The origins of our Longjing Dragon Well (2021) Chinese Green Tea
You can virtually taste spring in our No. 59 luxury Longjing Dragon Well green tea. Light and delicate, with a breezy aroma that has strong undertones of toasted grass, this speciality Chinese tea opens in the mouth to reveal subtle yet complex flavours. It has fresh umami characters with roasted chestnuts and a delightful buttery sweetness with floral notes and hints of grassy meadows that make it perfect as a post-meal or afternoon infusion.
A micro-batch brew from Zhejiang province in Eastern China, Dragon Well is one of our 2020 limited-edition loose leaf teas. Sourced from Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang and one of the country's most iconic tea-growing regions, the tea leaves are harvested before the Qingming tomb-sweeping festival, traditionally held in early April to honour ancestors and celebrate the onset of spring.
Only the most tender new buds are selected for this distinctive tea – a fact reflected in our Dragon Well's soft yellow-green hue that almost seems to glow in the cup. Once carefully harvested, these buds are laid out in the sun to dry before being dried and shaped by hand in large woks placed over heat. The result is this tea's elegant bright green leaves – slender and pressed into a flattened form that retains all the antioxidant-rich health benefits of a premium green tea.
Learn about how we selected this special teaClose
How we chose our limited-edition Dragon Well Tea
It can take years to master the skills required to correctly wither, press and dry the leaves for a premium Dragon Well tea like this one. Also referred to as simply 'Longjing', or Lung Ching, Dragon Well is one of China's 10 most famous teas, and this one is extraordinary – picked for our Rare & Limited range by The Tea Makers of London master taster from numerous teas flown in from around the world.
For tea to make it into our Rare & Limited range, the teas have to be single-origin, single-harvest (micro-batch) from independent artisan farmers and produced using traditional methods. Most of all, the teas have to be authentic and the best representations of their kind – in a word, sublime, just like this one.
Alternatives to this Chinese loose leaf tea
If you love our limited-edition Dragon Well, The Tea Makers of London has plenty more early-harvest spring teas for you to choose from. For another 'king of Chinese green teas', try our refreshing Dragon Well Longjing or the mellow, delicate and pesticide-free Organic Dragon Well. Jasmine Dragon Pearls is a beautiful infusion made of tiny tea balls that unfurl hypnotically as they brew for an intensely floral tea. And if you delight in a more lingering flavour, see our Mao Feng tea from Fujian – distinctive for its long, dark green downy leaves and aromatic characters.
Read more about the history of Dragon Well Tea and how it's processed in our Tea Journal.
For a traditional tea experience and a fuller flavour, we recommend drinking Dragon Well tea from a Yixing Clay teapot. As with our other Chinese teas, you can also brew the tea in one of our luxury Gaiwans.