Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea

I recently got a glass gaiwan which at first seemed something that I would use often but at first try I noticed that it’s hard to handle as its rim doesn’t fold outwards like with my other porcelain ones. Nevertheles, I use it every now and then, especially when I have a beatiful leaf to look at while steeping.

This Long Jing is a beauty, the leaves are more wholesome than any other I’ve had so far and the smell or roasted chestnut is amazing. Since my glass gaiwan is 4 Oz in volume i used a whole 5gr sample bag to prepare it according to Teavivre’s instruction, and after a first rinse just by the quick sniff I was sure that this wasn’t an ordinary Dragon Well.

Quick first steep brought out clear and bright emerald tone, and the first sip revealed medium body with initially rich and tad bitter vegetal note of squash and finished off with toasted chestnut. Lingering aftertaste is very savoury.
Second infusion was fuller and richer in taste, and vegetal note was especially prominent. After a few sips I got a certain ‘umami’ feel to this tea. Most pleasant.
Third infusion was particularly sweet and nutty, it’s amazing how the taste evolves with each steep.
Fourth steep showed that the tea was starting to lose its potency but the nutty component was still delivering like in previous three.
Fifth steep was a nice epilogue of mild nutty notes paired with prominent minty element.

To summarize this tasting note, this is the best Dragon Well I have had so far.

The last of my new Teavivre samples to try! Once again, thank you so much Teavivre! The dry leaves look like the flat and long Dragonwell leaves, of course. Another strong scented leaf. I don’t think Teavivre could package their teas better. They leave the samples nice and pillowy so the tea doesn’t get crushed. I don’t think the air would affect the teas too much if you will be sampling them soon anyway. And then when you order, you get a handy reusable pouch around other packaging the teas are in. So nice.

Steep #1 // 37 minutes after boiling // 2 min
Another three tablespoon of leaves suggestion from Teavivre, but I’d rather go with two and a half teaspoons (half a sample) to avoid the astringency. I accidentally waited too long for the water to cool, but I was going for a half hour anyway. As to be expected, the flavor is light. But it is such a nice flavor. Sweet, creamy, fresh, nutty, buttery, a little fruity and that creamed/ breaded corn again. I guess all green teas taste like that. I thought it was just mao feng. I’m not sure if I could tell how much of a difference there is between this one and the She Qian.

Steep #2 // 30 min after boiling // 2 1/2 min steep
Of course the flavor is stronger again, but not at all astringent. So so good. There is a little bit of a mouth drying affect with this cup for some reason though. All of the green teas I’ve tried from Teavivre recently are similar yet have different characteristics. I’ve loved most everything I’ve tried from Teavivre so far, so it is so difficult when deciding what to order.

First thoughts – the wonderful sensations of freshness! Both aroma and taste of the dry leaf are buttery and vegetal (like spring peas or green beans). First sip produces a complex, smooth flavor with a nice balance between that green vegetal and a slight touch of natural sweetness. This is a wonderful tea. I’m now going to resteep a few times and chill the tea overnight to enjoy cold tomorrow.

I’ve been looking forward to trying this one all day. The last time I had Teavivre’s organic “superfine” dragon well was about two years ago, and I know that I enjoyed it a lot. The smell of the dry leaf is promising, vegetal and distinctly buttery. Let me tell you, I am a BIG fan of a green tea with a nice buttery aroma.

Brewed for 1 minute at 170 degrees. The liquor is a very pale green, as was expected. The lack of color is deceiving, and this tea is very flavorful. The texture/consistency is the first thing that grabs me. Just what I was hoping for: it is extremely silky with a buttery thickness. I can’t help but swish it around a bit to savor that wonderful texture. The flavors are those of green veggies and macadamia nut, with a strong sweetness in the finish (the natural, awesome kind). I am also picking up the slightest floral hint.

Delicious. I always love a good dragonwell. Many thanks to the good people of Teavivre for the sample.

thank you Angel of teavivre for sending me this tea. As most of you know, greens are not my go to tea. That being said, these teas from angel are almost enough to make me want to change my mind. :) This is a fabulous dragon well. it’s tangy and very much GREEN but without that overly vegetal taste that i dislike. there’s a buttery sweetness to this as well that i am loving! i drank more than a few cups of this today. I may need to see if a joint order is possible since i DO love these teas but i can’t get through a 100g bag fast enough to keep the freshness!

With such a long mouthful of a name, this tea sets some strong expectations, before the package is even opened. Knowing Teavivre, I feel as though these expectations will probably be well met. Boasting no less than three organic certifications, Teavivre’s Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing green tea (to which I will just refer as “Dragon Well”) was harvested about a month and a half ago in mid-April of 2014. Much like my last review of one of Teavivre’s spring 2014 teas, the freshness is telling.

