throw away the first infusion. I steeped the leaves for 30 seconds, which was honestly probably too long – or at least it’s too long when you don’t toss the first steeping after 10 seconds. This first infusion was a tad bitter. The second infusion though was spot on! The bitterness had faded and left behind a punch of watercress flavor. I rushed over to my husband and gave him the cup because I know he loves green tea more than me. He was blown away too.

Subsequent infusions (I lost count how many) were still delicious but didn’t possess quite the same broad spectrum of flavor. The violet and cashew are definitely only apparent in the early infusions. The late infusions were gentler and had mainly green bean notes. Still good to me but my husband said he definitely liked the early infusions more. He actually asked me if it was a different tea! He’s not quite as experienced – read obsessed – a tea drinker as I am, so he didn’t know that I was brewing multiple infusions of the same tea.

Ah, this tea is a luxury. It just oozes sophistication and class. I don’t usually like dragonwell but I think I may have to change that opinion because this is truly something special. How did I ever dislike green tea?

Now if only that bamboo presentation scoop wasn’t so darn expensive, I would have bought that too. I also looked into getting one of the tea pitchers, but I was able to successfully restrain myself. Gah! Why does Verdant have to offer so many beautiful teaware pieces? I want it all!! And after this gaiwan experience, now I see why I need a pitcher. The Chinese tea preparation method is messy! I got water everywhere! Besides that though, gongfu method brewing was much easier than I thought it would be. I have a new found love!

I truly enjoyed this gongfu experience so much more than my regular Western method of brewing tea, which surprised me. It honestly is so much more fun! I felt bad throwing away the used tea leaves in the trash. It felt wrong. Goodbye, beautiful tea leaves! I enjoyed all your delicious flavor and now you have no flavor left!

This was a treat. I am so thankful to Verdant for offering this tea, and I am so thankful to God for bringing me to this point in my life where I can afford and enjoy such experiences.

ETA: https://instagram.com/p/4KKFZvF-sf/
https://instagram.com/p/4KLPe6l-vC/
https://instagram.com/p/4KLhMIl-gD/

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 30 sec 4 g 5 OZ / 147 ML
Tealizzy

Love gongfu! It’s so much more fun! :)

CHAroma

It is! I added some photos of my beautiful new gaiwan. :)

ashmanra

I love the new teaware! So glad for you!

CHAroma

Thanks, ashmanra!

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95
350 tasting notes

Ohhhh man. This was so worth the horrible exchange rate, and paying extra for shipping so I could get it sooner. YUM. I tend to be pretty “meh” about green teas in general, but this is my first time trying a really fresh green tea (and a Dragonwell, at that) and wow, does it ever make a difference.

I went with 3g of tea in my 100ml gaiwan. 80C water, initial steeps pretty quick, like 5-10 seconds. The first steeping was clear like water, subsequent ones were a pale yellow. The scent of the dry leaves when I first opened the bag was amazing, and the scent of the wet leaves is even more amazing! Rich and sweet and vegetal and… spring. The taste of the tea is amazingly sweet, with light vegetal notes and a lovely creamy mouthfeel. Ugh, soooooo good.

Flavors: Creamy, Grass, Sweet, Vanilla, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
Sil

YAAAY! glad you had an awesome experience!

