Premium Dragon Well Green Tea (Long Jing)

I was excited to get this one in my sample box because I recently tried a different dragon well and really enjoyed it. I am happy to say that this one has lived up to my expectations.

Thanks again to Teavivre for the extremely generous sample of this tea. There’s so much in the pouch! The leaf is bright and smooth, and it smells a bit grassy and a bit nutty and a touch buttery. Steeped, that lovely chestnutty aroma comes out, which reminds me so much of chestnut sweets from a chinese bakery. The liquor is a very pale yellow, only slightly darker than the white of the mug, yet it’s still a flavorful cup. Smooth, lightly grassy, but also nutty and sweet, this tea has a lot of dimensions to it. A really really tasty cup.

Thanks to Tabby for sharing this with me!! : )

Green teas started my love of loose leaf tea. Green tea is the reason my dog is called Sencha. Green teas taught me that time and temperature in steeping are very important. Most significantly green teas taught me that quality makes a HUGE difference. I had almost forgotten about why I loved green tea so much until I tried this one.

The large green leaves smell fresh with a hint of sea weed. It makes your eyes pop wide open, the smell alone alerts you that you are in for a treat! The package reomends that you steep 1-2 teaspoons per cup. Since the leaves were so large, I opted for 2tsp.

They were beautiful to watch steep. The water turning golden green and the leaves expanding is borderline magical. The smell was hypnotizing. Mineral sea weed goodness!

The taste was exactly what I was hoping for. Sweet creamy sensation up front followed by a mineral wave ending on a pleasant seaweed note. The vegetable was toned down under the mineral (in my opinion, the way it should be!) Delicious first brew. One of the best I have had in a while!

The second steep was a little too watered down for my taste. I enjoyed it, but the with the sweetness and mineral flavor toned down, it was more of a ghost of what the first cup was.

I love this tea! Sadly, I just placed my order from Teavivre and didn’t include this… I guess that a second order will be necessary soon! : )

I got this in a swap with Queen of Tarts and I’m still trying to figure out how to make it work for me. Right now I’ve found the tea works best on the lowest temperature setting on my kettle (below the green). I’ve also found I have to steep my tea a minute or under or else it gets too bitter too quickly.

But I’m still trying to figure out the ideal leaf for 8 oz of water. Teavivre says 7g which seems awfully high! I’ve been using 4-ish which isn’t bad. I don’t know. I want to make sure I’m getting the most out of it.

What have everyone else’s experiences been with this tea?

My thanks to Teavivre for the sample!

The dry leaves look green, freshly cut and smell faintly nutty. I’m really looking forward to steeping this – hurry up kettle!

This tastes a little like toasted nuts to me. I’m also getting a light freshly cut hay note followed by the vegetal wallop. Somewhat-light with a buttery texture.

I’m on the fence about this one. I’ll have to see what other steepings and cups are like – thanks to Angel for the generous size that allows me to do so!

Edit: Revisited this one and steeped for just over a minute. Beautiful light flavour – like an elegant vegetable broth, if there is such a thing. Flavour present to the 4 steep, where it starts to diminish.

Edit 2: Found out that I really enjoy this cold or cooling. No astringency present like I thought there would be.

Thanks to Angel at Teavivre, for offering to send me their wonderful teas to sample. This is the 2011 version, but the 2012 version is in transit. I used the max recommended (2 tsp. and did a quick rinse for 1st steeping).

Having tried other dragonwell greens before, I really wasn’t expecting to like this. But with the first sip, I absolutely fell in love with this version. Very pale yellow in color when brewed, the first sips are very vegetal … sort of like celery, without any sign of bitterness whatsoever. Even a year old by now, this tastes fresh. And it was that part that really impressed me. I consider myself a newbie, but this speaks quality.

2nd steep (increasing 10 degrees, adding 1 minute) produces a slightly stronger brew. The 3rd steeping is still flavorful, and for the first time, the floral aspect comes through.

Thanks to SimpliciTEA for mentioning the 16 oz. glass “cafe mug” at Target (for 2.99 each here). They are made by Anchor and really add to the green tea “experience”. Btw, they also carry Anchor’s 2 quart “Bistro” pitcher, for 5.99, which I picked up to store iced tea (if I ever get that just right).

Highly recommend Teavivre for great service and (so far) very quality teas.

This smells great, both dry and steeped. Comes across as sweet and grainy to me. It’s a beautiful pale blonde in the cup, and has the temperament of a nice, friendly bowl of cereal. At first I was a little stumped about which brand of cereal, but hubby nailed it as far as I’m concerned—Sugar Pops! (Or Corn Pops or whatever politically healthily correct name it’s been given now.)

Love to my enabler ashmanra for the opportunity to try this one. Looking forward to Steep #2 in a bit!

Tea of the afternoon…..

