Dragon Tea House

10g / 360ml banko-yaki kyusu water from kunzan tetsubin
1m @ 75C

Decent green, very refreshing. Light and nutty, veggy. Been awhile since i´ve tried this one. The leaves smell fantastic. The flat shape is also very pleasing to the eyes.
Not to fond of greens, however Arya Emerald SF darjeeling is an exeption :)

6g / 200ml glaspot.

Two infusions
1m/2m @ 80C

Nutty flavour. Full flavour, very greenish. :)

5g / 200ml glaspot.
1: 1m @ 75C
2: 2m @ 75C

Fresh and light. Relaxing tea, could probably be brewed cold with good result. Will try sometime.
But when it comes to roasted green tea, Bi lou chun is still king for me :)

Sipdown!
120ml yixing, filled to 1/2 with leaf.

wash/25s added 15s for a couple of infusions.

This is what i call an oolong. Full of smokey burnt flavour. very powerful. Long aftertaste. To bad its all gone. :/
Luckily i have a bag of Gue zi jin wuyi oolong waitning for my pleasure! :)
I wonder what tea i will start my x-mas celebration with. :)

My first try with a wuyi oolong.
I must say, Im impressed!
A fair bit smoky, the smell of the dry leaves is heavy and so is the taste. Im looking forward to exploring this tea.

I used a 120ml yixingpot, filled it to 1/4 – 1/3 isch.
Quick wash followed by 25s steep.
Added 15s after that for a couple of more infusions.

Felt like brewing something special today.
Been out running in the rain and came home all soaked.

this tea warmed me up plenty! Brought out the gaiwan and filled it up with 5g leaf. A quick wash and it was good to go. what really impresses me about this the is the strong grapefruitflavour in the early steepings. I have read its suposedly good for ice tea. will have to try before sipdown! Hope i can restock this since its just about one of the best ooong ivé ever tried. the leaf is rolled like most high mountain oolongs but it is high oxidized. Splendid quality.

5g / 90ml celadon gaiwan. water from kunzan tetsubin.
wash/25s/15s/25s/30s/40s/1m/+20s per following steeping. Water @ 90C

Oh this tea is just magnificent. first infsuions is shockful of grapefruit and lots of cinnamon. It is as if someone squeezed frsh grapefruit into my cup! Later steepings tasted less of grapefruit and more cinnamon.
The tea is rolled into tiny pearls but unfolds really nice. My gaiwan was filled to the brim with leaf.
will try and find more of this when i get a chance. Very expensive thou. But it can handle a #"¤"load of infusions.

7g / 90ml celadon gaiwan.

Gongfu style.
wash / first 25s then add 10-15s per infusion. When it starts to thin i add some more time.

Thick, creamy with heavy notes of cinnamon. Refreshing with perhaps a hint of astringeny.

A few years ago I had dinner at a very reputable chinese restaurant where I ordered “a green tea” and had my first Dragon Well tea. Ever since I’ve been wanting to revisit this tea, but I was always hesitant about how/where to get a good quality.

When I stumbeled on Dragon Tea House I decided to give it a try and I must say I’m not disappointed. This tea is exactly as I remember it. IMO this is the epitome of a green tea: somewhat grassy, fresh, light and with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Will definitely be restocking this!

EDIT: In the 2nd steep – which is even better – the sweetness increases and becomes more nutty in character.

I thought to revisite this one a second time. I figured that my palette might have changed or that I might be able to brew this one better the second time around.

On second try I liked the tea even less!! I’ve crashed my rating to the yellow “mweh” smiley and tossed the remaining bag of this tea with the trash.

I don’t know what to make of this tea. Has flavour been added or not? I tend to agree with twinofmunin: how could it not be flavoured with such a strong scent and taste?

I ordered this tea in the hope that it could be an alternative for my much more expensive milky oolong from Theodor. Unfortunatly this is not it.

What I don’t like about this oolong is the very caramelized scent. It reminds me of hard/kristalized caramel candy. You know the type you nearly break your teeth on when trying to chew it and when you’ve finally crunched it, makes your teeth stick seriously together. Theodore’s version has a more vegetal note, which makes it more balanced and natural to the palette.

Although it certainly isn’t bad, I won’t be buying it again. It just doesn’t hold up to the Theodor Milky Oolong.

That’s 4 fish dead and another 1 on the way in the last 3 days :( Everything was going so well and then old age kicks in. Damn you reaper leave my fish alone!

I’m sat here with a large pot of this tea and a large slice of orange cake that was made this morning. I’m trying to calm myself and have a break from singing to my ill fish and try to make her as comfortable as possible. There are some things that you never get used to.

Steep 1 – 15 seconds

Golden red brown in colour with a rich, sweet, malty scent. The first thing that strikes me is the smoothness that comes packed with a sweet malty mist of flavour. It’s mellow yet rich and very clean tasting. A touch of sweetness lay amongst the malt.

Steep 2 – 25 seconds

Maltier in flavour with a much richer and velvety after taste. The sweetness is better blended and does not stand out as much as the previous steep. It also remains fresh, misty and mellow.

