Special steeping instructions for this fresh tea resulted in a pleasant surprise. About 2 grams of leaves, 2 dl of hot water in a gaiwan and steeping until the leaves sink.
I did not manage to wait until all the leaves had sunk, but when the most had and the rest were hanging from the surface, I decided to it was ready. I poured 2/3 to a pitcher and left the rest as a seed for the next infusions.
The intensity of the flavour was not completely unexpected, considering the time of over 5 minutes. But how balanced it turned out, was indeed. There was the bitterness anyone could predict, but it did not take over completely. Along came that familiar vegetal long jing taste — that in my opinion is greatly enhanced by a good amount of bitterness. Also I found prominent a pleasant sweetness and to balance it, some lemon or lime like sourness.
Drinking long jing prepared like this reminded me more of drinking gyokuro than anything else. The resulting liquid is a very potent extract of the essence of the leaves. I still have to repeat this with the Wang Grade I have waiting.
