Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Teavivre, Premium grade Dragon Well Green Tea (Long Jing)

This sample is one of 15 provided by Teavivre, a tea distributor located in China.

The dry leaf looks just like the picture. I steeped 2 tsp of leaf for 90 seconds. The brew is light green. I swear the brew smells like beef stew and broccoli. Sniffed the wet leaf after pouring, yep, still beef & broccoli. The leaf is tiny new leaves and buds.

I have no idea if this is a good example of Dragon Well as I have never had it before and have yet to develop an understanding or taste for the grassy greens. Believe it or not puerh was much easier for me to learn to appreciate. Other reviewers tell me this is a fine example.

The first cup I got the water a little too hot. Teavivre does an excellent job of providing steeping instructions that deliver the best sip for the tea, but you have to read them – doh! Tastes very green. It feels slick on the roof of my mouth. Not oily, just slick. This didn’t seem to have a lot of natural sweetness hot, but as the cup cools I get notes of slightly sweet hay in the sip and the aftertaste. I don’t detect any floral notes but again I am just learning this type green tea. Second cup I got the water temp right. The taste is more to my liking. More tealike and less grass. No bitterness. I can see this going well with Chinese take out. Chicken with pea pods, Mmmmmm.

Day two, same leaves, and I am ready to commit that I do like this tea. Those of you who crave the sharp green flavor, stick to the first day’s steeps. The second day this takes on a mild earthiness but still maintains the slightly sweet aftertaste.

2 comments:

  1. Tea_is_wisdom: This is another prime example of Teavivre high quality tea. This is my favorite type of green tea.

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    1. I have been drinking this 2011 harvest tea for 5 months since writing this review. Dragonwell has slowly become my second favorite tea from my favorite tea company. The 2012 harvest is now being sold and I need to get some.

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