Tea: Lung Ching
A Dragon Well (Long Jing) from Harney and Sons
Brand: | Harney and Sons |
Style: | Dragon Well (Long Jing) |
Region: | China |
Caffeine: | Caffeinated |
Loose? | Loose |
# Ratings: | 1 View All |
Product page: | Lung Ching |
Reviewer: Alex Zorach
✓ 1453 teas reviewed
✓ 21 of Dragon Well (Long Jing)
✓ 219 of Green Tea
✓ 69 of Harney and Sons
✓ 382 from China
Review of Lung Ching
May 28th, 2016
Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
8 of 10 | 5 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 83 of 100 |
Excellent | Excellent | Good Value |
I loved this, it's a strong tea, nutty and toasty, but with deep vegetal undertones. I did not tire of drinking it and I could imagine happily drinking this every day.
The dry leaf has a potent aroma that evolves quite a lot as I smell it. It starts off a bit in-your-face, and I found myself slightly taken aback by its strength because I wasn't expecting it, and it wasn't the sweetest-smelling aroma, it was a bit edgy. But when I got past this initial impression it smelled pretty good, very nutty and slightly toasty, slightly vegetal, and with a hint of smoke.
As leaves hit the water, a rich smell of a traditional dragonwell explodes...and it smells beautiful and strong.
Upon sipping, I was surprised at how vegetal this tea is. Beneath the usual nutty (chestnut?) aroma that is typical for this type of green tea, I was surprised by strong asparagus notes.
Resteeps well, the second cup was weaker, even with a very long steep, but retained a very similar character in both flavor and aroma.
I often like brewing dragon well teas with boiling water, as I find they taste richer that way and usually aren't negatively impacted the way Japanese green teas and some Chinese ones are. This tea was no exception: I found the hotter water temperature brought out the toasty qualities, and also led to a very strong nutty aroma, almost resembling peanut and puffed rice.
Not cheap but I find this was relatively inexpensive among long jing teas of similar quality. This is my favorite dragon well tea that I've tried in quite some time, the only ones I prefer to it are the higher-end ones sold by TeaVivre. As I explore Harney's catalog more fully, I remain impressed at how they cover such a broad range of regions and styles of tea, and do such a good job at all the different types.