After being really impressed with the first four teas I had sampled from Arbor Teas a while back, I recommended them to a friend, who bought this tea from them. He was very impressed with the Gyokuro he bought, but he gave me this one because he said he didn't like it and it didn't taste like long jing.

I think if this tea were not marketed as dragon well, I would give it a somewhat higher rating. It was a pleasant, mellow green tea.

The leaf does not look at all like long jing...big flaky leaves, not the well-formed, flat leaves with rounded tips that I'm used to in this style. The dry leaf has little aroma.

Upon brewing, the leaves unfurl and bear no resemblance to dragon well or long jing. They are little, broken flecks. Finely broken pieces of large, tough tea leaves. The color is darker than typical for long jing.

The resulting brew has little aroma and does not resemble dragon well or long jing in any meaningful sense. The flavor is mellow and smooth. It resembles a low grade of pouchong or bao zhong in aroma and overall character. It is drinkable and pleasant but only if I set aside my expectation of what I expect from dragon well, and ignore the price.

I'm rather unhappy with Arbor Teas for this one. When I recommend a company to a friend, I want to be able to trust them. I've tried four teas from Arbor Teas and until this one, they were all good, and all true to their style. This tea tastes like a tea that I would not have selected to sell as dragon well.

I would recommend for them to check out this batch and compare it to other dragon well on the market. TeaVivre has a very good organic dragon well. It's pricier than this one. It may be that there is no good organic certified dragon well available in the price range. If that's the case though, I think it would be better to call this tea something else, because I thought it was not recognizable as the dragon well style.

I think to sell this under the "Dragon Well / Lung Ching / Long Jing" name is misleading. A also thought it wasn't worth the price it is sold for. Compare with the kukicha I tried from Arbor Teas--exceptionally smooth and sweet for its style, and in my opinion, above average quality for its price.

I do not mean to be too hard on Arbor Teas here. I am still a big fan of them as a company, but I think they really need to look into this particular offering. This is the sort of tea that will keep an experienced tea enthusiast from ordering from the company again, if they order it expecting a certain flavor, aroma, and leaf style, and it is the first or only exposure they have to the company.

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