Dragonwell from Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

Steepster Score 23 Ratings Rate This Tea

76/100

Dragonwell

Green Tea by Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

You arrive at the edge of a glade, in the shadow of a tall forest, and the path you have followed twists out of sight into the ancient woods. The quick breath of your steed reveals that he too has detected the malice that surely awaits you. With one hand on the reins, the other gripping the worn leather of your sword handle, you pass the first line of trees. Almost at once you become aware of a stone wall, ornately carved, nearly covered in vines that parallels your path. There is no wind, but your nostrils are greeted with the smell of decay, ageless and cloying. Soon, however, it is replaced by something unexpected — yes, I sense it too — chocolate, followed by buttered corn and peas. Mom must be home! And she’s making dinner!

For a satisfying experience, brew this Chinese green tea using water at about 160 degrees. You can get there one of two ways: heat your water to a boil and let it sit for a couple minutes before you pour it over your leaves, or just heat it until it starts to steam. The choice is yours. Be careful not to steep it for more than 2 and a half minutes. Hang onto the leaves as this tea is great for a second or even third infusion — we usually double the steeping time with each additional round.

42 Tasting Notes

chrine

80

chrine 9 tasting notes

This afternoon, “Oolong, green, white, oolong, green, white,” I thought. Should I go stare at what’s in my cupboard? Maybe something will call out to me. I think about some teas. Dragonwell sounds just right. I think about teas a few minutes more. But I keep going back to Dragonwell. Dragonwell, it is.

I went with the 6oz cup method again, instead of an 8oz+ mug. I have a feeling this size will be becoming my default when drinking teas that get more than 2 steeps. I know it’s not that much less tea than a mug, but somehow I drink it faster and it feels like less tea. This time I used a 2 minutes 30 seconds multiplier like A&D recommends. I kept the 160° F water temperature like last time.

The Dragonwell was much the same as before, which is tasty and enjoyable. I sped through my first two cups, then drank the next two cups after dinner. The 4th steep was at least half tea, half watery, if not mostly watery. I do not think I will be steeping this a 4th time again.

1st steep: 2 min 30 sec.
2nd steep: 5 min.
3rd steep: 7 min 30 sec.
4th steep: 10 min.

Next time I drink this, I plan to try 3 steeps using the same times as a today but with 170° F water. Yes, I feel like each new tea is an experiment in how preparing it differently could change the taste. Yes, I am a scientist. Yes, I’m geeky. =)

- Using a 2 min 30 sec multiplier work well for this tea.
- Steep 3 times. This tea doesn’t take a 4th steep well.

160 °F / 71 °C

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.

160 °F / 71 °C

2 min 30 sec

An Ode to A&D’s Dragonwell

Dragonwell, oh Dragonwell,
Your warmth, your taste, your smell,
Are all so wonderfully swell
When outside a heavy rain fell
Pelting the very place where I dwell.
Hopefully, tomorrow’s as clear as a bell
But, for now, drinking you, I am well.

My dear Steepsterites, long time no posts. At least, it hasn’t been long time no tea. I’ve just been busy, there is no particular reason. But I hadn’t thought it had been that long until I got on here to tealog this lovely Dragonwell. I’ve missed ya’ll.

I’m on my second steep, the first one being 2 min 30 sec. After this I shall reheat some leftover veggie pizza in the oven. I plan on resuming steeping this later in the evening.

160 °F / 71 °C

3 min 0 sec

This is one of those teas that I really like and really hate when I only drink one steep then end up throwing the leaves out and feeling like I’d wasted good tea. So when my ‘try a 6oz cup when steeping a tea that has more than 1-2 steep in it’ wuyi oolong experiment worked really well, I decided to try it with Dragonwell yesterday afternoon. Again, success. This method seems to “trick” me into drinking more steeps. Which means I may now be free to drink multiple steep teas without thinking “oh I don’t know if I’ll drink more than a cup, maybe two, so I shouldn’t steep this tea now” and then not drinking the tea I wanted then and/or not drinking teas I really like for a long time due to talking myself out of it.

1st steep: 2 min 15 sec. Oh good, yum, tasty. Just as I remember it being.

2nd steep: 4 min 30 sec. Lighter yet with more to taste. Just as good as the 1st.

3rd steep: 6 min 45 sec. Noticeably weaker but still good to drink.

4th steep: 9 min. Watery Dragonwell. Drank it, but may not resteep a 4th time in the future.

I’d like to try doing multiple steeps using a 2 min 30 sec multiplier as recommended by A&D and comparing. I also noticed tealogs for steeping at 170° F and 180° F and may want to try a higher temperature water and compare as well.

