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Alex Zorach

RateTea Editor

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Member since Sep. 1st, 2009. Reviewed 1448 teas.

Reviews of Teas & Herbal Teas from Zhejiang, China

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Picture of Anji Baicha

Anji Baicha from Harney and Sons

Style: Anji Bai Cha – Region: Zhejiang, China

86 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
May. 31st, 2017

I have read about Anji Baicha for years now, and this is the first time I've ever tried it. I've been very curious about it, especially since I've read that it's among the teas highest in L-theanine, but is prepared rather differently from Gyokuro, the tea I've tried that is also highest in theanine. It didn't quite ...

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Picture of Pearl Gunpowder

Pearl Gunpowder from The Tao of Tea

Style: Gunpowder Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

66 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
May. 27th, 2017

This was a simple, coolish, fresh green tea with a hint of smoke in the aroma. Gunpowder isn't my favorite style of green tea, but I do enjoy it from time to time.

The dry leaf of this smells mild but pleasant and fresh, dusty with a hint of smoke, some cool herbal notes a little like celery. After steeping I see ...

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Picture of Anji Black

Anji Black from Harney and Sons

Style: Black Tea – Region: Anji, Zhejiang, China

78 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 2/5
May. 13th, 2017

This tea tasted more like a sweet, Christmas-ey baked good than any other tea I've ever tried.

The leaf has such a pleasant fragrance, a rich, buttery, bready, and fruity aroma, like a fruit tart fresh out of the oven, quite remarkable. There's a distinctive smell in the aroma that reminds me of some food from my c...

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Picture of Classic Chinese

Classic Chinese from Joseph Wesley Black Tea

Style: Black Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

94 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Dec. 8th, 2014

This was an exceptional tea, and I think its name does not do it justice. It didn't taste classic, it tasted extraordinary!

The dry leaf is black, with very wiry, crinkly leaf that is quite long. The leaf is pleasantly aromatic, and the aroma complex and toasty, suggesting fruit, nuts, wood, caramel, and malt.

...

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Picture of Dragonwell Green Tea

Dragonwell Green Tea from Simply Good Tea

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Nov. 12th, 2014

A sample from the Philadelphia Coffee and Tea Festival. This was a classic dragonwell, typical in all respects for what I expect from this style of tea, fresh, and good in quality.

Dry leaf looks well-formed and golden yellow, intact leaf, and smells fresh, with a strong and pleasing nutty aroma!

Upon brewing, p...

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Picture of Dragon Well #4 Green Tea

Dragon Well #4 Green Tea from San Francisco Herb Company

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

77 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Nov. 7th, 2014

Thank you Dewey for providing me with this sample!

This is a low grade of tea, fourth grade, and is incredibly cheap, a pound for under $14. That said, I'm completely blown away. It's fresh, aromatic, smooth in flavor, and better than a lot of dragon well marketed as higher-grade. It feels much lower in caffeine,...

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Picture of Organic Nonpareil She Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea

Organic Nonpareil She Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from TeaVivre

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

80 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 2/5
Jun. 16th, 2014

Update: I sampled this tea again and while I still preferred the Ming Qian variant, I think the difference was a little smaller this year. I enjoyed both of this year's (2016) teas better than my memories of the previous year, although they were all consistently good in both years.

Original review:

This is now t...

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Picture of Premium Grade Dragon Well Green Tea (Long Jing)

Premium Grade Dragon Well Green Tea (Long Jing) from TeaVivre

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Jun. 5th, 2014

This is the lowest-priced of the dragon well teas I've tried yet from TeaVivre, and it's still top-notch, although slightly less complex.

As soon as I opened the package, I was met with a wonderful aroma of fresh green tea, with a strong nutty quality. The leaf is beautiful: long, intact, vibrant yellow-green, and ...

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Picture of Green Tea

Green Tea from Tea King of China (Starway)

Style: Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

60 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
Feb. 20th, 2014

Another cheap green tea from this company, less impressive than the others but still pleasant and drinkable. Dry leaf smells mildly like a low-quality chun mee or mid-quality gunpowder tea. The leaf looks a bit intermediate between the two; it's dusty gray-green, and has a mixture of more narrow and wider twisted pie...

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Picture of Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea

Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from TeaVivre

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

91 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Jun. 15th, 2013

This is my favorite Dragon Well ever sampled, and the third top-notch dragon well tea that I've tried from TeaVivre. This tea tasted more similar to TeaVivre's organic offering than their Superfine Pre-Ming Dragon Well Long Jing Tea.

The dry leaf smells amazing!!! It smells very bold and strong.

When brewed, ar...

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Picture of Dragon Well Lung Ching

Dragon Well Lung Ching from Imperial Tea Garden

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

43 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5
Jun. 7th, 2013

I was really impressed with Imperial Tea Garden's Hunan green teas. This tea though, did not impress me.

This did not taste like a dragon well. Aroma grassy but also quite smokey--a quality I never encounter in true, high-quality dragon well. Toasty, but with more bite, less smoothness.

Not quite as bad as som...

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Picture of China Green Tips Full Leaf

China Green Tips Full Leaf from Tazo Tea

Style: Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

70 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
May. 22nd, 2013

When Starbucks switched to what they call full leaf sachets, I noticed a big improvement in quality, often manifested in complexity of the aroma. This is one of the teas where I found the aroma increased most in complexity.

This green tea is REALLY vegetal. Like, intensely vegetal, much more so than I remember the...

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Picture of Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea

Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea from TeaVivre

Style: Mao Feng Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

60 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Apr. 14th, 2013

I was expecting to like this tea a lot, and I just didn't. It wasn't terrible, but I liked it considerably less than a number of much cheaper teas, and than most of the other green teas I've sampled from TeaVivre.

