Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
The fresh Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Tea provided by Teavivre is picked before Tomb-Sweeping Day, an important solar term in Chinese agriculture. Ming Qian (Pre-ming) tea is seldom damaged by insects. Its buds and leaves are delicate and tender. With a mellow taste, it is emerald green in color and quite beautiful in appearance. Since the weather is relatively cold before Tomb-Sweeping Day, the number of fresh buds is limited and they grow slow. Therefore, a few leaves can meet the picking standard. Compared with those picked after Tomb-Sweeping Day, Ming Qian (Pre-ming) tea is of top grade.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: Teavivre is one of my favorite tea companies. The reason is quite simple. They offer some of the very best teas available, and it is obvious to me that this is a company that cares about the teas that they sell. This is evident in their careful packaging that protects the tea quality and integrity of the tea. This is evident in their responsive customer service. More than that … this is evident in the FLAVOR of the tea itself.
As this Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from Teavivre brewed, I could smell the strong, fresh vegetative aroma. The scent filled the kitchen, smelling of steamed vegetables … it smelled delicious!
The flavor matches the fragrance with its strong, vegetative overtone. It is pleasantly sweet but with a nice contrasting savory tone that is almost like salt. I taste nutty notes, reminiscent of a freshly roasted chestnut: creamy and sweet, with hints of butter.
The texture is smooth and silky, and there is very little astringency to this. It is not bitter (although I wouldn’t recommend steeping it in water too hot or for too long a time. I recommend a temperature of 175ºF and a brew time of 1 – 1 1/2 minutes for the first infusion, and increasing the brew time by 30 seconds for each subsequent infusion.)
I like that this tea holds up well through multiple infusions too. This is definitely a tea that you want to spend some time with … take your time and savor it! It will submit several very flavorful infusions that will make it well worth your efforts!
Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
This Organic Dragon Well Long Jing tea origins in organic tea base of Tianmu Mountain in Lin’an, Hangzhou. The organic tea base of Tianmu Mountain, has passed the organic certification of European, USA and Japan, is a significant base of planting organic dragon well and green tea. This dragon well long jing tea persists a high level in picking and producing while meeting the standard of organic certification. The tea should be picked as one bud and two leaves or three leaves in order to reach the standard. Tea workers also have excellent skills, which help keep the natural features of fresh tea leaves. Combined with the advantages of organic tea and high grade tea, this dragon well long jing tea is suitable for tea lovers of organic tea as well as dragon well green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh how I love Teavivre! Why? Because they never fail to impress me with their high quality teas. This Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea is absolutely stunning!
It tastes so deliciously sweet, smooth, and there isn’t even the slightest hint of bitterness. It is sweet from start to finish. It is vaguely reminiscent of tender, freshly roasted chestnuts. The buttery smooth, sweet flavor of chestnut! YUM! There are also notes of savory vegetation in there too … not really grassy, or even like steamed veggies … but just that subtle touch of “green” to it. This is the way a Dragon Well should taste!
I love the freshness of this Dragon Well and this is typical of all the teas that Teavivre offers – their teas are just so very fresh and delicious. (Except for their pu-erhs which are aged and delicious.) I also love that this particular selection is an organic offering. Without having compared a conventionally grown Dragon Well versus an organically grown Dragon Well, I can’t say that there is a difference in taste between the two. But, I know that I feel better knowing that this tea is organic.
This tea is delicious served hot, but, it’s also quite nice when chilled – which is how I’m drinking it now. I had brewed a teapot of the tea this afternoon, and drank one cup of it hot, and then refrigerated the rest of it, and am able to enjoy a frosty glass of tasty iced tea. While I do prefer MOST teas served hot versus iced … since the warm weather is upon us now, it’s nice to be able to enjoy this one iced. It’s very refreshing!