160 °F / 71 °C

Last night, I had a second and third brewing from my Dragonwell leaves. They were both as tasty and enjoyable as the first, if not better. I think I could have gotten more brewings but it was quite late and I needed to get to bed.

2nd brewing: 5 min
3rd brewing: 7 min 30 sec

170 °F / 76 °C

I was so excited and surprised when my A&D DFT Series 1 arrived today, only three days after I had ordered it.

The Dragonwell came in a medieval green and white labeled tin. The leaves are flat and varies in shade from light-medium to very dark green. The smell is green tea, vegetal, musty, and soft. The tea is a pale yellow and oh so good! The leaves became long and thin and muted deep spring green. The smell was fresh and tea-y. The tea tastes green and light and a bit bitter in a good way. It’s Damn Fine and I’m about to brew the leaves again for a second cup.

170 °F / 76 °C

2 min 30 sec

Backlogging.

Last night, I enjoy 2 steeps of Dragonwell with a late night snack while watching the end of PBS’s Masterpiece Classic most recent rendition of Emma. I did not like this production of Emma very much. I did like the Dragonwell very much though. 2nd steep: 4 min, 165°.

160 °F / 71 °C

2 min 0 sec

Backlogging
My sweetie and I enjoyed two pots of this yesterday afternoon while waiting for it to start snowing and reading on the couch with the cats. 2nd steep: 4 min.

160 °F / 71 °C

2 min 30 sec

Procrastinating tasks with my first steep of Dragonwell went very well. I am now making a new To Do list with my second steep. This is also a light steep with the vegetal coming through a bit more.

160 °F / 71 °C

3 min 0 sec

takgoti

70

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.

170 °F / 76 °C

2 min 30 sec

Auggy

69

Auggy 4 tasting notes

So the whole toss in a cup and pour some water over it thing worked out really well for the Dragon Balls yesterday, I thought I’d give it a shot with this one. It was quite yummy, bringing to mind steamed green veggies, maybe asparagus or Swiss chard (♥), but man, a lot of these leaves float! I ate a few (slightly bitter (like turnips) but not bad) and eventually most of them decided to go hang out at the bottom, but ultimately I think I prefer my tea with fewer obstacles.

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.

180 °F / 82 °C

2 min 30 sec

My tea experience tonight has been brought to you by takgoti and sophistre. Takgoti because she said this smelled like turkey and I’m morbidly curious about that and sophistre because her Ryokucha log made me think of my trip to the Daibutsu in Kamakura where I picked up my first yunomi, so that’s what I’m drinking this out of. A Chinese tea out of Japanese tea cup. I don’t get kicked out of the tea lovers club for this, right?

So, trying to find the turkey smell is first. I’m sniffing but I don’t really find it. Part of me is sad, part of me is thankful. Part of me goes – I can smell briney and buttery when I’m smelling from my nose not in the cup and I can see how that could translate to turkey… or roasted chicken. But this whole sniffing for turkey thing has lead to a lot more sniffing than I’d usually do so my mouth is watering a bit. Paying attention to this tea, it smells really nice. I’ve already mentioned a little salt and butter smell going on, but when I get closer there’s a pretty vegetal smell, too. Not like boiled vegetables but not raw either. Just sweet and green.

Okay, this is really enjoyable tea. There’s a little salt-like tingle on the tip of my tongue that I seem to get from most Chinese greens. Actually, I take that back – most Chinese greens give me a big salt taste. The fact that this is slight makes it enjoyable, not unpleasant. The taste is sweet and green and a little salty and maybe nutty. The tea is not delicate tasting but it’s not overpowering either. Hearty but soft maybe? Anyway, I like it.

I have a feeling if I had last night’s Dragonwell after this one instead of before, it wouldn’t have fared as well as it did. This one is yummy.

170 °F / 76 °C

2 min 30 sec

I just wanted a nice, daily tea kind of taste that wasn’t a black tea. It smells nice – warm and cuddly and nutty but fresh, too. Tastes very good, really hits the spot. Solid and substantial with a little fresh but mostly savory kind of tastes. There’s a salty end too but it’s working well for me today. Honestly, if not for the salty pucker at the end, this tea would rate a lot higher for me. Might need to decrease the leaf or the steep time to see if I can get that taste to calm down.
^9g/18oz

180 °F / 82 °C

2 min 0 sec

Cory O'Brien

72

Cory O'Brien 3 tasting notes

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.

205 °F / 96 °C

2 min 30 sec

Cinoi

83

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.

Ricky

78

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.

185 °F / 85 °C

2 min 45 sec

LissaMarie

92

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! :)

175 °F / 79 °C

3 min 0 sec

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