My first pot this morning: 170 temp, 3 minutes, 3 grams per 8 oz of water. taste: smooth, with a full mouth feel, slight oil sensation, most of the flavor at the sides of the tongue and the back of the mouth. The leaves are very light, I would recommend a scale to make sure you get enough, also do not over steep. This tea will taste good with only 1 minute in water, 3 max. (gets very bitter and strong after that, or so it has in the past) I have not tried higher or lower temps but would not go up more then 10 or down about the same. This is the best green I have had in years and a one pound bag should last for some time. Also I am not sure of a second steeping or a third but I think the quality is such you can get at least one, definatly if you are doing less time, say 1 minute or 2. Enjoy Read more
Recent warnings of green tea from China made me extra cautious because some teas are grown in soil containing unsafe concentrations of lead and other contaminants. The fact that this is certified organic was a no-compromise requirement. I'm a recent tea enthusiast, but already have discovered the importance of adhering to the recommendations for water temperature and brew times. I purchased a Brevelle Tea Maker which takes the guesswork out of those two variables and using that brewer with this Dragonwell, has produced a tea I'm extremely happy with. (For me that formula is 165 degrees for 3 and a half minutes.) Taste is, of course, relative, but for me the taste of this tea is mild, grassy, and very smooth without any bitter tannin aftertaste. The tea leaves are a nice healthy green color and full with no broken pieces or stems and can be brewed twice for an added measure of economy. By comparison to other products, I believe the price is very reasonable. As an aside, I've read that the benefits of green tea extend beyond drinking and if applied topically to the skin acts both as a refreshing astringent and the Egcg antioxidants are effectively absorbed, so I tried using the wet leaves as a facial mask occasionally with very satisfying results. Highly recommended by a repeat customer! Read more
Not the Same Tea. I bought some 3.5oz tins of sencha tea. It was OK so I bought the 1 pound bag of the same item. This was the same tea from the same company. I was surprised and disappointed in that the 1 pound bag did not contain the same tea as in the 3.5oz tins. The 3.5 was OK, but the 1 lb tastes lousy. Caveat emptor. Read more
Excellent jasmine aroma. My husband is very happy with it. Read more
Started drinking longjing (Dragon Well) tea about 15 years ago. Tried a number of different brands (Teavana, Tazo, Lupicia, generics), never found anything superior to Tao of Tea. Five years ago, with my eyelids getting heavy around 2 PM during interminable work days, I switched to coffee (think double- or even triple-espressos) to get through the day. But it's hard to drink hot coffee regularly in the tropics, and we've been trying to wean ourselves from the caffeine dependence. Re-enter the dragon, or rather Dragon Well. Yes, the price is steep for a pound vs. top-notch coffee, but consider this: you need a lot less tea than coffee to make a cup. We can get a couple good pots of tea from a tablespoon or two of tea, whereas we need to use 6-8 heaping tablespoons of coffee to get 2 or 3 energizing cups of coffee. The lift offered by Dragon Well is much gentler, so there is no spike/crash cycle. You can drink it throughout the day without it keeping you up into the wee hours. These are substantial-sized green leaves, with a nice earthy (not grassy) aroma, and the taste & color (when brewed properly) is quintessential longjing. Read more
I have been drinking at least 2 cups of Dragonwell tea every morning since 2001. I used to order dragonwell tea from Adagio, but they must have switched suppliers because the last batch I got from them had a very chemical smell and a different taste. They claimed that they were getting supplied via the same supplier, but I don't buy it. I then ordered my dragonwell tea from various sources, but I have found that this tea is reasonably priced and I feel that the taste is as good as any other I have tried, including some of the "so called" Imperial variety. I plan to continue to use this product daily as long as I can. Read more
This bag of tea comes full of clean whole leaves and without any of the rubbish many times found in loose leaf tea like small rocks and branches. The taste is very much like written on the bag, toasty, rich, and somewhat like chestnut, and I would add that is without the smoky touch found in many green teas, and it feels quite friendly and leaves and warm, happy feeling. I would definitely recommend it. Read more
So this "sencha" tea was very inexpensive, but we have previously purchased good quality Tao of Tea black teas for very cheap, so was willing to give this a try. It has small twigs, very large mature leaves (not the small, thin, light leaf pieces in a good quality sencha). When brewing, I have to use a larger amount of tea leaves, add hot water directly (without letting the water cool down to green tea temps), and then brew for green/black tea times (around 3-5 min). Then I get a light, yet slightly bitter tasting cup with a moderate amount of caffeine. Since I have to brew it this hard to get any flavor, it does have some over-brewed notes. It doesn't taste like a sencha - it tastes like an average/low grade green tea. I don't think I'm a fan of Bancha or twig teas, so I can't comment if this is good for that type of tea. But it was not a first pick sencha. Read more
