This tea initiated my tea swap with Carolyn, because I’d been having such a crappy time of trying out Dragonwell. Let me say that if this is how Dragonwell is supposed to taste, either I was doing something horribly wrong before or this one is simply far superior. I’m going to have to revisit Tavalon’s Dragonwell and maybe, if I’m feeling brave, I’ll try Adagio’s again.
Carolyn mentioned in her review that this has a nutty scent to it, and that’s what I smell, too. The nutty aspect is absent in the taste for me, though.
Dragonwell Spring is light, smooth, clean and overall very refreshing. It’s got a sweet edge to it that seems chlorophyll-like, but it doesn’t read like a grassy tea to me. I can’t really relate the taste it has to…anything. Not anything that’s not pretty abstract anyway. So I’m going to try to explain what this tastes like to me.
It makes me think of those days during the summer when you come in from running around or doing yard work or whatever and you are HOT and DEHYDRATED. So you grab a glass and gulp down water like you’ve been in a desert for a week and holy H2O, Batman, water has never tasted SO GOOD before. It’s cool and quenching and it almost tastes sweet. It’s like in books, when they talk about characters arriving at springs and drinking from it. This tea makes me think of the way that they describe how that water tastes.
It also reminds me of the citron teas that I’ve been trying, but without the citron. It’s breezy and subtle, but at the same time very much present. Soothing and relaxing. I really like this tea. The aftertaste has a lingering, almost nectar-y sweetness to it. If I were drinking it blind, I’d almost think it was a white tea, but it’s got a smidge more oomph. I can see it becoming my default tea for when I want something simple, bright, and without a lot of flavor.
So thanks, Carolyn, for turning me around to Dragonwell. It makes me a little sad to think that I almost gave up on it because this is pretty fantastic. Lesson learned.
