Premium Grade Dragon Well Tea From Hangzhou * Long Jing Tea

I had a side by side comparison with the Imperial grade today, although I did not brew both the same way. One reason for that is the fact that I still don’t have two identical teapots. But I have also observed that the preparation I have come to use for the imperial grade doesn’t work quite as well for the premium grade. The latter responds better to a more agressive brewing, like a more standard gong fu style gaiwan brewing.

Anyway, I think I like the Imperial grade a bit more for its nuttier and more delicate nature. It is somehow more special. On the other hand, the premium grade is sweeter, more grassy and with more umami too. The taste is more in-your-face. The body is comparable and the astringency levels are similar too.

This tea, which I’m finally finishing today, is from the 2016 harvest. It might not be the most refined dragonwell out there, but I really enjoyed it, especially when slurped from a mug while working. I brewed it Western style: about 4 g of leaf in a 355 ml mug for 1:20, 2:00, 3:00, 5:00, and 8:00 minutes.

The first steep has notes of chestnuts, beans, peas, Brussels sprouts, umami, and a hint of cherry. The chestnut sweetness is balanced nicely with the vegetal bite. I could have gone with a one-minute infusion, as the liquor was slightly astringent.

In the second steep, the cherry is more prominent, and, as another reviewer mentioned, has kind of a cough-syrup-like quality. This flavour profile persists over the next couple steeps. As one would expect, the final steep was a lot less nuanced and more vegetal.

This was a nice, easy-drinking dragonwell that had an extra something special due to the hint of cherry. I’d gladly purchase it again.

Spring 2017 Harvest. Brewed this gongfu style.

1st-2nd Steep: I get a light buttery and vegetal flavor.

3rd & Beyond: The taste of green beans pop out and it gets a bit astringent. I went 8 deep and didn’t get much out of this.

Its an alright tea. Much better stuff out there. Maybe I will give it another shot soon in a different configuration.

Spring 2016 – I’ve tried this tea quite a few times already with a few different brewing parameters. I just can’t figure this out.

From the bag it smells fresh with a slight nuttiness to it. The leaf is a high grade. Full small leaves. This tea should be amazing….but it’s not. Unless it’s supposed to be like that. I’ve had other dragonwell teas and they didn’t taste like this one.

I can’t remember specifics on this. I know it was vegetal but was missing the chestnut, buttery, or green flavour I get from most greens. Most green teas I brew around 2 minutes or less. This one had very little flavour at 2 minutes. So I brewed it longer and it got stronger but not better. I’m not very good at describing exactly what it tasted like. It wasn’t bitter but just was not appealing to me. Perhaps someone else might really like this tea but it just didn’t suit me.

There is a couple of brewing methods I have not tried yet for this tea: grandpa style or iced. It’s getting pretty cold outside to have iced tea so I guess next on my list is to try this grandpa style.

(Spring 2016 picking) [edit – see comment below]

Dry leaf: HERBAL, VEGETAL, SWEET (bitter greens – like a green twig or stem – dried herbs: parsley and dill, tomato vine, corn, floral perfume, cocoa, Mexican hot chocolate, some sugary sweetness, honeydew melon)

Smell: VEGETAL, some FRUITINESS: (creamed corn, corn, sour cherry, artificial cherry, some peach and cantaloupe)

Taste: VEGETAL, HERBAL, some SWEET, BITTER (corn, green chestnut, roasted chestnut, dried herbs – parsley and dill, bittersweet floral, some butteriness, generally consistent bitterness. Aftertaste and finish – noticeable sour cherry and artificial cherry flavors, rock candy sweetness, bittersweet floral)

I tried brewing this tea a few different ways, including the traditional “tall glass” method. Personally, I settled on a small gaiwan (1:1 g/fl oz leaf : water), with the lid OFF. I find this little guy to be quite a challenge to brew. At one point throughout my experimentation, I managed to get a glass that had boiled cod flavors… The notes above reflect the best of what I was able to bring out.

Personally, I found the flavors to be consistently “sharp” – even the sweetness was a bit acrid – it reminded me of these old cough drops I had as a kid that were heavily flavored with artificial cherry. The vegetal notes consistently had a “green twig” and dried herb bite to them. When I adjusted the parameters to alleviate some of this bite, it ended up losing quite a bit of body.

I would love to hear how others have approached this tea and what they did to coax out the best flavors.

Mostly Vegetal at 80 degrees brewed the traditional way (leaves in chai hai, add more water when half full) but refreshing none the less. Feels nice and thick in the mouth and throat. Will try at a lower temp with a longer steep. I imagine this would make a great cold brewed ice tea.

Super excited to try my first Spring 2016 Long Jing! Since I received this tea on Apr 4 in California, it must have been harvested in late March, which is a pretty early harvest.

Skipped the rinse and brewed at 175˚F.

1st infusion: (30s)
A bit light (try steeping for 35 next time), but the aroma and flavour are heavenly. Has that subtle buttery toast of sweet chestnut on the nose.

2nd infusion: (45s)
Sweetness is gone, but it’s still buttery and more savoury and vegetal so it tastes like popcorn. Lovely and interesting.

This is pretty good tea and just what I needed after a bad night where I ended up in the ER for my asthma yet again. I was supposed to have a sleep study done tonight but instead had an asthma attack. This tea is slightly floral, slightly vegetal, and just a touch sour, not noticeably so however. It is fairly tasty and it is not even Yunnan Sourcing’s most expensive Dragon Well Tea.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 175 degree water for 2 min.