Longjing tea, or called Dragon Well tea, also known as Lung Ching Tea. Long Jing tea is from the area of Hangzhou in Zhejiang, China. It is regarded as the king tea of China. 

Why does Longjing make some people feel "light" or "no flavor"?

Why do some tea lovers feel "rich and full" for the same Longjing tea?

The reason why tea drinkers pursue or like good Longjing is to taste the richness of Longjing tea, such as fresh, smooth, mellow and brisk, and sweet after taste. These tastes are all "small and fresh" types, which means "Xiao Qing Xin” in Chinese. Each taste is refresh and elegant, just like "Gentlemen's Friendship", but rich and full. Drink it in one sip, full of fragrance, and the aftertaste is sweet and interesting.

Explore the fun of drinking Longjing tea!

The legend of Longjing tea

Longjing tea was considered as Gong Cha or Imperial tea in the Qing dynasty. The legend that Emperor Qianlong was presented with a cup of tea during his visit to West Lake, he was so impressed by the Longjing tea that conferred it special imperial status. Another legend about Emperor Qianlong is that during his visit to Hu Gong Temple under the Lion Peak Mountain(Shi Feng Shan), his mother was ill and he returned to Beijing with his picked tea leaves and brewed for her. His mother felt better after drinking the tea. Qianlong was so happy that he praised the tea as tribute. Afterward, the tea became more famous.

Longjing tea benefits:

The nutrition contained in every two grams of Longjing Tea is a total of 21 calories, 10 milligrams of sodium, 3 grams of total carbs, and 1 gram of dietary fiber.

Longjing tea has rich antioxidant content. The tea contains vitamin C, amino acids, caffeine, fluorine and has one of the highest concentrations of catechins, like most finer Chinese green teas. So the Longjing tea has many health benefits.

Weight Loss

Antioxidants can help to burn fat inside our body, food experts found that Longjing Tea has the highest amount of antioxidants, which is called catechins. This catechin mixed with the caffeine contained in Longjing Tea, and it can increase the metabolism and burn fat even faster than any other green tea. So Longjing tea is good for weight loss.

Cancer

Longjing tea has a high level of antioxidants like catechins and polyphenolic compounds, which can reduce the risk of cancer.

Stress and Anxiety

Longjing Tea contains an amino acid called L-Theanine, which is a known substance, helps to counter the stimulant effects of the caffeine in the tea, then helps us to relax and reduce anxiety.

Heart Health

Regular sips of the Longjing tea will help you to avoid heart-related diseases. This tea can help lower blood pressure, keep cholesterol levels under control,  prevent atherosclerosis and lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and coronary heart disease.

Diabetes improve

Longjing tea can help control blood sugar levels, so it is a good tea for those who have diabetes or with a family history of diabetes.

Dental health

The tea contains fluoride and several other minerals, which can aid in reducing the formation of dental plaques and tooth decay occurring due to a bacterial infection. So drinking Longjing tea regularly can help protect dental health.

Liver protection

The catechins in green tea can help prevent viral hepatitis and liver tumors according to some studies. Especially, it is good for those who love drinking wine.

How to brew Longjing tea?

To get a cup of delicious Longjing tea, you should know how to brew it.

Preparation: Get some Longjing tea, a glass cup, and a bottle of mineral spring water ready, and then put three grams (one teaspoon) of tea into the cup.

Clean the tea leaves: Pour a little (about 50ml) heated spring water (80°C to 90°C) into the cup. Gently swirl the cup, and then pour out the water, keeping the tea leaves in the cup. This should clean off any dust etc. on the tea from the manufacturing process.

Brew the tea: pour 150ml (the leaves: water ratio should be about 1:50) of 85°C water into the cup, and wait for about 3 to 5 minutes until the tea leaves have dilated owing to the absorption of the water.

Drink the Tea: Drink the tea in the following three minutes, and you can enjoy a perfect cup of Longjing tea.

The more you brew the tea the more accustomed you will become to the color of the tea when it has reached your preferred brewing level.

Alternatively, it makes a lovely sweet iced tea. I find that to make the iced tea with Long Jing you should use the cold brew method. It takes a bit longer but the result is a lot fresher in my opinion. Serve cold with ice cubes and slices of fresh lemon.

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Appreciation

Different grades of brewed Longjing tea have different features, mainly shown in color, taste, smell.

In terms of color, high-quality leaves are a clear, bright green color and low-quality leaves are a darker green color, not as emerald green, but more of a yellowish-green.

In terms of Taste, high-quality tea has a smooth, mellow, refreshing taste with a hint of natural sweetness.  A low-quality tea has a mild taste and can be slightly bitter.

In terms of Smell, high-quality teas are very fragrant and have a delicate, long-lasting aroma. Low-quality teas only have a very mild and slight aroma.

Picking process 

The picking time is vital for the tea quality. Longjing picking has three characteristics: early, tender and diligent. As a saying goes "Tea leaves are a treasure if picked earlier while it is useless as grass if picked too late." In terms of picking time, the earlier, the better. This is the reason why the Mingqian tea is the best in quality. The high-quality tea will use more tender buds in most cases. The buds and leaves are of the same size, in even and orderly form, and aren't damaged by the plant disease when picking. Frequent picking is also a feature of Longjing. This assures Longjing tea plucked is fresh and timely.  

Storage

Store in airtight, opaque packaging; keep refrigerated.

Manufacturing process

Firstly, extending the leaves in a bamboo basket for 8 to 10 hours to let the wind take away about 30% of the water.

Secondly, roasting the leaves in a steel pan. The temperature is about 80-100°C and roasting for 20 minutes. The roasting is done by hand all the time. Roasting Longjing tea including the following steps: grasp, toss, shake, pile, throw, buckle, press, and grind, which called" 8 Hand Movement". The experienced know well when and how to use certain movements to make the tea roast well.

Thirdly, after roasting, the water in tea leaves decreases to 10%. This step is to cool tea leaves down in a bamboo basket for about 40-60 minutes.

Finally, examine the tea and get rid of the broken pieces. And roasting good tea in the pan again with a temperature of 60-70 °C for about 20-25 minutes, until it reduces the water to about 5%. Till now, the Longjing tea finished all steps.

Long Jing Green tea is only one of many different Chinese teas available. If you would like to find out more about this tea or many others then please visit oriarm teas.