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After a busy Monday, I wanted a nice green tea with its lower caffeine and its characteristic buttery taste. Knowing that Dragon Well (Lung Ching) has a reputation for being the champagne of Chinese green teas and that it’s known as being a fairly light tea, I thought that this was the ideal time for me to try this tea.

The dry leaf is long and pretty and fairly flat. It’s green but not the neon green of some Japanese greens. It smells a but nutty with hints at complexity that will arise with steeping. Brewed at approximately 175 degrees, the results are very pleasing. The brew is mid-yellow in color and the aroma is both vegetal and nutty. It is not particularly sweet on its own but I will use some sugar crystals when I’m half way done.

The tea is a great drink unfolding layers of nuttiness and some vegetation—not so much that you can call it a “spinach” or an “artichoke” tea but enough so that the vegetal taste plays a strong second fiddle to the primary taste of roasted or toasted nuts—I’d like to say roasted walnuts more than other kinds of nuts. It’s very satisfying and would make a great accompaniment to a meal or as an after-dinner tea. It would also be a great afternoon tea.

SECOND infusion: This Dragon Well has not lost anything but has gained perhaps more of a nutty focus. I added a few sugar crystals and the added sweetness was nice. There were not enough crystals to take away from the tea’s essential flavor. I would serve this to myself without the sugar but would offer some sugar to guests.

The rich toasty nuttiness and the deep flavor make this tea well-worth trying. I think it will become a staple at my house.

I thought that this tea was acceptable but I would not buy it. I have had senchas that are more vegetal (which I like) and more buttery (which I also like). This one did not have a lot of distinguishing characteristics. “Meh” is not a very high accolade, but I want to put it a few rating points below “a’ight” and some point above “hate”. I don’t see any reason why I would invest money in this tea when I’ve tried other, better senchas or flavored greens.

Although I was careful about time and water temperature, I got a bitter taste. It shouldn’t be that difficult to brew even the most delicate tea unless the pay-back is sensational.

This is a very satisfying afternoon tea. The wisp of smoke is very restrained and I am certain that this tea would be perfectly acceptable to those who do not like smoky teas.
Upton offers good teas at decent prices. I think that I’ve tried much more costly Keemuns which have spoiled me a bit for their more pedestrian siblings. This smooth tea is really a delight. After drinking some Hao Ya Keemuns this tea certainly seems like a step down, but I feel a bit churlish writing this.

It might be analogous to eating a lobster dish after you’ve sampled caviar (not that I’ve had a lot of experience there). What might have seemed like a wonderful tea a couple of weeks ago seems a little simple-minded compared with more brilliant teas.

What am I getting at? If I were grading papers I would give this one an “A” even if there were another paper that went miles and miles beyond the outer reaches of what I know to be an A+. Excellent tea, Upton!

The dry tea has a fragrant and fruity slightly charred aroma. Trust me—when I say “charred” I mean an accolade of the highest order!

I’ve fallen in love with smoky charred teas,
The full-bodied drink that never gets stale.
A Yunnan or Keemun will eternally please
Me and send my soul on a rhapsodic sail.

I don’t think my taste-buds and nose are discerning or well-developed enough to select the gradation between this and a Hao Ya A I recently sampled. I truly love these full-bodied teas. This is not nearly as smoky as a Lapsang Souchong, but it’s a bit seared with notes of chocolate and chestnut and date. I think I’m moving more and more in the direction of teas that are not blended by the tea-makers but that have some natural taste-treats from their surroundings of origin. Very well done! After I’ve sampled my various Keemuns I’ll have to break my “buying diet” and spring for a pound of this Hao Ya goodness.

Golden Moon Tea Sampler #17 or thereabouts selected at random

I think that this is a fundamentally excellent tea. I did indeed get the orange/date aroma. It drinks up as a bit woodsy and fruity.

It’s something to consider for a full purchase but right now I’m a bit ambivalent. I only used a 1/4 cup of water—two ounces—because I had such a small sample. I’ll report back if a second infusion provides any great insight.

SECOND infusion: Not much joy here. As Randy Jackson says, “It’s a’ight”.

What an excellent tea! I’ve been off Earl Grey recently because I’ve had too many pallid, callow, and scantily flavored Earl Greys. I ordered a sample from American Tea Room because it sounded good and they have never disappointed me. They’ve become one of the tea vendors from whom I’ve placed multiple orders and their shipping is speedy.

But I digress. I think that the success of this tea is based on two equally important features: the strong Yunnan base and the fact that they were not skimpy with the Earl Grey bergamot. This tea has some natural sweetness and some natural smoke—not enough smoke to scare away those who dislike smoky teas, in my opinion, but enough to anchor the bergamot into a marriage with the Yunnan.

If you love Yunnan, you’ll want to try this. If you love Earl Grey, you’ll want to try this. This tea successfully balances a few flavors and never loses its grasp on any of them. It’s going to be one of those teas I will need to have on hand.

This is a lovely tea. Thank you David’s for including this free sample with my order. Visually the tea is very lovely. Take a look at the photograph and imagine the colours looking more vivid. The taste is just sensational—delicate but strong enough that the Cherry taste really does come through. This would make a great offering for guests and a real treat for any occasion. I didn’t slurp it down but drank it delicately.

I was also much more careful than usual about heating and cooling the water, which undoubtedly pays off.

Sampler Pulled out at random—perhaps #15

I loved the aroma of the dry leaves: it was sweet as if the tea leaved had been infused with honey (although there was not physical evidence of that). It’s a very nice tea; it’s a better than nice tea. But it did not establish a very strong identity with me. I would certainly drink it—it’s a good black tea. But I did not make a note to purchase it. I would, however, recommend that people give this a serious test or consider ordering a sample if you are placing an order with Golden Moon.

I love Lapsang Souchongs and sometimes find it difficult to differentiate between them. They all start with a high score for me and then I try to grade them on smaller details such as sweetness and smokiness and whether or not the aroma and taste seem to be closer to tar, bacon, Bar-B-Que sauce, or whether there’s a je ne sais quoi about the tea. My personal morning favorite is Black Dragon by Upton Teas because it’s got a sweetness to it that does not compromise the punch.

LiberTEAS was kind enough to send me a lovely canister of The Jasmine Pearl’s Lapsang Souchong. I would call this a “medium” blend. In my mind, a “medium” blend is one that is not overwhelmingly smoky to the point that you think it’s close to being charred but one that is more like the leavings of a camp-fire and not a house-fire. This tea would make a great tea for those who are testing their LS wings or for those who want to explore the different gradations of the Lapsang Souchong experience.

LORI thoughtfully sent me three different versions of Casablanca mint to sample and compare. Mariage Frères has added bergamot which I can taste. It’s very nice. Adagio’s version tastes like a full-fledged mint single note tea and I can detect the blend in this one quite easily.

This tea is tasty and flavorful but it does not sing out to me in the unique way that other Mariage Frères blends have done. I would certainly drink this again and I might invest in the iced tea portions, but I don’t think I would get a full-fledged tin or this or even a bag.

I’ve had so many teas in the past many months—I’m approaching my 200th tasting note—and I must add that if I had sampled this only a few months ago it would have knocked my socks off. Right now, the specialness is diluted for me by the many teas I have experienced.