Ideal way to brew longjing

[nsudharsanan]

I know this was probably covered before so I apologize for the repetition,

I recently got really into longjing teas after trying a mid-grade sample at a chinatown tea store. I purchased some to experiment with and I have been brewing it in my gaiwan, but as I started to purchase more expensive grades I did research on the best way to brew longjing and time after time brewing in a glass came up. My question is, for a good quality longjing tea, is this the ideal method of brewing...and how exactly would I go about doing this? It seems like glass brewing uses a lot more water than a gaiwan does--making me realize they probably produce decently different brews.

[tenuki]

That's how I usually drink long jing nowadays. I think my point is that there is no real 'right' way to do it. When gong fu'ing I do brew in a glass gaiwan at around 80-85 but I use roughly the same sort of water/leaf ratio as other teas. One thing I do differently for most chinese greens is 'brew from a root'. This is simple, you just don't pour all the water out of the gaiwan, leave maybe 1/4 or so in there each time. Let me know if that improves the brew for you or not.

You will undoubtedly get as many different answer to this question as there are people answering it.

[Chip]

Long Jing is so adaptable. As long as I do not overbrew, I will generally like it. I can drink it light and refreshing or stronger and fuller. Different grades, no problem!

So, just try many different ways.

[gingkoseto]

It depends on how big your glass is. Many glasses, when filling up to 70% full (It's considered very impolite in China to entirely fill a cup, and practically the cup will be hard to grab), could be just about twice the size of a gaiwan, or less. Then you will use a little bit more leaves, and naturally in glass brewing, infusion time is longer. So eventually the liquor concentration is not that much different between gaiwan and glass.

[Chatsworth]

I purchased a can of Dragon Brand Long Jing tea at a Chinese Market. I found the tea to have lots of stems and such and brewed into a grassy cup of tea. I was quite dissappointed and find I can only drink it if I add some spearmint or peppermint.

I did buy some more expensive Long Jing on-line and find it to be wonderful, no grassyness at all.

I don't think that there is anything I could do brewing-wise to improve the can I bought, if there is please tell me.

[gingkoseto]

I don't think that there is anything I could do brewing-wise to improve the can I bought, if there is please tell me.

I don't think so either. Supermarket is not a good place to get long jing. Most likely it's not real long jing. There used to be 13 official grades for long jing. But due to large demands and limited resources, practically in recent decade long jing farmers have stopped to make the lowest 3 grades. So long jing tea, even lower grades, is not likely to fall into supermarket price range.
I've noticed some relatively expensive products of long jing in Asian market, but don't want to take the risk to try them either.

[Chatsworth]

This one definitely wasn't expensive. I found the tin to be worth it alone, though. If fact, thats what I use for my better Lung Jing.

[Chip]

This one definitely wasn't expensive. I found the tin to be worth it alone, though. If fact, thats what I use for my better Lung Jing.

The only reason to buy Asian Market LJ is to get the cool tin!

Grassy? Often they are more nutty from over roasting ... over compensating for poor quality.

+1 Gingko, likely not even LJ either.

[brad4419]

You should check out the New, Tea Vendor guide here on teachat and look under green tea to find a better place to buy your long jing. I would personally recomend http://teaspring.com/ and waiting until the spring 2010 harvest comes in before ordering. If I remember correctly its around late March or April. There are several other good places to buy long jing but I haven't tried them so I can't say much about them.

[edkrueger]

That's how I usually drink long jing nowadays. I think my point is that there is no real 'right' way to do it. When gong fu'ing I do brew in a glass gaiwan at around 80-85 but I use roughly the same sort of water/leaf ratio as other teas. One thing I do differently for most chinese greens is 'brew from a root'. This is simple, you just don't pour all the water out of the gaiwan, leave maybe 1/4 or so in there each time. Let me know if that improves the brew for you or not.

You will undoubtedly get as many different answer to this question as there are people answering it.

I disagree. There is a right way and your picture demonstrates it. However, I disprove of the food with longjing. I don't think anything really pairs well with it.