Longjing (Dragon Well)

Longjing is a Chinese green tea famous for flat, smooth leaves and a taste that can bring together fresh peas, toasted chestnut, soft flowers, and gentle sweetness.

Its English name, Dragon Well, sounds like a legend. Its shape comes from very practical work: the maker presses and moves the leaf against a heated surface while fixing and drying it.

Flat tea is not automatically Longjing, and flatness alone cannot prove where it grew.

Which Longjing?

The historic heart is West Lake, or Xihu, in Hangzhou. Protected production also covers defined areas of Zhejiang, including Qiantang and Yuezhou zones. Similar tea made elsewhere is more clearly called Longjing-style.

The more specific and expensive the origin claim, the more useful traceability becomes.

Two plant materials often appear on labels:

• Longjing 43, a selected cultivar that buds early and evenly;
• qunti zhong, a genetically varied local seed-grown population.

Neither is automatically the “best.”

The spring rush

Mingqian means harvested before the Qingming solar term. Yuqian means after Qingming but before Guyu. Early leaf is scarce and costly, but weather moves plant growth around. A calendar window cannot repair weak material or poor pan work.

Read the leaves, then taste

Longjing often uses a bud with one or two young leaves. Perfectly identical pale blades are not required. Too many crumbs may brew harshly; dull brown leaf, hay, or rancid nuts can signal age or overheating.

Fresh tea should feel alive: green, nutty, sweet, and clear rather than simply pale and expensive.

Three easy ways to brew it

In a glass

Use 3 g per 150–200 ml at 75–85°C. Drink down to about one-third, then refill. The leaves stay in the glass and the brew changes gradually.

One controlled steep

Use 3–4 g per 150 ml at 75–85°C for 1–2 minutes, then strain.

Short infusions

Use 4–5 g per 100 ml at 80–90°C for 10–25 seconds.

Tip

Sharp and drying? Shorten the time or remove excess crumbs. Flat? Add a little heat before adding more leaf.

Longjing dislikes warmth, air, light, and moisture. Buy enough to enjoy, not enough to inherit.