Imperial Green

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Broth, Butter, Chestnut, Cucumber, Freshly Cut Grass, Lychee, Umami, Almond, Hazelnut, Pine, Nutty, Toasted
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Skysamurai
Average preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 45 sec 5 g 37 oz / 1086 ml

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8 Tasting Notes View all

From Mei Leaf

SEASON
Spring 2016 (March 20th)
CULTIVAR
Long Jing 43
ORIGIN
Zhejiang, China
PICKING & PROCESSING
Bud and one or two leaves
ELEVATION
600m

This is China’s most famous Green tea, absolutely revered for its rich yet refreshing flavour and the fragrance of lush spring grass. This tea was picked on March 20th 2016 making it a very early Pre Qing Ming tea.

Authentic Long Jing tea (otherwise known as Dragonwell) must be grown in Zhejiang province. If it is grown anywhere else then it is considered a fake (much like champagne). Every year we taste many samples of Long Jing to find our batch for the year. This year we have selected a tea from outside the West Lake area because we felt that it had a much higher quality compared with the West Lake tea. It is from a less commercial cultivar too (Xiao Ye vs Long Jing 43).

Qing Ming is a traditional day for paying respects to ancestors and clearing their graves. It is a public holiday in China (and Taiwan) and falls on the first day of the fifth solar term which equates to fifteen days after the Spring Equinox which is usually the first week of April. Any tea picked before this date is very early Spring picked and is called Pre Qing Ming.

This is a Pre Qing Ming tea picked on 20th March giving a lightness and delicacy combined with a powerful fragrance and taste. Any Pre Qing Ming tea from Xi Hu (West Lake) is exorbitantly expensive and whilst it is often excellent tea, we felt that this batch won out in terms of flavour and we are not paying the extra price tag for the name of Xi Hu.

We are sure that you will love our 2016 batch of Imperial Green (Long Jing). Please note that you may find white yellow fur on the tea and little balls of fur in the tea. This is NOT mold but is tea fur showing that the tea is a very early spring tea – it demonstrates the quality of this Long Jing.

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8 Tasting Notes

83
1285 tasting notes

Aloha. Mac nut honey and poi toast for breakfast. Without knowing what I was drinking (this is a sample so there are few things on the package). Very visibly a dragonwell/longjing when I opened the packet. The dry aroma is oh so nice! A bit of vegetal notes here, some cream there, and stone fruits all around. Steamed peas. Adzuki beans A bit of astringey but nothing too mouth-numbing. The kids have awakened so it is time to go.

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90
3 tasting notes

Nutty, roasted aroma, one of the best long jing i had.

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80
20 tasting notes

A March 2017 harvest from Xinchang, Zhejiang. A deliciously fresh and somewhat savory green tea.

Flavors: Broth, Butter, Chestnut, Cucumber, Freshly Cut Grass, Lychee, Umami

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 30 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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50
2 tasting notes

I heard a lot about this tea and was very curious to try it. So I ordered two packages. I tried a lot of different Long Jing teas before. Some directly from China, some from local distributors. Price range between 15 – 25 € per 100g. The tea from Meileaf is rather expensive.

The first steep was overwhelming. It was very distinct, very special, very tasty. Others talked about it already, nothing else to add. Highest leaf quality.
Disappointment comes at latest with the third steep. The taste disappears almost completely. This makes me wonder why? Is this tea scented?

This tea is not suited for long Gong Fu Cha sessions. Not only because it’s too expensive for only two steepings, it’s also very dissatisfying. This is the first tea I ever tried, that looses taste so quickly.

Upside: Very interesting nutty taste
Downside: Holds taste only for the first two steepings. Third steep, almost no taste at all.

Bottom line: I prefer high quality Long Jing teas, with a rather “normal” taste, but on a very high level, good leaf quality and a long lasting taste. This tea has an unsusual taste, you may like it. But he can’t hold it, which seems like a fraud.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 100 OZ / 2957 ML
OolongTime

I found that their Long Jing holds up better under lower temperatures. 158-168º F, I did not like it any higher than that. I could get more steeps and more interesting flavors at a lower temp.

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87
2 tasting notes

Creamy, almond, pine nuts. Light body with windy aroma.

Flavors: Almond, Hazelnut, Pine

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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85
11 tasting notes

7th Tea rate

SEASON: Spring 2016 (March 20th)
CULTIVAR: Xiao Ye
ORIGIN: Zhejiang, China
PICKING: Bud and 2 leaves
ELEVATION: 600m

Brewed Western Style 3gr in 300ml @ 80degrees c for 2 minutes then 60 second increments.

1st Steep

Pale green tea.
Aroma is light kale.
Taste is light kale, quite nutty with a little wood.

2nd Steep

Slightly darker green
Aroma has more of an hazelnut touch to it.
Taste is a little more rounded with the same flavours as the first Steep.

3rd steep.

It’s all starting to lose its vibrancy.

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92
1 tasting notes

Excellent great tea. Beautiful toasted nut and fresh grass aroma. This was the tea I used as my introduction to gong fu style brewing and is still my favourite green tea as well as one of my top 5 teas in general. I brew it at a low temperature.

Flavors: Freshly Cut Grass, Nutty, Toasted

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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95
1 tasting notes

Beautiful astringency with fresh grassy notes and nutty, toasted finish. If brewed with colloer water it really brings out the umami and freshness of the leaf. A beautiful example of Long Jing.

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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