Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Product Description:
A premium grade, classic green tea that, for good reason, is renowned as China’s best tea
- Grown in Xihu near Hangzhou in province Zhejiang
- Flattened tea leaves, with one bud and one or two leaves
- Pale green yellow when brewed
- A subtle, rich, orchid like taste and aroma, with no hint of bitterness
- Low caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee)
- 1-2 teaspoons for 8oz of water. Brew at 176 ºF (80 ºC) for 1 to 2 minutes
XiHu (West Lake) Dragon Well green tea, or Long Jing as it is known in China, is commonly regarded as one of China’s top ten teas, and is often served to visiting head’s of states. TeaVivre’s grade 1 Long Jing tea is an absolutely fantastic example of this tea. Mostly handmade it has no hint of bitterness, instead it has a delightfully subtle classic green tea taste and aromatic scent.
Our Premium Dragon Well Green Tea (Long Jing) meets the most strictly European low pesticide residues standard for agricultural products. View Quality Safety Analyzing Report
Taster’s Review:
This is an exquisite Dragon Well tea.
The leaves look very much like other Dragon Well teas I’ve tried in the past, except that these look … fresher. Greener. The leaves have a brighter green color to them, while some other Dragon Well Teas I’ve seen have more of a grayish-green color to them… they almost look a bit dusty. That’s not to say they were bad Dragon Well teas, some of them I rather enjoyed. It is only to say that this Dragon Well is different. The color is vibrant. And no wonder! The production date on the label of this the is April 2011. How’s that for fresh?
The flavor is BREATH-TAKING! It is so crisp and bright. I brewed this tea in my gaiwan using short steeps and the flavor is … insanely good. Vegetative, to be sure, but, I wouldn’t categorize it as a bitter, grassy taste, but more of a delicate sweet grass flavor with hints of a nutty-like flavor (not a roasted nut, but, more like a sweet, blanched nut flavor) in the background.
There is absolutely no bitterness to this tea whatsoever, and such a mild astringency that unless I’m really paying attention, I don’t notice it at all. It is just incredibly smooth, from start to finish; starting sweet with hints of grass, middle notes of sweet, creamy nut-like flavor, and ending sweet and clean. There is a slight aftertaste that is sweet, but it does not linger very long.
This is certainly one of the most impressive Dragon Well teas that I’ve ever encountered. I highly recommend it to all tea enthusiasts.
2011 Pre-Qingming Shi Feng Long Jing (Weng Jia Shan) from Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Product Description:
Production Year: 2011
Production Season: Spring, harvested on April 5nd
Production Site: Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Weng Jia Shan (Geographic Patent Site). Single estate.
Taster’s Review:
This is a delightful Long Jing. The liquor is a pale green … very pale green! It is so light in color that I thought that this would surely be a thin tasting tea, but, it is not. It is quite lush; thicker than the color would lead one to believe.
The flavor is sweet and it has a creaminess to it that is evident in both taste and texture. There are hints of nutty tones throughout the sip, and a very mild grassy tone. It’s a barely-there kind of grassy/vegetative note, noticeable but not strong.
I would like to say that I took the time to steep this one in my gaiwan, and ordinarily I would have. But, I was feeling lazy this evening, so I did it the easy way: in my Breville One-Touch. I steeped it for 2 minutes at 170° F, and it still produced a beautiful, lightly fragrant, delicious cup.
A truly refreshing, delicious Long Jing. I recommend this to all the green tea enthusiasts out there! It’s amazing!
Long Jing from Lahloo
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Lahloo
Company Description:
XI HU, ZHEJIANG, CHINA
The story:
This year’s Long Jing green tea is a real treasure! Strolling around Xi Hu (West Lake) you can smell the sweet tea flourishing. Legend has it that Long Jing (meaning Dragon Well) should be made with water from the ancient spring it’s named after. Don’t worry, it’s a great tea even made with your local water!
