Description
“Long” means “Dragon,” and “Jing” means “Well.”
The best Longjing tea leaves are picked and processed before the Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day), around April 5th or 6th. New shoots of one or two leaves per bud are picked by hand just as they are beginning to open, and 60,000 buds are needed to make 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of tea.
Leaves that are picked and processed after the Qingming Festival and before Guyu (Grain Rain, usually beginning around April 20th) are known as “before-rain tea.” These leaves create the second best Longjing tea.
Picking Longjing tea involves considerable knowledge and skill. Tea picking is closely related to the seasons. Farmers in tea-growing regions often say “Three days earlier, it’s a treasure. Three days later, it’s trash.” While picking, the hands and eyes are engaged. On a sunny day, the newly picked, fresh, tender leaves must be put quickly into the basket. Seen at a distance, the quick, deft hands of the tea-pickers move like butterflies flying among the green leaves.
West Lake lies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Hangzhou is one of the most beautiful cities in China, famous since ancient times. Along with Suzhou of Jiangsu Province, it has been dubbed a “paradise under the sky” and “heaven on earth.” West Lake is Hangzhou’s most celebrated scenic spot. It is also the namesake for West Lake Longjing tea.
Tastes so good and smells so fresh!
Tea is so fresh. I love it so much!
For my first experience with dragonwell tea, I would say this was a very positive place to start. I did my research and ended up brewing this tea grandpa style. The leaves were perfectly flattened and had almost a lime green appearance to them. The aroma was sweet almost like hay or just the beginning of grass trimmings, but it also reminded me a bit of that aroma you get when the cereal bag is opened. It was kind of grain-like (or maybe nutty?) but sweet. The color brewed was a light green, and the tea leaves in the glass only enhanced the color. There was a nice mix of toasty and nutty notes in the taste which surprised me. But overall this tea was extremely mellow and delicious to sip on.
I’ve tried many longjing tea from different brands, this is definitely one of the top quality ones. It has the typical longjing flavor, with a notable sweet and fresh finish. If you want to buy Longjing, either get Gongpai AA (or AAA) Longjing from Chine directly, or this one here.
The main flavor notes are salty nut,green vegetable broth(green bean and asparagus), and grass with light floral. There is more to this tea then that. I didn’t used to like green tea,but I love it now because of teas like this. I am a fan of vegetable based flavor over strong floral. This is up my alley. Soooo good!
A great longjing dragonswell example! Worth a try for those looking for a great easy drinking green tea. It’s one of the most famous examples of tea from China. I gave it a 4/5 mostly because I drink more white than green. If greens your thing, this is a great place to start!
This Pre-Qingming Longjing is my favorite green tea. They have the real longjing from West lake district.