Dragonwell

I’m drinking Dragonwell today, per last night’s tea randomizer recommendation – I didn’t end up having any tea last night. With my new ownership of a thermometer, I steeped this cup at the recommend 160 and surprise, all the yummy tea essence of before with absolutely none of the bitterness. I think I can safely come to the conclusion that I’ve been steeping my green teas in too hot water. The Dragonwell is now smoother, but the flavor seems stronger. Most enjoyable.

It’s taken me forever plus three days to get around to logging these suckers. I’d sat down to do it one day and then realized that it’d been too long since I actually drank them and wanted to wait until I tried them again before logging them.

Now that that incredibly boring explanation is out of the way, on to the tea.

This Dragonwell rates a solid second on my Dragonwell scale. It’s not a light, dancing, happy sweetness like that darned Dragonwell Spring that Carolyn sent me. It does, however, have some sweetness to it.

The first thing that struck me is that this tea brewed up into a very light yellow color. I don’t know why I made a note of this, but it was very, very light. I’ve had a lot of teas that have been brewing up near colorless lately, but it’s still novel enough for me t notice it when it happens.

Also, the leaves, and this is gonna sound kinda crazy, smelled like turkey when I sniffed them from up above. It took me a while to place it, but when I realized it I said aloud, “Holy poop, turkey!” [Except “poop” was replaced with its four-lettered cousin.] Curious, I sniffed them again closer, through the infuser, and they smelled like green beans – specifically the canned variety.

It had been long enough since I’d tried this that I couldn’t remember exactly what to expect from this [secretly, I’m using these tea logs to replace my BRAIN]. The biggest taste that I got from it was, perhaps not surprisingly, green beans. Fresher green beans than what it smelled like, but green beans. A little salty, more sweet, though. And maybe with just a hint of smoke.

I’m going to try bringing the temperature down to 160 and see what that does for it. I’ll be able to compare better now that I have it in my brain.

I seriously had a dream Monday that I was brewing up this tea. Woke up ready to drink it but sadly, my order had not come. No clue why I was dreaming about this tea though. This is the tea from Series 1 that I expect to like the least. I’ve only had one other experience with Dragonwell and it wasn’t fun. But that has somehow translated to this being the tea I want to try the most. I’m not sure if I am trying to torture myself through tea or if I am hoping that damn fine dragonwell will be happier than the one I had previously.

The leaves smell both grassy/vegetal and a little salty. Makes my mouth water just a bit. Brewed some up and – oh, yes. The is nice. This isn’t even nice for a Chinese green (my least favorite type of tea). This is just plain ole nice. Fresh and a bit buttery with a little not-quite-salt at the end. That not-quite-salt taste seems to be a hint of astringency that hits on the middle/back of my tongue after a sip. That single factor is what can ruin a Chinese green for me if it is too strong, but it isn’t in this tea. It gives a nice counterpoint to the fresh smoothness at the front of the sip.

And now my cup is empty (wow, that was quick) so I get to find out how it resteeps!

ETA: Second steep @ 4:30. Not quite as fresh/butter but still good. Not as great as the first cup, but that might be because I just had some cereal.

I was a little worried that this tea would be too strong since it warns against steeping for longer than 2.5 minutes, but I was pleasantly surprised by a nice cup of green tea with a balanced flavor that isn’t overly grassy and has a hint of minerality.

Backlogging from yesterday.

This was another sample from Ricky. Thanks Ricky!
As we know, I LOVE dragonwell. So I am going to be harsh, because my standards are pretty high. This tea was a little too weak for me brewed according to instructions. I brewed 3 minutes, hot, no additives. I found that the water was the right color and everything, the smell was a faint vegetal, as it should be, but the flavor just was not there.

I have also mentioned in my ramblings about green tea, that I also tend to simply add green, specifically dragonwell to a cup with hot water and drink it without ever straining. Allowing for maximum flavor (and sometimes bitterness) to come out of the leaves. In the case of the Damn Fine Dragonwell, I have to say that leaving the leaves submerged in the cup while enjoying was the best way. I feel we could have also brewed the tea longer than required, but this gives you a few good steeps, without getting bitter so there was no reason to have to make it in a pot and pour it off.

Overall, the tea was alright as long as you let it sit and infuse long enough, however the recommended time was not enough to get decent flavor out of the tea.

After my BBQ flavored tea, I needed something a bit more mild. While I’ve never had Dragonwell before, steepster members have been raving about how amazing it is, so I had to give it a try. Seeing as it’s from Andrews & Dunham, the tea couldn’t be that bad. Well, the experience was interesting. I don’t think I should have brewed these leaves in my ingenuiTea right after I brewed some smokey bacon. The disadvantages of plastic, argh. I think some of the smokiness lingered over to my dragonwell, unless dragonwell has a hint of smoke. I detected a bit of buttery, but not as much as you’d typically find in oolong. Dragonwell isn’t your typical sweet green tea, it’s actually fairly salty, but not salty enough that you can’t tolerate it. The saltiness hits you right in the middle of a sip. It’s a truly interesting tea. If you want to get the most out of this tea, let it cool down. The flavors really show when it’s cool.

this tea is absolutely delicious. it has been my favorite out of all 5 of the tea’s Andrews & Dunham has released. However, I no longer have any of this tea left and I missed the re-release in December of their series one! I really wish I knew where it came from so I could hop on a plane and buy it! :)

It’s been a while since I cracked open this tin. I wanted to get my darjeeling sample from adagio out of the way, and then I fell in love all over again with the DFT’s Nepal, and I overlooked this stuff for a while. It’s great as always though, as if I never left it.

Far from the best Dragonwell to hit my tasters. Quite green aroma both dry and steeped, with less sweetness and subtlety than I prefer. The initial sips are very leafy but without a lot of tea flavor. The woody character masks the sweetness that I can taste just under the surface. Post-sip, I taste smoky and salty, which is not what I enjoy in Dragonwell. Certainly, my bias shows.

Very nice, very beautiful tea – one of the first greens I have liked