♥ Skilled tea masters pluck only the delicate, whole leaves in the Spring
♥ Indulgently refreshing
♥ Sweet chestnutty, moreish
♥ A real treasure – share it with a friend!
Taster’s Review:
A funny thing about Dragon Well tea… a funny story, actually. It’s one that I’ve probably told before, and if you’ve read some of my Dragon Well reviews you might have already read it. Back when I was first becoming more acquainted with tea – green tea, that is – I had tasted some Dragon Well tea and found it not to my liking. Now, I don’t know if I happened upon a particular Dragon Well that I didn’t like, I don’t know, it could have been the vendor, it could have been a bad year… but more than likely, I think it was MY fault.
Yes, there it is, my friends. I admitted fault. Please don’t tell my husband. I have him trained to believe that I am never wrong.
I think I brewed it wrong. Back then, I brewed all teas with boiling water for 5 minutes. And the tea that I tasted was bitter and vegetative to the point of tasting like freshly mown lawn clippings. It was not tasty. Not in the least. And so I had an unfavorable – and incorrect – opinion of Dragon Well tea for quite a few years to follow.
Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about the art of steeping tea. And I also think my palate has become a little more appreciative of the more vegetative qualities of some green teas. Both these things have led me to the point where I am able to proclaim that I LOVE Dragon Well Tea!
This Long Jing (aka Dragon Well) from Lahloo is no exception. It is smooth, rich, buttery and delicious. It has a pleasant chestnut-ish flavor, slightly roasty, slightly nutty, slightly sweet – that melds together well with the vegetative quality. It almost tastes a bit like roasted vegetables that have been lightly buttered.
I generally prefer Dragon Well tea hot, because I am of the opinion that the complexity is stronger when it is hot. As tea chills it can sometimes lose some of the flavor. This is still rather tasty cold though, and would make a very refreshing, energizing iced tea. But, I still prefer it hot – with no sweetener – it doesn’t need it! It is tasty and sweet on its own.
Hangzhou Shi Feng Long Jing from Tea Valley
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Valley
Company Description:
Among all Long Jing, those harvested from Shi Feng (Lion’s Peak) are considered to be of the highest quality. Sword-like in shape and luscious-green in color, each Long Jing tea leaf looks like a carefully handcrafted art piece. Bright and delicate, the sweet aroma of the tea leaves is most inviting. The Shi Feng Long Jing has a mild-bodied flavor that is succulent and pure. The texture of the tea is exceptionally smooth and the aftertaste is very floral. You will find every aspect of this tea peaceful and relaxing.
The Shi Feng Long Jing is an excellent choice for those who love mild-flavored teas. With a delicate combination of sweetness and floral taste, there is no doubt why the Xihu Long Jing is considered the “Queen of Green Tea.”
Taster’s Review:
The moment I opened the tin of this tea, I knew it was special… so special, in fact, I decided to get out my gaiwan! I only do that for teas that are deserving of it. And this one certainly fits the bill. I am really enjoying this tea. It is a very light tea – light bodied and light in flavor, and it brews to a very light yellow-green color.
But even though I describe it as light in flavor, do not mistake this as me saying that this tea is lacking in flavor in any way – because it is not. It is very lovely and complex in flavor; it is just not heavy tasting. It has a very fresh taste that is pleasantly sweet. On Steepster, I referred to the flavor as “honey roasted nuts” because it has a honey-esque sweetness to it, as well as a slight roast-y, toasty note and a nutty quality to the flavor. I can even taste hints of butter and the floral note in the finish that the Tea Valley mentions in their description.
Overall, this is a very lovely tea. I would recommend this tea to those who might find most green teas a little off-putting because of their strong vegetative characteristics, because I am not getting very much vegetal taste to this at all. No grassy flavor, no steamed, buttered or boiled vegetables. No bitterness and no astringency. Just a pure, sweet taste that is so delightful that it will have you coming back for more. And that’s a good thing, because these leaves can be infused many times with no loss in flavor.