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89
122 tasting notes

I haven’t been up to reviewing the teas I drink lately, mostly because I have been staying home and trying them at odd intervals and my computer is almost never out, unlike when I’m at work! I’m also convinced that the filtered water I use for the office is different from my tap filter at home, and it’s throwing off my tastes!
First steep, 3 seconds: Liquor smells very nutty, but tastes like uber-sweet water, with a very fresh greenbean juiciness to it, and a mouth-coating sweetness. It just tastes so FRESH. Like a dewy morning breeze! Holy yum!
Seconds steep, probably more like 5 seconds (on accident! It takes a bit to pour a gaiwan!): Even sweeter than the first steep! Less of the green bean flavor, like it has purified. Like silky mineral water! An incredibly pleasant experience! It feels very high-class compared to the others I have recently tried. I just keep sipping ans sipping again; I can’t keep away!
Third steep, 3 seconds: The sweetness is more upfront this steep, with a more honeyed flavor and a beaniness to the background that lingers for a very long time. Still very good.
Fourth steep, 6 seconds: A cardboard-y warm flavor is creeping into this tea. It still has some of the sweet and fresh elements that linger, but the overall flavor is reminding me of when you cook green beans too long. I think I may just give this one more steep, just to see.
Fifth steep, 6-8 seconds: Still beany, still off, but I think it just brings it down to the boring green level, like off water that you rinsed your green beans in…
I tried the suggestion on Verdant’s site of tossing the spent leaves in some of my good sesame oil- not bad! A bit astringent, but the aftertaste is still there, but now mingled with a good smokey sesame flavor!

Flavors: Green Beans, Mineral, Sweet

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 15 sec 3 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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90
526 tasting notes

This is such a beautiful brew! I’ve been waiting for quite some time to try this particular tea. I’ve heard nothing but amazing reviews on this leaf, and I knew I had to judge myself. I opened the package and gave it a slight inhale. I was greeted with fresh picked greens, watercress, and a soft nutty aroma. I chose to brew this in my glass gong fu pot. I actually had to try this twice, for the first time I over-steeped. This will be the review on the second attempt. I poured the warm spring water over the leaves halfway and then preceded with three short bursts of water to agitate the leaves. The sweet scent of spring and a smooth nut aroma filled my tea room. I watched as the emerald delicate dancers twirled in my tea pot. The morning light was filling my tea room and refracted the light within my brewing vessel causing for a beautiful experience. I poured myself out a cup. The flavor was calm and focused. The initial sip was a slight nutty tone with a silky floral undertone. The liquor was a pale green topaz and almost translucent. The brew became sweeter and caramelized with each subsequent steep. This was a memorable spring day tea session. I enjoyed this tea, don’t get me wrong, but it was not as good as I thought it would be. The flavor was rather lacking, and the leaf quality wasn’t as high as I had expected. In considering price, I wont be getting this again, but I am glad I was able to enjoy it :) I will probably use the rest on special occasions with guests.

https://instagram.com/p/2yVS7OTGd6/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Flavors: Chestnut, Floral, Nutty, Sweet, Sweet, Warm Grass

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 0 min, 30 sec 5 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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100
673 tasting notes

when i smell the leaves dry, (for some strange reason) they smell roasted, (unlike all the other dragonwells ive tried)

when i smell the leaves wet, they smell like sweet grass and nutty.

when i smell the brewed tea, the smell is intensified.

when i taste the brewed tea, it’s tasty with strong notes of nuts and sweet grass.

many thanks to toad thomas for this awesome yummy tea! i just adore dragonwell teas! thus why its my #1 favorite Chinese tea! :D

Flavors: Grass, Nuts, Nutty, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 0 sec 10 g 8 OZ / 250 ML

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90
143 tasting notes

Enjoying some of this today. One of these days I will enjoy it when I get it fresh, but still this tea, while a little temperamental to brew, is so worth it. Light pale liquor with delicate, yet bold flavors of greens, chestnut and sweet vanilla.

I made this one in my gongfu cup, and am surprised to see it come out so well. Last time I brewed it, I almost ruined it; and that was in a glass jar, not a hotter porcelain cup. I wonder if this tea gets less temperamental as it ages

Either way it is a nice cup to drink on this gray day doing homework.

Flavors: Apple, Chestnut, Green, Smooth, Vanilla

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 0 min, 30 sec 4 g

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95
121 tasting notes

So after trying a really strong green from the Canton Tea Co. that just wasn’t for me (I mean – it was so vegetal. It was like pure asparagus. Sooooo strong), I’ve kept away from straight, Chinese greens for quite a while. I haven’t fancied them and I haven’t really wanted to try them.

