Lung Ching

My third Dragon Well of the day. This is part of the Harney & Sons green tea sampler, a set of four teas in cute little black tins.

I’m concluding that though I love the name, Dragon Well probably isn’t my thing. At least I don’t think I appreciate it the way it should be appreciated. It seems rather bland to me. This is probably the tastiest of the three versions I’ve tried, and seems to have a bit more depth to it, but it is still very, very mild. I’m interested enough in this version to spend some more time with it, though, and see if I can develop an appreciation for it.

It has a pale yellow liquor with the tiniest suggestion of green and the aroma is sweet, dewy and has a hint of milkiness. There’s a vegetal quality to the aroma, but the taste isn’t deeply vegetal like many other green teas. Nor is it grassy.

I suppose that’s its distinguishing characteristic, that it’s just not like other green teas. Instead of tasting like the run off from steamed broccoli, or like the air smells after you’ve just mowed the lawn, it seems more like the aftertaste of yellow squash sauteed in a little bit of butter. The vegetal quality in this one suggests to me more of the sweet interior of the vegetable than the slightly bitter outer leaves. I still don’t really taste nuttiness so much as a lighter quality. I keep coming back to the aftertaste of pumpkin seeds.

As I write this I’m talking myself into liking this more than I thought I did. Maybe it’s time for a nap. ;-)

Sweet very mildly vegetal green tea. I quite enjoyed it and will gladly have this as my go to green for a while.

I’m so new to tea that I didn’t realize that I already had Lung Ching because I learned about it through its other common name, Dragonwell, which I’ve bought a couple of times from Teavana. I love Dragonwell as a mild, forgiving (hard to ruin!) green tea. Dragonwell is like that basic article of clothing that looks good on you and goes with just about anything you own- something you can depend on to complement your wardrobe. Dragonwell complements my tea cupboard. It is a comforting tea that doesn’t have to wow me to be thoroughly enjoyed.

And I say all of that because when I opened up the lovely Harney & Sons tin (my first purchase from them) I thought hey- that looks like a slightly paler version of Teavana’s Dragonwell! I steeped it and loved it immediately. A hint of sweetness and a vegetal flavor and aroma. The flavor is more robust than Teavana’s Dragonwell, though both teas are nice -and pretty to look at, too.

I have had this tea quite awhile and yet I never logged it. I’m not quite sure why that is but here goes.

The dry leaf is dry medium green flat leaf. Once steeped it is a slightly nutty, vegetal flavor I can’t say I would reorder this tea but it’s not a bad green tea it’s just Meh.

I’m not really an experienced green tea drinker, even though I’ve drunk it for years. Lung Ching comes in a large variety of grades, which I can’t really speak to. This one compares favorably with the ones I’ve drunk from my Chinatown supplier and from Mark T Wendell. This Lung Ching has that grassy, fragrant, fresh scent and nice yellow liquor I expect from a Lung Ching. It’s smooth and delicious. I always notice a really fine sense of alertness that accompanies the cup. Sometimes I brew it in a brown clay tea pot and give it several pours. Today I wimped out and used my Bodum glass press pot, 4 minutes at 90 degrees celsius.

A simple and good tea that I drink on nearly a regular basis. Lung-Ching tea is classified as a China-Green tea (superfine), with the liquor having a pale yellow appearance. The taste is mild and sweet,with an almost nut-like flavor.

Other Names: Dragon Well (most common), and Long-Jing

Steeping Suggestions:
2 1/4 grams per cup
Water Temp 160 degrees
Steeping time 2 minutes

This is a quite mild green tea. More sweet than vegetal. There is nothing offensive about this tea and that is why it is so unexciting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good. But, it simply doesn’t take any risks that might make it exceptional. It’s super forgiving to brew — almost impossible to make bitter from oversteeping.

This is a wonderfully sweet and complex tea without the vegetal taste that most non-green tea lovers find distasteful. It’s quickly climbed my favorites list to the top three, and my fiancé, who is rather impartial to tea, enjoyed this as well. I enjoy it both cold and hot, and I would not recommend using sweetener with it (though if you had to, I’d recommend light agave or a touch of honey).

Like many teas on my favorites list, this holds up to abuse rather well. My first brew ended up lukewarm before I remembered I was brewing some tea. It was still delicious! I was expecting it to be incredibly bitter, like other grocery-store green teas or sencha. Thankfully this tea doesn’t get that heavy, bitter taste.

I only add two pinches of the tea to my cold cup before adding hot water (195 F). If the cup is pre-warmed, I try to take the tea out before 2 minutes. Two minutes is what I usually consider the longest steep-time for green tea, though Lung Ching has proven me wrong.

If you’re watching the leaves sink, take out the leaves when most of the tea has sunk to the bottom. Using this method, you can go for a second steep but definitely not a third.

Such a good basic green. I have my whole family addicted. I think I may actually like it more than the higher end Meijiawu, but probably because I feel like I can just enjoy it rather than feel like I have to analyze it so it’s not wasted.

I’ve bought this Dragonwell twice from Harney. Perhaps I’m delusional but the first time it certainly seemed to have more kick to it – the leaves smelled fresher, and the liquor was more aromatic. Second time around it still makes a good cup, but I can’t help but compare it to the previous time. That being said, this Dragonwell is better than most I’ve tried.

Our tea of the moment for the last stretch of the day.. great way to relax.