A Look at the Latest Award-Winning Teas, pt. I: Long Jing Dragonwell

It’s no secret that we take a great deal of pride in the teas that we choose to source.

We travel to China at least twice a year, visiting the most historically famous tea-producing regions; working very closely with tea masters, farmers, and artisans; and meticulously examining the production process from beginning to end. We refuse to cultivate relationships with anyone who uses pesticides or fails to implement sustainable farming practices, and we take pride in those who still craft teas using traditional techniques and methods. 

In the end, the culmination of these efforts comes out in your cup, brimming with nutritional goodness, intoxicating aromas, and unforgettable flavor profiles. The latest fruit of these efforts bears out with two of our teas that we were pretty excited to source: Long Jing Dragonwell Green Tea and Wuyi Rou Gui Horse Head Rock Oolong. It is with great pleasure that we announce that both of these special teas were recognized in their respective categories at the Spring Loose Leaf 2018 Global Tea Competition.

So what makes our Long Jing Dragonwell so special?

For starters, we have two Dragonwell green tea offerings, one from the true origin of West Lake. Any tea connoisseur who is familiar with the Dragonwell market, however, knows that securing true origin Dragonwell can prove to be quite an expensive ordeal, and so tea vendors will sometimes look outside of the West Lake region for interesting variations on this green tea.

In this case, we happened to find a gem from Xincang, and while it’s not quite comparable to West Lake Dragonwell, it’s not intended to be. We were determined to find a Dragonwell that was not merely an imitation of true origin Dragonwell, but one that could stand on its own, that offered something different to the market.

And that’s exactly what we found.

Our Xincang Long Jing has the same stringent standards demanded by the highest quality West Lake Dragonwells—one bud, one leaf, hand pan-fired, flat spear shape—but whereas Lion’s Peak Dragonwell (the best of West Lake) features floral notes in its flavor profile, Xincang Dragonwell has this fulfilling chestnut quality to it, making it one of those rare green teas that is fitting to drink during the holidays.

At this price point too, it’s quite the steal.