2010 Pre-Qingming Da Fo (Great Buddha) Long Jing first day harvest

Backlogging from last night.

I originally tried drinking this “Chinese style” with the leaves in the tea cup. After battling floating leaves through most of one cup and hardly being able to taste anything except the leaves that kept creeping into my mouth I decided that the Chinese must be either crazy or very skilled & dumped the leaves into my green tetsubin, adding a bit more since the pot is obviously larger than my cup.

Ah, much better. The pale pale gold liquor was vegetal, nutty, and (with a tiny bit of sugar) had a buttery, almost silken, mouth-feel. You know how it feels to drape a heavy silk brocade over your arm and hand and then you turn your arm this way and that to feel how it drapes and swishes, pretending that you are wearing a formal kimono with long, flowing sleeves? Yeah, it was kinda like that.

I’m not sure it makes a lot of sense to have an entry for every vintage of teas like this, especially if only one or two people are going to review them.

This is the 2011. This is my first Long Jing with puffballs! So excited!

Again, side-by-side Grandpa-style and Double Brew, as mentioned in my previous Long Jing review. Today, the constrast in flavors revealed by the two methods was very strong. While the warmer, Grandpa-style emitted artichoke and overcooked peas, with some lemon within, the Double Brew gave an intensely sweet brew, with soft, young Spinach and distant pine. What’s surprising to me is that the Grandpa-style method drained these leaves quickly, leaving them much less durable and more or less exhausted by the second steep. The Double Brew went on longer, continuing to yield a delightfully sweet, gentle beverage.

Whatever method is used, this is great Long Jing, in my estimation. I much preferred it to yesterday’s version and rank it as the best I’ve had. Very, very flavorful and nicely rich.

This is the priciest tea I’ve ever drank. I was lucky enough to try this tea this afternoon in a tea gathering with friends. The tea broth was clear, slightly yellowish green. The flavor was wonderful. It tasted roasty, like half roasted nuts or peanuts. There is some astringency. But based on my experience with LongJing, I think they all have some astringency to some degree. The tea left a mouth watering, sweet-like aftertaste. Overall this is a good tea. But after I check the price for this tea tonight, I think it’s a bit expensive. But what do I know about tea pricing! Honestly, I would give this tea a higher rating if I didn’t check the price.