I think I am going to have to rewrite my views on green teas after this one. I will have to admit that words like grassy and vegetal were not at all appealing to me before today. I also think the experiences I had with green tea in the past might have been influenced by lower quality tea as well as poor preparation on my part. Now, I must admit that Teavivre is going to make a green tea drinker out of me. The tea is smooth, lightly vegetal, and I am even getting a hint of butter. There is nothing harsh or bitter about this tea. While it is a relatively new frontier for me, I will say that I know I like this one. The leaves are long and very green. Brewed up, they look like they could have just been plucked from the bush. I am going to see how it resteeps, but this is definitely going on my shopping list. Imagine that. Me, a drinker of green tea!

Thank you to Teavivre for the sample! But mostly, thank you for showing me how wonderful green tea can be.

15 oz infuser mug with 180 water for 2 minutes and about 2 tsp tea. No additions.

The free sample explosion continues.

I have to confess to always preferring Japanese shaded green teas to most Chinese varieties. Some of the pan fired options bring an interesting, roasted note, but otherwise I tend to find them very flat.

Dragon Well are always the exception to this trend. In fact, I find that most Dragon Well taste very similar to a Japanese shaded green tea — bright, green vegetal notes, a hint of ocean water tang, and high mountain air. Nothing brown, roasted or floral going on here and that’s the way I like it.

Once again, Teavivre is providing exceptional value for money with the quality of what they have on offer. I have to say that so far I am extremely impressed with the amount of flavor in the cup for what their website tells me they charge for these teas.

Thanks to Teavivre for providing this sample for me to try!

I’ve tried a few different Dragon Wells now and this definitely seems like one of the better ones. I am really fussy when it comes to green tea and have only found a few that totally knock my socks off.

This is light, vegetal and slightly nutty. Definitely not astringent which is nice! I felt like this brewed up a little too light for my taste even though I used 1 tsb. of leaf in my mug. Perhaps I’ll just never be a real fan of Dragon Wells. I did appreciate the soothing and relaxing quality of this.

Thank you Teavivre for this huge sample! We wanted a second green tea tonight, and this one fit the bill well. Looking forward to it! I used maybe 2 tsp for my 250ml infuser.

First infusion (1.5min/80C):
Aroma’s a bit sharper and greener than the Gyokuro Yamashiro from DavidsTea. The flavour is smooth, with a sweet-ish aftertaste. Definitely not as green tasting despite my impression of the aroma, and definitely no bitterness. Quite delicious, actually.

Second infusion (2.5min/82C):
Not really getting an aroma(?), but the flavour this time is nuttier, with a “green tea” aftertaste. Still smooth, but almost a bit of… smooth astringency? Smooth bitterness? There’s a stronger flavour there too, but it’s pleasant, not objectionable.

Wish I could describe more clearly what I mean by a green tea or oolong aftertaste. It’s good though.

Again, this is as far as I’ll likely get tonight. Sigh.

ETA: Third infusion, 3min at 82C. Definitely lighter in flavour, but still nutty and a bit vegetal, and oh! There’s the green tea aftertaste. Sure sign that I’ll brew this one to the third infusion again. Yum. Still absolutely no bitterness; a very smooth cup. This tea is really quite good; I’m very impressed by the lack of bitterness/astringency. I’ll need to try more dragonwells before concluding anything, but I can see this one being a purchase.

ETA again: Fourth steep (84C/4min) nothing remarkable. Some astringency. And it tastes a little weird. I attribute that to how long the leaves sat out. My stomach sure gets tested sometimes…

Okay, I should have given this a shot earlier. It took me a long time to get around to it, as I “don’t like” Dragon Well. But this is really quite nice. It’s sweet, warm, nutty, and very smooth. Definitely the best Dragon Well I’ve tried, though my experience hasn’t been extensive since for some reason most turn me off. Thanks to Teavivre for the sample and opening me up to trying more Dragon Well!

So tasty! This has everything that I love about Chinese green teas. The leaves are bright green and fuzzy and lovely. They also smell fabulously like sweet hay and nutty green aromas.

The taste is buttery sweet and sun warmed hay. There’s a savory mineraly finish. It all goes down super smooth and comforting. No astringency, bitterness or harshness at all. This is very good stuff.

To begin, I’m very new to green teas and my previous experiences have not been good so far. (I think I’m to blame for this, however, due to my tendency to make tea with too much gusto. And my long history of loving black teas.)

So anyway, I love the way the bright green, glossy leaves look. So long and flat, almost like preserved grass. As they brewed, the green became more vivid, as if the leaves were still alive. But the scent of it put me off a little… it was strong and reminded me of the ocean. And not in the sea breeze kind of way. But I gave it a chance anyway, as I feel like I’m in need of a green tea education.

I used 2 teaspoons for 8 ounces of water, brewed for 1:45 at 175 degrees. Any critiques you could offer about my preparation? The result was pale yellowy green and tasted much better than I expected. I feel like I understand what people say when they describe green teas as “buttery” now. It also has a sort of veggie flavor, like seaweed. I can’t really say I’m a fan, though. I believe these sorts of teas are going to have to be an acquired taste.

An excellent Dragon Well. Very fresh flavor. Breath-taking! So crisp and clean and vibrant.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good Dragon Well (this has to be one of the very best I’ve ever tried) or even if someone might not be a fan of Dragon Well. I wasn’t a fan of Dragon Well at one point in my life but I can assure you that if someone had presented me with this tea, I would have gained an affection for it rather quickly. This is a remarkable Dragon Well.

