Organic Pekoe Dragonwell Green Tea

Jen at Pekoe Sip House was nice enough to send me a couple samples of their teas and I decided to try their Dragonwell today. Before I get into the tea itself I decided to do a little research on Pekoe Sip House since I never heard about them before and this is my first tea from. Pekoe Sip House is a certified B Corp which is a business that strives to solve societal and environmental problems. According to Pekoe Sip House’s blog there are dedicated to ethical sourcing both their teas and their coffee, being environmentally friendly and supporting local charities. All of which sounds pretty cool. While a lot of tea stores strive to help the various people directly involved in tea production, I have not seen many invested in supporting local charities as well; it’s nice to see a business trying to be a positive presence in their community while ethically souring their products.

Dry Leaves: There is quite a bit of variation in the tea leaves. I was excited to see tea stems mixed in. I know outside of Japan and Taiwan tea stems/stalks are often seen as garbage, I’ve found they add quite a bit of flavor to the brewed tea itself, but I digress. The leaves are darker green than anything else, although there is a little light green and brown mixed in. The leaves had a nice woodsy scent.

First Steeping
Temperature: 175oF
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Fruity
Flavor: Fruity, Floral and Nutty
Tasting Notes: I was really taken back by this tea, I was expecting a nuttier tea, but in this first infusion I found a lot of floral and fruity notes while the nutty taste was a little light. It had a really nice body, a little stronger then what I was expecting, especially for brewing it for only one minute. The leaves have a lot left to give.

Second Steeping
Temperature: 180oF
Brewing Time: Two Minutes
Aroma: Peach
Flavor: Fruity, Nutty and Floral
Tasting Notes: It had a nice peach scent this time; I couldn’t really distinguish individual scents last time. It still is fruity, but it is starting to become a little more distinct this time, more towards berries then the lighter fruit flavors (apples, pears, etc). It had a nice nutty taste, a little like a cross between fresh peanut butter and roasted almonds. Still is floral, but considerably weaker.

Third Steeping
Temperature: 180oF
Brewing Time:Three Minutes
Aroma: Lychee and Nutty
Flavor: Peach, Apricot and Nutty
Tasting Notes: It has started to become overwhelmingly fruity! Rather surprising for a dragonwell, but not unpleasant. The aroma is becoming weaker. The liquor is becoming lighter, but the flavors are becoming more potent.

I rather liked this Dragonwell, I was slightly disappointed by the fruity flavors being more prominent than the nutty ones, but I’ve had plenty of stellar nutty Dragonwells, not a lot good fruity Dragonwells; this definitely falls into the latter category. I wouldn’t recommend this for someone looking for a very traditional nutty Dragonwell. This is a nice introduction to Dragonwells and green teas; for $7.48 (at the time of writing this) is not a bad deal at all. If you are looking for 50g at below $8 you are probably going to have a hard time find a better deal than this.

(More at http://rah-tea.blogspot.com/2014/12/pekoe-sip-house-organic-pekoe.html)