Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea

OK so I figured at some point I’d start working through my Christmas tea backlog… Here’s the first!

Since it was my first order from Teavivre I decided to get a number of sample packs to see what I liked and what I didn’t. I really love the sample pack idea, it gives a person a chance to get to know the company and try out teas at with very little risk. This is the first tea I tried from the Green Tea Sample pack and it was interesting… I’ve never had a Dragon Well Long Jin tea and I was curious about the reputed chestnut flavors that it contained.

Dry the tea is intriguing, straight and long they almost reminded me (visually) of over sized Fur needles. The scent was fresh but yet warm, much warmer than I was expecting. And there were definite nutty notes, including the chestnut that I was hearing about in other reviews.

After a quick rinse I steeped this (in my brand new glass gongfu pot! Yay for Boxing Day sales!) for 20 seconds; the resulting liquor was a light yellow-green color and had a very fresh scent to it with a number of savory undertones. The flavor profile was filled with chestnuts and butter with just a few darker vegetal flavors. The chestnut lingered on the tongue and while the mouthfeel was quite rich I got a mildly astringent feeling as part of the finish.

The liquor from my second steeping (40 sec) was the same color and warm, fresh scent as the first one. Flavor wise I got a few more buttery notes mixed in with the chestnuts, it was almost like drinking a chestnut pastry filling without all the sweetness (granted the tea was quite sweet on its own, but you know how much sugar is in those fillings!) The mouthfeel was a bit heavier this time around and the chestnut flavor lingered longer.

My next steeping was for a full minute and the scent profile for the pale butter yellow liquor was mellowing out a bit, still warm and nutty but just not as fragrant as it was before. Similarly the flavor profile has shifted a bit as well, warm the vegetal flavors were now showing up more and the chestnut was just a bit softer than previous steepings. This infusion also was a bit bitter while still having that touch of astringency on the finish.

I found the last steeping (2 min) almost too bitter and astringent for my tastes. The yellow liquor had a mellow fresh scent but I just wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as the previous steepings.

I’m going to have to try this one again at a later date… Personally I’m not sure about the chestnut flavor (I’m not a huge chestnut fan but I enjoy it in some things) and how it mixes with the dark vegetal notes. I could see it growing on me though and at the very least though it might not end up being a regular tea for me I could see reaching for it when I’m looking for something different.

This is delicious! Thanks Angel and TeaVivre for the sample!

I can’t believe how sweet this is. It has a nice vegetal taste that counterbalances the sweetness. And I LOVE that it is organic! So rich and almost creamy.

Thanks TeaVivre for this sample!

Dry leaves are a light jade green colour; very pretty short flat leaves. I really enjoy this dragonwell, more than the premium batch. This is nice and smooth with very little astringency. The envelopping nuttiness is enjoyable, and this has a sweetness to it that I haven’t found before in a dragonwell. Good stuff!

My adult son who is visiting for the weekend and I sipped this excellent green tea this afternoon-it was my second experience with it as a result of ordering the green tea assortment samples. I am picky about green teas, but I am excited about this one, and my son thought it was wonderful also. It has everything I am looking for in a quality Long Jing. Tomorrow we will try the Superfine Pre Ming Dragonwell for comparison. I used the whole 7 gm packet with 8 oz. 175 water.1st steep 1 min, then 2nd and 3rd steeps 2 min

So…. I’m a little in love with this tea right now. Here is why.

There is a nice sweetness to this tea, which is typical of this type, but still I love it.
There is also a nice grassy/floral note that really helps to balance out the sweetness of the tea.
It resteeps very well. I lost count of the times I was able to reuse this.
Finally, it looks really cool and calming while it steeps.

In close, I love Dragonwell and this is one I like.

First, thank you Teavivre and Angel for this really delicious sample!
Wow, I love this tea! The sweet pea flavor is just so refreshing and bright. No bitterness or anything else unpleasant can be found in this tea. It’s even a little creamy, which is my favorite thing to find in a tea. Yay!
Second steep 1 min 15 sec. The leaves smell exceptionally savory this time around. It seriously smelled like pot roast to me. Maybe I’m just really hungry…the tea definitely doesn’t taste like pot roast though. It has more nuttiness this time, and less sweet pea. Still delicious!
I used 2 tsp for 8 oz.