I’ve been holding off trying this sample because I’ve just been a bit afraid of it. I don’t know why; maybe it’s the legend this tea has created for itself, high expectations that my yet-learning mouth doesn’t want to dash in its immature tasting abilities. Maybe the Southern Girl predeliction for sweet teas in which I am trying to re-educate myself.

I used half of the sample pack, and that worked out to be about 2tsp for 200ml. I followed Teavivre’s recommendation of 1, 2, and 3 minute steeps.
1st steep: The wet leaf smells of cooked and subtly sweet vegetables, kind of like zucchini, with some toasted notes. I like toasted notes. With this shortest steep, it’s the palest of mint greens in the cup, and it has a thick, broth-like feel in my mouth. One of the kids did something, or made some sort of noise that made me look quickly in that direction while I was lifting the cup to my mouth, and I ended up missing. As it rolled down it honestly felt like a milkshake, albeit a warm one, on my chin. Now that sounds like I’m a dribbler. I do not currently need someone on hand to mop me up. But my imagination tells me that’s what it feels like to dribble a warm milkshake. You can stop shaking your heads. It’s the truth. The taste is very much like the wet leaf scent. I’m liking this!
2nd steep: A little darker color in the cup, more a pale yellow-green. And the same flavors only stronger this time, but a light orchid flavor comes out as the cup cools. This is really very nice!

Unfortunately I didn’t get to the third steep. Evening came up with everything it brings for me to do. Next time I’ll make sure to get all the way through! Looking forward to it!

Hurray, today I finally got a chance to sit down and properly appreciate this tea. I’ve made it a couple times but always ended up dashing or getting distracted and I never got to give it the chance it deserved. Today though, I was able to relax and sip as I watched my current favourite actor in an absolutely horrible movie. What better time to have a great cuppa?

This tea is SO delicious. As everyone else has said it has a great full bodied flavour and holds up to multiple steeps. I’ve never gotten four steeps from a tea before but this one was still going strong! I’m only sorry that by the fourth steep I was craving something different. Thank you so much to Angel from Teavivre for the extremely amazing sample of this tea. I love it and am glad to have enough to be able to experience it again and again!

Oh, yes! This is the kind of green I enjoy most! The dry leaves smelled nice and vegetal when I opened the pouch…not quite as sweet as buttered squash, but maybe a bit like bok choi? The liquor is pale yellow. The taste is so so smooth. I am so glad a made a pot of this and not just a cup.

Long ago I wanted to drink green tea for my health. I bought grocery store bags and prepared them all wrong, drank what tasted like hot water and got a stomach ache.

When Sandy first took me to A Southern Season, I bought a dragon well tea because I had heard they were some of the healthiest. When I made ithe tea, it was such a far cry from the first bagged green I had tried that I could hardly believe it.

This is really excellent. The greens I have had this week so far have been astringent. This one is not. It is smooth, sweet, and wonderful. Here is another tea that needs to go on my Teavivre order. I can’t wait to have my daughter try this one.

Thank you, Angel and Teavivre! This is really hitting the spot!

Thanks again to Angel for sending me this sample. So out of the packaging I notice a smell of a field. Hay, alfalfa, grass like you are in the country. Not a bad thing considering that I am surrounded by farmland at my house. The leaves look like blades of grass too. Now I must admit that Chinese greens have not been my thing in the past. I tried one before and didn’t think it was too good. So with that I just a bit pensive trying it. I also shared it with a co-worker because I knew if I let it sit in the french press….ho boy welcome to bitterness city. It brewed up a pale liquor. My co-worker said it smelled like chicken broth. MMM I got that too maybe a little nutty, however I thought noodles. Insert Kung Fu Panda!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY12ELBQhQ4&feature=related I do believe I had the noodle dream! Personally I like teas that have more body to them. So drinking a chinese green or a white tea I feel like there is something missing. Very good though.

Nutty and Vegetal. I like that combo. This tea-taste offers that pairing of flavors and it’s very nice!

It feels quite light-weight on the tongue…a unique texture, I suppose. Relaxing, Soothing, Delish Cuppa! YUM!

Wow, this is a really green green tea!

It’s obviously a very high quality dragon well because I don’t even like this type of green tea, but I thought this was pretty tasty. Did I mention the cool, flat leaves? So cool!

My boyfriend appreciates authentic, grassy green teas more than me, so I gave him the cup to finish. He said, “I like it a lot! Just my style!” Which I knew it would be. :)

I’m afraid this tea is a little too green for me. But even that being said, I can still tell that it would be amazing to others. There’s not even a trace of bitterness. In fact, as soon as I tasted it, I forgot what bitterness tastes like. I can’t even imagine it while drinking this tea.

I’m giving it an 81 because it’s clearly a fantastic tea. It’s just not my tea. So, I don’t want to be responsible for dropping the average because my tongue can’t appreciate Chinese green tea awesomeness.

This is just pure, wonderful tea and the perfect tea to be my 100th tasting note!!! O_O