Dragon Well

[verus]

Good Dragon Well doesn't have to be expensive; I've had really great longjing for € 9,00 per 100 grams (= 3,5 oz). How do I tell that it's great longjing? Because I really liked it.

As with wine, I think the truly expensive stuff is just a bit of snobbery. Sure it can sometimes taste slightly better than some stuff that is much cheaper, but once you get above a certain price, the difference in quality will become very subtle, or evebn negligible. Of course you can plunk down the 1 euro per 1 gram stuff, if you have the money. But a cheaper one is also acceptable, and there's certainly no reason to claim that any longjing that doesn't break the budget is fake.

[Oni]

We are talking about the most famous tea of china, that was mentioned in the book The Classic of tea written by Lu Yu, there are 4 old 800 year old teabushes that are the original LJ bushes, and there are many clones, other agrotypes, but by definition true Long Jing should be cultivated within the protected XI HU area, and it should be of the old original Long Jing cultivar (reproduced via cloning or bred from seed), and it should be made by a teamaster in the traditional way, there are a lot of teas sold as Long Jing that have not met any of this criteria but still they can be very good teas, they even can taste very similar, but out of curiosity I think we all would like to try authentic Long Jing at least once because of the fame it has, it is natural to be influenced by the advertisement that this is the most famous tea of china.

[Kunkali]

I never knew tea trees could be that long lived

[Leo_Blue]

We are talking about the most famous tea of china, that was mentioned in the book The Classic of tea written by Lu Yu, there are 4 old 800 year old teabushes that are the original LJ bushes, and there are many clones, other agrotypes, but by definition true Long Jing should be cultivated within the protected XI HU area, and it should be of the old original Long Jing cultivar (reproduced via cloning or bred from seed), and it should be made by a teamaster in the traditional way, there are a lot of teas sold as Long Jing that have not met any of this criteria but still they can be very good teas, they even can taste very similar, but out of curiosity I think we all would like to try authentic Long Jing at least once because of the fame it has, it is natural to be influenced by the advertisement that this is the most famous tea of china.

Where would one get such a thing online? I am tempted to try Teaspring's, but haven't made the order yet. I have had two Long Jing teas, one I am sure was a total imitation and the other more than likely was. I would love to taste the "real deal" and be able to know for certain that I really did. Knockoffs can be very good, but I kind of get disappointed when I learn what I had was just imitating what it supposedly was.

[Oni]

Teaoff recommended Postcard teas Master Liu`s LJ, I am planing to order some of their teas, and I saw HOJOtea has some Shi Feng LJ, I need to buy these teas, until then I cannot say anything, probably all the Long JIngs I have had sofar were not the original tea, nor the cultivar nor the terroir.

[Leo_Blue]

Teaoff recommended Postcard teas Master Liu`s LJ, I am planing to order some of their teas, and I saw HOJOtea has some Shi Feng LJ, I need to buy these teas, until then I cannot say anything, probably all the Long JIngs I have had sofar were not the original tea, nor the cultivar nor the terroir.

Have you tried Teaspring's? They have three grades, but I wouldn't know if it's the real thing or not if I had it so I don't think I want to order the more expensive grades unless someone more experienced could give me their opinion of it.

[Chip]

I had TeaSpring's previous harvests. I did not go bonkers this year on Chinese greens as planned due to some pretty mixed reviews on the harvests of teas including "Dragon Well."

In years past, I have been very pleased with every selection of Dragon Well from TeaSpring.

[Leo_Blue]

Perhaps I'll order a sampling of the middle grade off Teaspring just to give it a try.

[bagua7]

Still premium "dragon well" doesn't leave China and even in China to consume this tea you must have a good connection to the Communist Party. They treasure it like diamonds. Harsh reality but that's how things are regarding this particular tea.

[Tead Off]

Still premium "dragon well" doesn't leave China and even in China to consume this tea you must have a good connection to the Communist Party. They treasure it like diamonds. Harsh reality but that's how things are regarding this particular tea.

Bulls**t

[rabbit]

Bulls**t

Second.

[Chip]

I would not go so far as mayayo, but there is a degree of truth to it that has I am sure kept many a drinker of LJ on their toes. The best of the best LJ never leaves China.

But PREMIUM grades pf LJ do leave China, but the problem is much premium LJ is bulls**t marketing and profiteering..

[Tead Off]

I would not go so far as mayayo, but there is a degree of truth to it that has I am sure kept many a drinker of LJ on their toes. The best of the best LJ never leaves China.

But PREMIUM grades pf LJ do leave China, but the problem is much premium LJ is bulls**t marketing and profiteering..

The problem is hearsay. There is enough wrong info on this board about many things as there is all over the web. How can you possibly know that the best of the best never leaves China? I'm not saying it isn't true, I'm just pointing out that this is something you've read somewhere. It may or may not be true. But, it is erroneous to say premium dragonwell doesn't leave China as the OP stated. We know the gov't reserves a portion of the production but this is not the only premium LJ made. I have had great LJ from time to time. It's not easy to find and it's expensive. Very few vendors have great LJ. Plus, this year's harvest is not considered a great one due to weather conditions so finding good LJ is even harder.

[gingkoseto]

I feel that "the best LJ never leaves China" is not a testable statement. Since it's not testable, there is no way for reasonable debate

I don't think the best tea goes to the top bananas of the government, because many of them don't have time to gain expertise on tea as average tea drinkers. There are some famous tea brands known as "bribery tea" in China, meaning when you give it to someone, due to its price tag, the receiver knows it's an expensive gift. Tea of these famous brands is of very premium quality, but definitely not the best. The best tea from the best farmer family in Long Jing Village may not serve the same "price tag" function in gifting. So I feel it's safe to say "the best tea is not the most expensive tea" and "price of the most expensive tea includes much of packaging, marketing and commercial operations other than tea making". But I can't make any comments on the original statement since I don't think it's possible to locate a specific tea and call it the best.

[Chip]

TO,

A. I did not say premium LJ is not exported. Please reread my post. I would definitely say premium LJ is exported. I have tried some really awesome premo LJ.

B. I guess all info virtually any of us have is hearsay.

C. I believe the situation is both getting better and worse at the same time. There are credible vendors truly endeavoring to bring beautiful LJ to the West. There are unfortunately more and more net shops contributing to the BS.

D. Whatever ... I have read this for 12 years. The best of the best (LJ) teas of China stay in China, the best teas of India are exported. Somewhere in there is a degree of truth ... IMHO.

E. This is a discussion board, sure there is much correct info as well as incorrect. That is why we discuss!

And I stand behind what I say, much premium LJ marketed to the west is BS. Again I say this based on 12 years of drinking LJ, I have tried some really atrocious premium LJ. Or it might be good, but most Western vendors would not know premium LJ if it came up and bit 'em on the butt.

The truly premo LJ is unobtainium to most vendors, likely only available to direct from the source sellers ... and then only those who are most earnest about bringing the premium LJ to their customers.

Yes there is wrong info all over the place. Vendors lie or are misinformed and pass their info on in hopes of selling so called super premo teas. In almost 12 years of drinking LJ, I have seen it all.

So what info is correct? I begin to wonder if anyone knows. But I ain't buying LJ called premium simply because it called premium.

The truth is out there, so are all the untruths. On this we agree!