Yeah, I know. It’s been a while. Let’s pretend it hasn’t been 5 months since I last posted and instead treat this as if we are friends out getting a pot of tea on the town. But I can say – IT IS GREAT TO BE WITH YOU ALL AGAIN! And more specifically, it is great to be writing about tea again. This company has been very patient, in fact, any company that fell within the last 6 months has been patient. But specifically Westlake Longjing Tea, a tea company based in China that is trying to expand people’s understanding of Longjing tea through their 100 years of family experience producing it. Jason, the founder, wanted to build a connection point for people. Sometimes it can be difficult to source proper longjing, language and distance barriers interceeding, and Jason has built a company and platform for tea lovers to find a connection in their teas. I also found out that a dear friend, the Tea Practitioner, partners with them as well – which was really cool to find out. However, let’s get into one of the teas that Jason sent me.
Pre-Qingming West Lake Longjing Tea – Qunti – Grade A
The leaves of this tea were stunning, to say the least – I wrote in my notes “Beauuuuuuutiful Leaves”, to be specific. They were whole, flat, and slender. I could still see some small hairs on the tea leaves, which really just speaks to the quality. They also had a lovely green color to them and looked freshly plucked and pan-fired.
An even truer test of this tea was how long I had it in my possession. I had notes from when I first received it as I had a few sessions with it, but then I had a wedding, bought a house, finished my MBA, and promotion all within the next 6 months. So, at least to say, it took me a while to get to this tea again. But side by side examining my notes from my session today to my session 6 months ago – many of the notes are very similar. If anything, maybe the leaves lost a tiny bit of their greenness.
It held a nice aroma – sweet and a little vegetal like steamed spinach. I don’t know quite how to explain this better – mostly because when I tell my friends a tea smells sweet and like steamed spinach – they don’t quite get a nice impression (they are not super into tea like you or me). However, the smell of this tea mostly excites me for what I can expect next.
A small interjection to this tea review is a recent revelation I made about green tea and my own perception of it. I definitely admit it hasn’t always been my favorite. However, when my husband has his own tea kicks – it is green tea that he turns to. So, in another way, I feel more bonded to green tea than I have in the past. When I consume it, I think of him and his own small love for green tea at times.
Anyways, enough chit-chat, and back to the review. The taste is very light and crisp – refreshing and clean. It pulled a mouthwatering feeling from me, and I wanted – no, needed – another sip. It left a really nice feeling in my mouth, again just a very clean and bright feeling. I wanted to treat this tea with much respect so I brewed at 175 degrees Fahrenheit and went for shorter brews. This made the first ones quite light and crisp, and the last sips a bit stronger and more astringent. However, every sip brought me some calamity. The color of the brewed tea was a super light green, almost yellow coloring, with the color darkening a bit as it brewed more.
Sourcing Information: This company is quite transparent about certain aspects of their tea, disclosing the cultivar, origin city, and harvest season.
- Cultivar: Longjing Qunti (Old Tree)
- Origin: Hangzhou, China.
- Harvest Season: Pre-Qingming
Pricing: This Longjing is on the pricier side for sure at $75/100 grams of loose-leaf tea (currently on sale for $70).
Packaging: The packaging has surprisingly held this tea up very well – and I should know. I am not sure if the packaging I received is their traditional one, but it was pretty much a plastic well-made bag that was put in a tin. Either way, it is working now and worked when I received it months ago.
I can’t tell if this was more long-winded than usual because I missed writing, or if the type size that I am using is smaller. EIther way, I am very happy to be hear and hope to hear from you guys soon! Happy Brewing!
-Danielle
So interesting to read your comparison to 6 months ago. So often I hear there is a n urgency to drinking PreQingming teas quickly. It’s great to know that 6 months later very little he changed.