Steep 3 – 40 seconds

There is a slight roasted flavour that mixed with the sweet and fruity malt not only makes it smell like malt loaf but also taste like it. Still remains rich, smooth and consistent to the previous steeps. When I say fruity I mean fermented like currants and raisins.

Steep 4 – 1 minute 10 seconds

Toning down now in it’s rich flavour. The sweetness is once again in front of the malt rather than being paired with it equally in the previous steep. Very light, a little smoky and still very smooth.

Steep 5 – 1 minute 30 seconds

Golden brown in colour. Not much left now beyond a dark fruity sweetness with only a slight malt touch. Perhaps also a slight floral touch is present now too mixed in with the fruit. Even though it’s very subtle it’s still a nice steep and very worth drinking.

For more information and pictures please view my blog.
http://kittylovestea.teatra.de/2013/02/07/premium-dian-hong-a-true-birthday-treat/

This is a brand new experience for me as I have never had the pleasure of drinking Lan Gui Ren before. I really don’t know what to expect at all but thought it would be fun to find out.

Upon opening this vacuum sealed package I pulled a face as I was asking myself “What the hell is this?”. The tea itself looks like my cats catnip biscuits. They are dark green, small and rolled into odd ball shapes. They really do look like a cross between a cat biscuit and some sort of health snack. These strange little tea pieces smell floral but also astringent and sharp. It’s an interesting smell, it must be the ginseng.

By look and smell I would never guess this was an Oolong. I’m brewing this gongfu style starting with 1 minute for first two steeps (as recommended) and by an additional minute each subsequent steep.

Steep 1 – 1 minute
The tea is yellow in colour with a roasted scent much associated with Oolong. Yum, it tastes like roasted rice cakes with spinach which sounds like an odd combination but it’s very nice. It has that slight sweetness and after taste similar to watermelon but not as fruity or fresh.

SIDE NOTE – Amazing sweet after taste that lingers in my mouth beautifully.

Steep 2 – 1 minute
A second steep has increased the toastedness but it seems to dissolve quickly until all you can taste is a floral sweetness that starts to taste like hard boiled sweets. My mind is completely blown by this tea … it’s amazing and I’m only two steeps in! Sweet rice cakey goodness.

Steep 3 – 2 minutes
Golden brown now in colour. The sweetness is blending in a little bit more now and it tastes more like your average sweet Oolong.

I think this is amazing. I love it. Finishing my review early because my Chinese food is here (beancurd in black bean sauce). Double yum!

I did not have a good night last night, in fact it was one of the worst in a long time, not meaning to start drama but it consisted of no sleep, a spouse argument, broken tea drawers and me applying for a residential Visa to China. Why China? I imagined I would have little trouble finding a job there in the tea industry, even if it’s just production or warehouse storage. Though chances are I won’t get my Visa. I would have applied to America but I need the job before applying, much stricter regulations. Same goes for Canada.

So as a little pick me up I’m having this Jasmine green along with a bag of vanilla fudge for breakfast, perhaps not the most nutritious but right now I don’t much care. Not sure if it’s the fudge but the jasmine is not as strong as I remember it being. Oh well, it’s still nice and refreshing.

I’m in the mood for something light and floral and I couldn’t think of anything more perfect than jasmine pearls. I usually go for Teavivre’s ‘Superfine Jasmine Downy Dragon Pearls Green Tea’ but today I thought I would try this brand.

What surprised me first of all was that this brands ‘pearl jasmine’ came seal packed like many Oolongs do to ensure freshness. When I opened the sealed pack I could see small dark green with silver striped balls with a beautiful sweet jasmine scent. One thing I did notice is that there is no fuzziness at all which I have noted comes with the fresher and higher quality pearls.

I am brewing with three steeps: 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes. I used 7g of pearls in my gongfu with 80°C water.

The tea once steeped for 1 minute is light yellow and remains fresh, mellow, floral and sweet. Just as jasmine pearl tea should be. It’s very light with only a hint of jasmine and it’s a very pleasant first steep. It’s the sort of tea I could drink every day. :)

My second steep now. The pearls have now unravelled. The tea is still yellow in colour but the jasmine scent is stronger. It’s a little stronger, sweeter and more floral now. Much more preferable to the first steep. It’s still light but now it’s more like a green tea as it has some depth instead of very little.

My third steep. Everything (colour, scent and taste) has weakened slightly and resembles the first steep again.

Overall it’s a nice jasmine pearl tea but at the best steep it was the same quality as what you would expect. Meaning it’s suitable for every day drinking but not for those special occasions. Still it is what it’s called and nothing more and I do love jasmine pearls … if this is the lesser grade then I cannot wait to try their higher grades. :)

So I wanted to post this just so that anyone looking for a nice tea table would check out Dragon Tea House!
They have a HUGE selection and I am IN LOVE with mine – I got this one here.
Here is a full detailed review on it with my personal photos
http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/29/large-grape-sandalwood-tea-table/

I’m having another night of playing an RPG game with my husband and since it will be a long night there is nothing better than re steeping a gongfu of pu erh.