As I start to open the sample packet, I have to stop and chuckle. As with their Bi Luo Chun, their Brew Guide on the label states that the tea should be steeped for “1 to 6 minutes.” Already deciding to go with three minutes of steep time and see how it tastes, I finish opening the package and the aroma of Dragon Well hits me from at least a foot away. I must admit that Dragon Well is one of my favorite green teas, and the aroma embodies a sweet nuttiness of the leaves, pleasantly. Layered over the top is the scent of fresh, green, grassy aroma, but not nearly to the same extent as many green teas.

Leaves into the infuser basket. Basket into the mug. Water into both. And now I wait. The smell rising from the steeping tea has grown richer and deeper. The nuttiness still presents itself. The fresh, green scent has become more akin to roasted, loamy notes. Three minutes seem to be a long time in arriving, but the timer finally rings.

Much like the infusing leaves, the smell of the brewed tea gives of notes of richness and roasted aromas. My first sip swells across the tongue and departs, leaving reminders of the aroma, mid-tongue. Surprisingly brisk, the taste nonetheless imparts a sweetness that was originally present in the scent of the dried leaf. While some might think the briskness to be unpleasant, it gives this Dragon Well a good amount of character and body. In fact, without it, I think this green tea might very well be dull. The tongue picks up a number of flavor nuances. The roasted aspect moves along the sides of the tongue, while the sweet nuttiness cascades along the middle. For such a pale tea with an unassuming aroma, Teavivre’s Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing presents itself well and maintains a surprisingly bold flavor profile.

I would definitely recommend this tea for those, who enjoy teas with roasted flavors. I have tried many Dragon Well teas, and this is one of the best. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this green tea a 94/100.

Next grade up in my samples from Teavivre! I would have assumed that I’ve had a previous harvest of this tea before but I can’t find prior tasting notes so I guess not!

At first when it was still very hot I found this tea surprisingly underwhelming. It was kind of flat and uninteresting in the first few sips, but luckily that changed as it started cooling. I find this tea “greener” and less nutty than the Premium grade. Perhaps even a faint hint of a floral. I think I might prefer the Premium! But they are so close that it is hard to really say. Maybe I will have to have a dragonwell-off one day. Regardless I am enjoying the fresh green teas!

April, 2014 harvest
This tea brews up a pleasant, smooth, buttered artichoke cup. The flavor depth is lighter than its fragrance. Mild astringent aftertaste.

Brewed it twice to see if adding more leaf would boost the flavor depth: it helped a bit but it is still a little more subtle than what I would prefer. Looking forward to comparing it to the premium sample that Teavivre sent me.

Long Jing and my desire to find out more about it was what brought me to steepster in the first place, because of this it will always have a special place in my heart. I’ve been drinking green teas all day and this was a nice tea for the evening as it was more savoury, rich and warming than the sweet fruity greens I had been drinking. This tea started out sweet and savoury and ended with spicy floral notes reminiscent of some green Oolong’s. I detected flavour notes of snap peas, sugar cane, spinach, clover and orange flowers, sweet grass and cinnamon, and orchid, light chestnut warm fresh mown grass and home made rum. This was a lovely transition into evening. Thank you so much to Teavivre for this lovely sample. I am sorry it took me so long to get to it. I went from nursemaid to being sick myself!
Dry tea smells rich and sweet and a little bit nutty.
Bright grass- olive green.
Pale sepia tinged yellow green broth

45s. Cooked fresh peas crossed with spinach, cream, and a hint of chestnut.

Savoury sweet tone with bitter tones of spinach, creamy nutty chestnut in the back ground hint of sweet cooked snap peas and a tone that slightly reminds me of coffee. Feels warming and robust and is a nice transition from the fruity, sweet rizhao greens I’ve been drinking all day. the taste is sweeter with reference to sugarcane as it cools. It has tones that remind me of the homemade rum you get offered in South America.
60s. Tea has a brighter yellow green broth. Smells brighter and fruitier with a citrus tone mixed into the sweet snap pea tone.

Creamier, sweeter and slightly greener tone. All of the above tones present as well as a tone that reminds me of breathing in the scent of fresh cut grass on a warm humid day. Something warm and spicy is underneath it which has hints of sweet grass mixed with cinnamon.

70s faintly floral tone orange blossom mixed with clover. Stronger spinach and spicy grass tone over snap peas and sugar cane with light nutty tone underneath.

120s. Return of sepia tones. Floral note still apparent in scent. Floral, slightly grassy tone more apparent in flavour, less bitter spinach tones, broth is thinner, flavour references a light flavoured green dong ding oolong

170s similar flavour to above but a little more savoury.

I definitely understeeped this one. It tastes a bit more like water than it does green tea. It does have a decent taste despite it being watered down, so I did enjoy it, but I’m going to have to try this one again sooner than later…

As always, thanks to Angel for sending this to me! It’s from an old sample, and I think I had drank this before, but had an unopened pouch of it, so thought, “Yep, time for green tea.”

I’ll write a better note tomorrow when I steep it better.