Wow. This is a great tea.

I have beeen enjoying 6-9 cups of Dragon Well every day for the past two years or so. I have tried Dragon Wells from roughly a dozen different suppliers over the years. Recently, I decided to switch to organic to avoid pesticides.

My search for a good organic Dragon Well was difficult. It seems like alot of them lack flavor. Thanks to TeaVivre, my search is over.

This tea produces a very light, clean cup. It was the first sip that reminded me of why I fell in love with Dragon Well in the first place.

This is the brewing method I used. I don’t claim to be a tea expert.
- pour 24oz water @ 175f into my ForLife teapot
- add three large teaspoons tea leaves to the basket
- steep for 3 minutes
- let finish for 3 minutes
- enjoy with small cup

I have not tried resteeping with this one yet. I know that drives some people crazy. Please don’t hate me for that.

Another clear indication to me that this is a great tea is the “tea high” I get from this tea. Here’s my discussion on “tea high”: http://steepster.com/discuss/1905-does-anyone-else-get-a-green-tea-high

I have only had one Dragon Well that compared to this tea. It was not organic and cost over twice as much.

This is a great tea. Thank you TeaVivre!

I see that I am not the only one who was lucky enough to try this fantastic tea!

The dry leaves and buds are full with a beautiful strong green color to them. They smell wonderfully of a strong vegital scent that for some reason reminds me of some senchas I have had (maybe thats just me though).

The first steep went for 1:30 at 175. The wet leaves have a strong sweet smell and produced a pale gold liquid that matched the leaves scent. This tea taste slightly nutty and sweet with a strong aftertaste that gave me a warm bite expected of some greens.

I resteeped it for 2 minutes also at 175 and it was just as delicious as the first. I wish I went into more detail here but as I was writing this I was also reading for a class, but that is college. I continued to resteep this tea and it powered through. An absolutly great tea and I would recommend trying this to any green tea lovers.

Think I’m just starting to have one of those days. I want to like this tea, because I really need that salty chestnut taste. Its just not there. I can smell some complexity, but when I try and taste it, its not there. Which leads me to think that I am not brewing it right. I’ve got another packet so hopefully that is the case, and I will be writing a new review a couple days from now.

What I do taste is buttered spinach/bok choy. Thats it. I get some salty astringency…but so far this tea is not on my re-order list.

I have a feeling that I am being unfairly critical of this Dragonwell because I just had an amazing one earlier this month. I also found a rather large twig/stem in this (1 inch long). So what if I am being critical though, I’ve tasted a good Dragonwell, and now my taste buds are the wiser.

My tea scale broke yesterday, so until I get a replacement, I won’t be drinking anything nice. It’ll be samples and old teas for a few days. I’ll probably dig up some of Derk’s swap samples, which I think are all 6 g, and some of those Nio teas. (Okay, it looks like I’ll be drinking some nice teas after all…)

Unfortunately, I thought this was a sample of the Premium Dragonwell, which I’ve already reviewed, instead of the Superfine, which apparently I have not. I did two bowl sessions of roughly 2.5 g of leaf in 250 ml of 185F water, starting at 2 minutes and refilling when needed.

The dry aroma is of buttery chestnuts, with hints of florals and citrus. The first steep has notes of chestnuts, butter, cream, citrus, grass, orchid, and lettuce. The leaves float near the top of the cup well past the two-minute mark, making drinking kind of a challenge, but it’s worth it. Subsequent rounds emphasize butter, chestnuts, asparagus, spinach, orchids, herbs, and grass. Long steeps create a vegetal tea with no bitterness and surprise hints of citrus and herbs.

This tea is more complex than I remember the Premium Dragonwell being. The best before date is October 2023, so it’s held up pretty well. I should really compare these teas while they’re both fresh.