Jing Tea
Edit CompanyRecent Tasting Notes
The best standard grade Long Jing i have had all year.
Leaves are more broken in the pack as compared to the picture, but i guess thats just aesthetics of the site, you know a standard long jing aint gonna look all perfect like the pics.
That being said this really is a truly wonderful dragowell, i have tasted strong coconut notes which i have not had in other LJs.
If you are looking for a standard grade i cannot rate this highly enough, seems 2010 is a great year for LJ
1st Infusion:
I had thought the tasting notes on this tea provided by Jing (“graceful, sappy…”) were a bit pretentious, but I can really understand why this tea is described as graceful now I’ve tasted it. Grace implies balance and this tea is very well balanced between sweetness, freshness and tanin. It is quite refreshing and I can see this becoming my breakfast tea for when I don’t need a strong caffeine hit.
Preparation
1st infusion:
Nutty and deeply flavoured. In fact a bit too nutty/rich for my tastes (I prefer a very fresh tasting green tea). The tea had a lovely honey-sweet scent and the dry leaves smelled just like the earth after summer rain. The smell of the infused leaves was disappointingly “mushroomy” though.
I will make the next infusion cooler (70 deg.) and brew for longer.
Preparation
2nd infusion:
The balance shifted slightly towards the green tea flavours with this infusion. Much more tannin as well. I probably slightly overinfused it this time (should have been 3:30 rather than 4 min). I preferred the first infusion, but this was still a very pleasant and drinkable cup, though not quite up to the standard of the magnificent Rare Tea Company Silver Needle Jasmine.
Preparation
1st infusion:
Strong honey + jasmine aroma (dry leaves, steeped leaves and liquor)
Well balanced between tea and Jasmine flavours, more tea comes through than white jasmine teas.
A little of the fuzz from the leaves is present in the infusion (a good thing!)
Preparation
This tea smells very heavily of jasmine. And by that I do not mean just a light aroma of jasmine flowers. I mean the heavy, sticky sweet smell of concentrated bunches of jasmine. Of course, not to judge a tea by its dry leaf aroma, I went ahead and steeped it according to the directions on the website (1 tsp per cup, 3 minutes, 80 degrees Celsius).
One thing I noticed as I was putting dry leaves into my teapot was the amount of extra broken pieces mixed in with the pearls.
The aroma of the freshly-steeped tea carries none of that same overwhelming jasmine scent. In fact, the smell of jasmine is almost more of an undertone now than anything else, which is something I found immensely interesting. The pale liquor has beautiful clarity, but I know, I know, you all really want to know how it tastes!
The jasmine is back! And with a passion. My first sip was a burst of floral flavour in my mouth…or rather just the flavour of jasmine. Thankfully, it is subdued enough to make this tea pleasant and worth drinking. The medium body of this tea comes mainly from the jasmine, I suspect, as imagining this tea without it would leave it quite light. Overall the flavour is very smooth, with just a light touch of a bite from the jasmine.
This is a good tea and a very reasonably-priced jasmine pearls.