But I had a sachet of this sitting in my room, from when I made my first Verdant order in… October or November. After my recent run of wonderful experiences with green oolongs (particularly Verdant’s exceptional Tieguanyin), I had a bit of a craving for something else green and thought I’d give this one a whirl. The reviews on here seemed to fall either into the category that tried it the “Dragonwell style” (or the variant of Grandpa style – or, as my boss at the clinic says, the “usual style” for green tea) or who tried lots of short steeps.

Given the Verdant sample sachet containing ~4 or 5 g, I think I’d just do lots of short steeps of this tea, as is my general preference for non-black teas. I emptied the whole 5 g into a glass pot that takes, at the absolute limit, 200 ml water. Using water that was as close to 175 degrees F as you can get from estimation, I got started!

My first steep was literally a matter of seconds. With that much leaf, in such little water, I knew it would pack a punch. So I poured on the water quickly and carefully, transported my pot into the sitting room, and then poured it all off. Tbh, even this may have been a little too long – the resulting brew was certainly flavoursome! It was sooooo vegetal. But, y’know, it fit what I was craving. As I poured from my pitcher into my cups, let it cool, and drank it down, it really hit the spot. Buttery, sweet vegetables with a lovely floral note.

I tried to be a little faster with the second infusion and I probably managed it – the resultant drink was refreshing and light, but still packing those delicious vegetal and floral notes. Really good stuff!

I must have done a further 4 or 5 pot fulls, before I finished, throughout the course of the day. As they progressed, I slowly increased the steeping time (and drastically increased it for the final one). The tea was always tasty, refreshing and light. Each successive infusion grew sweeter and lighter, with the floral notes becoming more dominant.

I’m still not sure I’d want to choose a “normal” green over a green oolong, atm, but I know I enjoyed this more than I probably would have done two or three months ago. And I’m 100% certain that my boss in the clinic will love this tea. As soon as the first 2015 harvest becomes available, I’ll be ordering some as a gift for him and his family!

Flavors: Butter, Floral, Vegetal

Preparation
0 min, 15 sec 5 g 7 OZ / 200 ML

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100
253 tasting notes

Dry leaf: long; some green, some brownish green

Liquor: greenish yellow

1 infusion (5s): This tea is different from the 2 other dragonwells I just tasted. My eyes lit up when it hit my tongue because I could immediately sense a difference. It’s hard to put into words the difference between this tea and other dragonwells. I guess you could say it’s sweeter, brighter, and greener in taste. Simply an improvement in quality.

Flavors: Green, Sweet

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 5 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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82
4170 tasting notes

Here’s a sample pouch from the HH teabox! I’m using half the sample.

Steep #1 // 40 min after boiling // 1 min
Very sweet scent and flavor. It’s surprising! Tastes kind of like creamed corn this time around. Very sweet creamed corn. Little bit of vegetableness.

Steep#2 // 1 1/2 – 2 min steep
With this steep I couldn’t wait a half hour to cool so I stopped the electric kettle when I thought it was time. It seemed to have worked! Not too hot and the leaves didn’t burn. Green teas sometimes taste to me like sweet strawberry on the second steep. This one definitely did! This has happened a couple times before… the vegetable/creamed corn flavor is gone and there is strawberry. A nice one!

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88
18 tasting notes

Finishing an old sample of this, and even though it’s a year old it’s still pretty refreshing and great, still tastes like a dragonwell should but just faded a bit, and still has most of that crisp sparkling sweetness that makes me want to rush out and buy more dragonwells, till I’m reminded how painfully overpriced they are at least, (and I’m not convinced this particular one was ever as top grade as they’re trying to sell it as, though it is quite nice). It’s nice to at least sample them once in a while though, before heading back south to my usual Yunnan greens where the price:quality ratio is much more palatable.

Preparation
165 °F / 73 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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