Wiry dry leaf has an intense aroma, very fresh, and suggestive of savory qualities, but also highly ve...

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Picture of Dragon Well Loose Green Tea

Dragon Well Loose Green Tea from Wegmans

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

77 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 4/5
Mar. 29th, 2013

I've sampled a bunch of dragonwell lately and most of it either falls really solidly into the legit zone, or is unrecognizable as its style and not particularly pleasant to drink. This one is somewhere in between. I'd say it's legit but among the lower-end of the teas I'd label in this fashion. Think enjoyable, but ...

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Picture of Organic Hangzhou Tian Mu Qing Ding Green Tea

Organic Hangzhou Tian Mu Qing Ding Green Tea from TeaVivre

Style: Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

97 / 100 Aroma: 10/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 7th, 2013

I thought this an outstanding tea. Many of my favorite Chinese green teas originate in Zhejiang province, and I was eager to try this one. I found it very pleasing!

The dry leaf consists of long, extremely straight, narrow leaves, and is intensely aromatic. The aroma is among the most complex of any dry tea I've ...

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Picture of Superfine Pre-Ming Dragon Well Long Jing Tea

Superfine Pre-Ming Dragon Well Long Jing Tea from TeaVivre

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

87 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Aug. 20th, 2012

This struck me as a very high-quality tea, quite distinct from any other dragon well / long jing, and unlike anything I have ever tried. A bit more like yellow tea than green tea.

Dry leaf is golden-green, and has a very fine and extremely dusty appearance, and is very powerfully aromatic, with a deeper, toastier a...

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Picture of Dao Ren Tea

Dao Ren Tea from Mountain Rose Herbs

Style: Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Aug. 7th, 2012

An organic tea of very good quality for a very good price!

Loose leaf has a very dark green color and a pungency suggesting fruity, grassy, and herbaceous qualities. The leaf is slow to unfurl and infuses quite slowly.

Upon brewing, the tea is surprisingly light in color and has an aroma equally suggesting of li...

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Picture of 546 Mountain Peak Mao Feng Organic

546 Mountain Peak Mao Feng Organic from SpecialTeas

Style: Mao Feng Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Aug. 6th, 2012

A blast from the past--somehow I forgot to post this review, so enjoy it and miss SpecialTeas!

I found this tea to taste more similar to other Zhejiang green teas that I've tried than it did to mao feng green tea from other regions of China. Aroma is strong, fresh, toasty, and grassy. I can see both the fruity and...

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Picture of Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea

Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from TeaVivre

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

87 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Jul. 28th, 2012

The more high-quality loose-leaf dragonwell I try, the more I realize how diverse this type of tea can be. This tea was pleasant and easy to brew, and among the best loose-leaf dragonwells that I've sampled.

Dry leaf looks dusty, yellowish, and smells very pleasing, strongly aromatic, with a typical smell for high-...

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Picture of Tianmu Ming Dynasty Green Tea

Tianmu Ming Dynasty Green Tea from Imperial Tea Garden

Style: Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

67 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
Oct. 18th, 2011

This tea resembles a good mao feng green tea: it has long, flat, slightly curved leaves, and a taste reminiscent of other Mao Feng that I've had. The leaves are a bit narrower and more needle-like in appearance than most mao feng.

The first time I brewed this tea, it did not leave much of an impression on me. I up...

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Picture of Dragonwell

Dragonwell from Adagio Teas

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

67 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 2/5
Oct. 4th, 2011

I tried brewing this by the exact same method I had brewed Novus' dragonwell; both were similar portions of whole-leaf tea in pyramid sachets. Although Novus can't really compare with Adagio, as a whole, I think on this particular tea, Adagio's tea fell short.

The first infusion was very flavorful, rich, and aromat...

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Picture of 2011 Pre-Qingming Shi Feng Long Jing from Weng Jia Shan

2011 Pre-Qingming Shi Feng Long Jing from Weng Jia Shan from Life in Teacup

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

87 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Aug. 22nd, 2011

Somehow this review got lost, so I'm posting it after the fact! This is my favorite dragon well I've tried yet. Most of what I've tried has either been too weak, or had objectionable qualities.

This is a powerful tea...not much leaf is needed to brew a strong cup. If you're used to brewing dragon well, even highe...

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Picture of China Green Tips Filterbag

China Green Tips Filterbag from Tazo Tea

Style: Mao Feng Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

57 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
Dec. 7th, 2010

Served in a Starbucks. I was impressed with this for a tea bag, but it really did not compare to the majority of the loose-leaf green tea I buy.

Aroma was a bit muddled, vaguely toasty, fairly vegetal, and with only a hint of grassiness. Warmer, and less crisp and refreshing than I like. I like Zhejiang greens an...

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Picture of Dragonwell Green Tea

Dragonwell Green Tea from Boston Tea Company

Style: Dragon Well (Long Jing) – Region: Zhejiang, China

23 / 100 Aroma: 2/10 Flavor: 1/5 Value: 1/5
Oct. 6th, 2010

I was very disappointed with this tea; it was the only sample I received from the Boston Tea Company that I did not like; the others were all quite enjoyable.

Dried leaf is broken and more grayish than other dragon wells I've seen. This does not taste at all like other dragon wells I've tried. Aroma is slightly sm...

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Picture of Triple-Cup Extra Green

Triple-Cup Extra Green from Foojoy

Style: Green Tea – Region: Zhejiang, China

70 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 12th, 2010

Aroma fresh and grassy, with a hint of toastiness and a faint suggestion of mint. Very delicate flavor: I'd call this one slightly brisk but not bitter. Remarkably full-bodied given the lightness of the flavor. The astringency builds somewhat upon drinking it but even by the end it's still enjoyable.

This tea is ...

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