Dragonwell

When I got my order from thepuriTea they included several small free samples, but one came with no label… the mystery tea! I finally cut the pouch open today and I am reasonably sure that it is this tea; dragonwell is pretty characteristic-looking. This also happens to be my first dragonwell! I haven’t gotten into plain green teas much, but the nutty flavor that people use to describe dragonwells does intrigue me.

The steeped tea smells grassy and a bit nutty. The flavor is light, and at first just seems kind of fresh, grassy-green-tea-ish. But then this awesome sweetness comes out of nowhere at the end of the sip, and once that starts going a lot more chestnutty notes start making their appearance, particularly at the very beginning of the sip. Yum! I would love it if the flavors were just a bit stronger, but I don’t know if that’s steeping parameters or just me needing to get used to green teas. Still, I do really enjoy this cup, way more than I would have expected. This is definitely a tea I wouldn’t have appreciated at the very beginning of my tea journey, but now I do. I am very happy that I’ve gotten to this point before my trip to China, although it is going to make it impossible to bring back a reasonable amount of tea!

infusion 7, 9min

Steep Information:
Amount: 2+ heaping tsp – one whole sample bag – it was hard to measure by the teaspoon these long, wide, flat leaves
Water: 2 Zarafina cups
Tool: Zarafina green-loose-medium
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: nutty, vegetal
Steeped Tea Smell: nutty, vegetal
Flavor: ICK, hmm, at first I thought it was bitter, but it isn’t bitter (as MilitiaJim pointed out) it’s bold, bold in this vegetal prickly way. It prickles my tongue. Tangy. Astringent.
Body: Full
Aftertaste: Almost a citric acid feel.
Liquor: translucent yellow-green

This tea was one of 5 samples I received from thepuriTea. It arrived well packaged in pretty pillow boxes (see pictures for a side angle of the pillow box if you are unsure what I mean) with packing peanuts and business cards.

I felt bad for thepuriTea and for the Dragonwell when it arrived. I keep trying to like green teas, but I rarely do enjoy them.

So here goes, I probably used too much leaf, and the tea punched me in the tongue. It’s strong, full bodied, no nonsense, earthy, savory green tea. Now that I cautiously sip at it I find it savory, and not unpleasant, but I do not plan to finish the other half of the sample. MilitiaJim seems to be enjoying savoring this tea, so he can bring it to work.

Post-Steep Additives: Honey – it added a sweet layer to the earthy vegetal flavor, it didn’t chance the flavor just added another layer of flavor.

Resteep: Zarafina green-loose-medium now this time it is bitter, astringent, vegetal, bold green tea with a roasted not fresh nut flavor. Nope definitely not my kind of tea.

Iced: Less tingly and more refreshing, but still a strong earthy vegetal tea.

Pictures: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/07/thepuritea-loose-leaf-green-tea.html

Yesterday was too busy to log with Mothers Day and a few work hours mixed in. Major deadline Tuesday, so extra duty as needed… So, this morning I reached for a sample of this, my first experience with Dragonwell. I really like it. It is solid green in flavor, somewhere between sencha and Ti Quan Yin to me. The leaves are distinctly different in shape than other teas. They look like little propellers. It is very drinkable, each sip drawing you back to the cup as the aftertaste lingers on the palate. I think an oversteep would be bitter and astringent, it seems to have hints of those qualities at a short steep. The color is more yellow than green, but shades of green are there. I am going to max the score on this one to help the average. I don’t understand rating a tea low, if you don’t care for that type in the first place. I think this deserves higher than it has been given. If I don’t care for a particular type of tea, I don’t rate it.
Just saying. :)
And…happy Monday everyone!

I used the tea randomizer that was in the discussions and this came up. I had forgotten about this tiny sample sitting in its original packaging. I opened this up and inhaled the nutty yet fresh greens!

The leaves are the typical dragonwell leaves, which are iron-flat and long, resembling swords. The leaves were a brown with some green. I compared this to the Teavivre leaves, and the Teavivre leaves were fresher looking – they were bright green leaves. The scent of the dry leaves were a little similar to houjicha with the slight roasted scent to it.

I used a kyusu to brew this. The liquor was a light yellow and smelled mild. The taste was good and bold! It was smooth in the beginning, but left me with a slight astringent aftertaste. I love the fresh green almost vegetal flavor, kind of reminds me of faint celery? (though I really hate celery!). There were roasted and nutty notes to this. Good tea overall. Dragonwell makes for a nice everyday green.

I’ve had this brew before, but I have yet to rate it. I like the subtle flavor of this green. It is a little smokey, and the body is slightly heavier than expected. The result is subtle smoke with some weight. I was surprised by this tea. It almost reminds me of what a green keemun would taste like.

Don’t ask me why as I have had no good reason for not giving much thought to green teas. Yeah, that has to end.

Very rich, buttery chestnut flavor with a bright grassy finish. Full of vitality. One tea I could drink every day (as I believe we are being instructed to).

Currently my favorite green. Great nut flavor and doesn’t wearout my tongue. Love it.