Tasting Notes: roasted soybeans, toasted bread, chestnut, cream, green vegetable
Tea Type: Green Tea
Origin: Lin'an, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Cultivar: Longjing 43
Picking: Pre-Qingming, 22nd March 2025
Packaging: 50g tin
This Dragonwell green tea (Mingqian Longjing 明前龙井) is from a family farm near Lin'an, Hangzhou. Pre-Qingming festival pickings (i.e. before the 4th or 5th of April) such as this one are prized for their quality. This tea was picked on the 22nd March 2025. It has a classic Longjing profile, with a roasted bean flavour.
We recommend brewing in glass or porcelain with about 2-3 grams of tea per 100ml of 85 degree Celsius water. High quality longjing like this one can also be brewed with boiling water and short infusions. Feel free to experiment with your brewing methods. We find the dry leaves in a hot gaiwan or glass have a toasted bread smell, while the first infusion is like sweet soy milk. The second infusion has a distinct chestnut aroma, while later infusions have a vegetal sweetness.
After testing last year's harvest, we think the tea from this farm has good longevity for a green tea. After 1 year it will retain most of its aroma, transforming from a vegetable sweetness to a more sugary sweetness. The pale green colour of the liquor will eventually change into a more golden colour.
This is a very limited release, since the family we work with only produce Pre-Qingming tea. They won't produce any lower grades of Dragonwell after the first week of April.
