Do you get excited to drink tea?
Though it doesn’t happen everyday, I do get excited for my afternoon steepings. What adventure will we have today?
What flavor will pop out or what will surprise me today?
Our adventure today begins in the Zhejiang Province in China. This huge, one time zone country is known for its tea but it is farmers like Mrs. Li that are keeping the true spirit of tea alive. Sustainable farming practices with no pesticides and years of research into how to make it work properly has helped this family achieve tea that truly takes you to China when you drink it.
The dry leaves smell of grass and hints of veggies. The sweet but astringent grassy flavor carries into the after taste. There is a trifling of minerality but honestly the grass is so strong I can’t quite decipher any mineral specifics. They are definitely there though. The area it is harvested from is known for its rocky, clean soil. Makes one want to visit.
Where does your tea adventure take you?
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description:
Mrs. Li’s fresh 2019 Shi Feng Dragonwell is here! Mrs. Li is one of the few farmers fortunate enough to have several plots of land on the famous mountainside of Shi Feng, where her original cultivar (Longjing Qunti) Dragonwell is fed by sweet mountain spring water, picked by hand, and crafted one leaf at a time by her husband. She cultivates her world-famous tea using entirely organic farming techniques.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Shire Green / Geek and Tea
The moment I set eyes on the title of the tea (before even reading the name of the company) I knew they were referring to The Lord of the Rings.
This Canadian based company is owned by a lady who is a botanist and a geek who loves tea. Pairing the geek with the tea is a win in my book. If you are a geek you have to give their website a gander.
Now all that being said I’m disappointed in the packaging. One should never package in plastic. Especially clear plastic. Tea can be highly influenced by other aromas around it. And if not sealed tightly will quickly lose its freshness. I can tell just by smelling the dry leaf that it has been sitting a bit too long. It still brews up fairly well.
A bit astringent and a bit lax on the grassy flavors but I intend to save this company and order from them to give them a nice fresh taste.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: green
Where to Buy: Geek and Tea
Description:
Delicate with a surprisingly fresh and grassy quality, this organic green Ceylon tea will transport you to a in time in The Shire where friendly Hobbits roamed the country side covered with cotton-grass, moss and bracken.
Fresh, grassy and earthy aromas will delight the senses of this light amber green tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Gunpowder / Bare Leaves
Your zest is but that of a fresh summer rain. The astringent label, given to you by sailors, is to be ‘savored’ only in the after taste. Liquid clear and cunning with golden hues so vibrant you would think they dipped the tea in gold.
Your fresh dry leaves, tightly rolled balls of love and affection, show the care your makers had in your processing. Wet leaves dance in the water and open up with beautiful hues of green. With a few over oxidized here and there that make them appear black. Aroma of wet leaves; a bitter scent with hints of earth.
If your nostalgia for summer has peaked to a depressive state, grab a cup of this tea and savor the thoughts of a sunny day with light rain showers.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Bare Leaves
Description:
Organic green tea from China. The leaves of this famous Chinese green tea are hand-rolled into pellets that resemble gunpowder. It produces a bolder flavor than most green teas.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
1st Picking Shi Feng Dragonwell / Verdant
ASPARAGUS!
It smells like it was grown with asparagus! Never have a smelled a tea that so strongly resembles this vegetable. I like asparagus if it’s done right but drinking it? I don’t know…
The wet smell is glorious. Simply heavenly. Would buy this tea just so I could smell this all day. Slightly roasted scent with hints of asparagus still lingering. Fresh like the day it was picked. In fact, if you close your eyes you can probably imagine the walking in the thick of the tea trees on the Shi Feng mountainside.
Once you pull yourself back into reality you awake with very vegetal flavors. This is presumably the most vegetal green or tea in general that I have ever had. Let me be real honest though, it’s like drinking asparagus juice.
Not quite as strong though as there are also slight mineral characteristics to mellow it out. Which I’m assuming come from the unique earth in the Shi Feng area.
It is a crisp sip with a bit of astringency. I know I probably don’t make it sound very appealing but it really is unique and should be tried!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description:
The new 2019 Pre-Qingming Dragonwell is now available! This early spring tea is all about a fine and subtle sweetness, and a long, drawn out aftertaste and crisp texture. Cool spring weather produces a small harvest of truly sweet tea. This is Mrs. Li’s first picking of the season, carefully hand-finished by her husband, Shui Huamin. Her true original cultivar Dragonwell (Longjing Qunti) grows on the mountain slopes of Shi Feng and draws in sweet mountain spring water.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea/Teavivre
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.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Description
Tender, refreshing, no bitterness even over steeped
