2017 Shi Feng Dragonwell

Cold brewed after third steep; often I’ll stretch a tea by cold-brewing it for a few hours after it starts to weaken in steeps or go bitter but this tea just doesn’t have enough lasting power to go this way. Next time I get a batch I’ll try cold-brewing it fresh.

From this months Verdant tea club we have 2017 Shi Feng Dragon well. Well I must start with I am impressed. This tea is amazingly good, fresh and subtly flavored. It really seems with green tea getting them fast and early really makes a difference.

I brewed this in a glass pot for 20 seconds at 185 degrees. I know thats a little hot for green tea, but there is no bitterness and it brings out a bit more of the nutty and sweet flavors without losing any of the grassy vegetal notes. There is also a light floral, but its kind of hard to pick up and place as they cut grass and nuttiness is so intense. The aroma is amazing too, it just screams freshness.

I figure I will brew this out three times as at that point most of the good flavors are on the down turn and the bitterness is starting to ramp up. Now I see what all the fuss is about getting the real high quality dragon well.

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes green tea with that strong grassy component.

5g in a 12oz glass grandpa style, 175F water, then hotter to top up.

This is the first real, quality longjing I’ve ever had so I can’t compare it to other productions. I am kind of blown away by this tea. I’ve never been a huge green tea drinker but this has made me a little more open minded about that.

I didn’t really take notes on the flavors or aromas, what really stuck with me was the full body and mind effect of this tea. About an hour into drinking this I was feeling so good. I don’t really have the words to describe it and I sort of refuse to call it qi. I just felt incredible. Heavy limbs, eyelids, etc, just incredibly calm but mentally alert.

This tea is a little bit beyond what I usually spend but I would (and will) buy it again next year if it comes back.