Dragon Tea House have a lot of strange and unique pu erh and I thought the same of this one. I have not known any pu erh to be formed in this long shape before inside the bamboo. It reached my curious meter so I bought it and it arrived a few months ago but I have a craving for raw pu erh tonight.

I open the packet and observed it’s wonderful shape and colour. It looks amazing! http://tinypic.com/r/2ez4bvp/6

Starting with 1 minute infusion it said that this can be steeped over 10 times. I only put around two small cakes worth of pu erh into the gongfu to try it’s strength.

First of all since this is raw the pu erh soup is yellowy green with a floral and astringent smell. Almost perfumey.
Then I taste, and taste, and taste some more. It’s very floral but light and fresh with a touch of sweetness. Each steep seems to be increasing it’s strength but it remains nicely balanced. It also darkens in colour becoming more of a very light amber.

For only $4.99 for 50g it makes this pu erh cheap and tasty, a winning combination for me. I will definitely be placing an order for more of this.

That’s the last of this tea gone, I remember trading it away but made sure I left myself one teapots worth of tea left and today is the day I drink it. Bi Luo Chun gives me a major caffeine rush and makes me tea drunk.

It has such a beautiful, strong flavour. Like grass, seaweed, cabbage, broccoli and brussle sprouts all rolled into one. Very vegetal and thick with a hint of perfume and flowers but remaining green and grassy fresh.
Delicious!

It’s getting pretty cold here in the UK so I have an excuse to make various cups of warming tea throughout the day. After my recent black tea cravings I have decided to take a break and have some green tea, I need something warm yet light to fulfil my current needs.

The tea is made with whole leaves that have been rolled and have taken on various thin and squiggly shapes. The leaves themselves are a mixture of dark green and pale green and they smell thickly vegetal (similar to broccoli or seaweed).

Brewing advice on the pack states one teaspoon of leaves into a cup with 80 degree water for 2-3 minutes. Also suitable for up to 3 steeps.

Once steeped the tea soup is pale yellow in colour with a crisp and toasty smell (similar to some Oolongs).

The flavour is interesting, it reminds me of an Indian green rather than Chinese green as it’s heavy and extremely vegetal. Perhaps also similar to a Mao Feng. It has the same taste as cooked broccoli or cabbage but it’s a little sweeter and crisper.

The toasted flavour becomes stronger and it is very similar to some Oolongs I have had before. Also becomes slightly bitter as it cools but in a perfumey sort of way.

Overall it’s a nice alternative green tea to what I would usually have and I have just started to feel the caffeine kick in with a WHOOOOOOOSH!!!

You know if there’s something weird, I’m gonna want to try it. And this is definitly weird. Yak butter tea does contain black tea, and it also contains butter, but this product is a powder in foil pouches. It stirs up easily, the powder smells good, like butter, like a good milk oolong. Once reconstituded, it doesn’t taste as much like tea as like butter. However, it does not have an oily sheen to it, I wonder how they did that? It has the color of mocha. I can taste the salt too. The smell is not off-putting, I kinda like the smell. The flavor is like salty butter, but not as thick as you would hope for with such a rich fragrance, and I’m left with the idea that it would be great as an ingredient, maybe mixed with Chai.

As I stirred, I briefly hoped it would be like hot buttered rum batter, and indeed, with the addition of cinnamon and clove, it might actually work for that. Another sip, and I am reminded of macaroni and cheese, just fleetingly… or is it more like buttered noodles?

It is a high calorie drink. I can’t imagine making this again as a tea, but I could see using this as an emergency high calorie ration, or for someone who has had the flu and hasn’t eaten much in a while. Or, as I said, maybe with the addition of other ingredients, to make a hearty holiday type drink. Like anyone needs more calories at the holidays…. hmmmm.yeah.or maybe not.

Well, it is better than I thought it would be, more butter than tea, not totally repugnant by any means. I keep comming back to spices, I seem to want to add spices. oh well. If you like drinking butter, then you’ll probably love it. I definitly don’t hate it. And now I can say I’ve tried it.

ADDED: OK, drink it while hot, because it’s kinda yucky once it cools off. Also, just for reference, I ordered this from Dragon Tea House (ebay) paid 9/7/2012 and received from China 22 days later 9/29/2012.

This is a medium-bodied tea which has a mild astringency. The leaves are exquisite. The liquor is golden brown and the aroma is mild and sweet. The flavor is best described as bittersweet, with a hint of smokiness in the finish. It would be a good tea to pair with desserts.

The tightly-rolled leaves have a sweet aroma somewhere between vanilla and taffy – you’d almost think that this was some kind of dessert tea. After steeping for four or so minutes, the candy aroma remains in the wet leaves, which are are mostly half-broken. The color of the liquid is a light greenish yellow, and the flavor delicate – but still has restrained taffy flavor. The leaves are so tightly rolled that it’s easy to overestimate the leaves required for a full steeping, but the tea remains somewhat sweet and one-dimensional.

It’s hard to tell if this is one of the “artificially flavored” milk oolongs, but the taste of this batch is unappealing to me.