I have said it before and I will say it again, I don’t love green teas. I especially don’t love non-flavored green teas. However, if someone is kind enough to send me something to try, I will always give it a chance even if I would not have picked it for myself. Such is the case with this Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea sent to me by the very generous Angel at Teavivre.
I brewed this tea for 1 minute in 185F water, per the company’s recommendations.
As far as green teas go, this a nice very nice one. No bitterness and no vegetal flavor. In fact, the flavor is almost closer to a silver needle white tea than a typical green tea. It’s a slight bit floral and a lot beany, as in it has a bean flavor to it. Beans and corn. Fresh and bright. I actually liked this one a lot more than I thought I would and as a testament to that, the mug was emptied before I even fully worked out my review.
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Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Tender, refreshing, no bitterness even over steeped
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Dragon from Transcendence . . . .
Ever encountered a tea that just transcends you into that perfect soulful moment that makes you think everything is going to be ok?
Every once in a while, I’ll come across a tea that just demands my full attention. No multi-tasking is allowed while encountering this tea. No TV, no tablet, no phone. . . .just the serene organic noises from my kids playing-using their imagination to create fun games that only the two of them understand. Don’t get me wrong, I drink brilliant tea blends from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to bed, but some teas just take you a different level. Dragon from Transcendence is the latest example of this sort of tea for me.
Dragon from Transcendence is a simple no fuss green tea- a Long Jing tea to be precise. This tea gives you all the love of a well balanced green tea while providing levels of gorgeous flavor through each sip.
First sip in you are greeted with the familiar nutty slightly vegetal tone while half way through a hint of sweetness makes an approached with that nutty slightly bitter flavor coming back for the final touch. A lovely mix of sweet nutty vegetal that green teas are known for. This one is especially well balanced and after infusing the tea leaves to exhaustion, this tea has carved a special place in my tea drinking regime.
I’m a green tea kind of girl, drinking this particular tea like there is no tomorrow. But Dragon from Transcendence took me by surprise by who lovely the brew was and reminded me why I love green teas so much. The name Dragon fits this tea so perfectly too! Named after the creature that stalked the area where this tea is grown, this tea gives you all the love you can take with that subtle touch of bitterness that shows you Dragon is a tea that craves-no-demands attention!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Transcendence
Description
DRAGON also known as Long Jing tea is almost as famous as the beast it is named after, being one of the most renowned teas in China. Grown close to the West Lake in Hangzhou; Long Jing tea is surrounded by mountains, forests, and creeks – truly a Dragon’s playground. With a sweet taste and little bitterness; Long Jing will make you strong and as resilient, as a DRAGON…..
DRAGON engages the strength and power within you with its Caffeine and Vitamin C content (Thompson et al. 2001; Nienman et al. 2002; Stuart et al. 2005; Beck et al. 2006; Keisler and Armsey 2006; Jones 2008; Yfanti et al. 2010).
Furthermore, Amino Acids found in DRAGON have been shown to have a performance enhancing effect and can also be used as energy source, when stores are dwindling (DeSourza and Green,2005; Williams 2005; Burrin and Stoll, 2008; Zhou et al. 2013)
So transcend your limits with the power and intensity of a DRAGON, and let nothing get in the way of your goals…
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Genmaicha (Australia) from Blue Hour Tea. . . .
I steeped this at 190 degrees with 1stp tea and 1 cup water for about one minute. (The recommendation was 1-3 minutes, but after one minute it smelled super toasty even from across the room so I figured I’d better drink it before it got strong enough to knock me over.)
This tea does interestingly include a bit of matcha in the ingredients despite being a genmaicha, which is a great addition as far as I’m concerned. Also, I’ve never had a tea from Australia before (that I know of), so I was quite excited by this opportunity!
Once steeped, the tea was hazy and a bit cloudy, possibly from the dissolved matcha, and had a grassy but very light green color. Even in the fragrance I could definitely find the green-tea-flavor melding with the toasted-rice flavor. The liquid was a little thicker than expected, and as I took my first sip I found that it doesn’t taste quite as toasty as it smells. There was a bit more of the buttery, savory green tea flavor than I’d expected based on the fragrance, especially at the beginning of the sip. However, the overall flavor profile was nicely blended with most of the strength of the nutty, toasty flavor coming more at the end of the sip. This tea was smooth, not bitter at all, and it was somewhat astringent but not too astringent.
So the verdict altogether is that if you like genmaicha, you’ll like this tea, and if you like matcha-flavored cereal, you should try it with milk and sugar. In addition to being delicious it should also be really great for you (unless your doctor has told you not to drink caffeine, of course), since green tea and matcha both have plentiful health benefits. The only downside is that, although you can steep it multiple times, the second steeping isn’t quite the same because the match gets mostly used up in the first steeping.
I really enjoyed drinking this tea and would happily drink lots more of it if given the opportunity.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Blue Hour Tea
Description
Our Genmaicha is a combination of the fresh flavour of green tea with the undertones of roasted rice and the added richness of matcha tea. This premium Genmaicha is grown in the Acheron Valley in Victoria, Australia. There are only a handful of farms growing tea in Australia and this is one of our favourites.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
