Longjing Tea
Longjing Tea, or Dragon Well Tea in China, is a kind of green tea as well as the most popular tea in China. It is reputed for its green color, beautiful shape, long-lasting fragrance and mellow taste. In addition, it is a helper in losing weight, resisting aging, allaying tiredness…
It is mainly produced in mountains surrounding West Lake in Hangzhou with mild temperature, abundant rainfall and diffuse sunlight, hence people also call it West Lake Longjing Tea. The five major areas are Shifeng Mountain, Wengjia Mountain, Hupao Mountain, Meijiawu and Lingyin Mountain. The famous Longjing Tea Village is also located here, to the southwest of West Lake. Qianlong Emperor in Qing Dynasty (1616~1912), once came to Longjing Tea Village four times for tasting the tea and wrote six poems about it personally, pushing Hangzhou Longjing Tea to a high position.
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Longjing Tea Benefits
1. Deodorizing and Digestion-aid
West Lake Dragon Well Tea can inhibit the activity of the enzyme which can result in bad breath, getting rid of bad breath. It can also stimulate the secretion of digestive juice to decompose starch, protein and fat, promoting digestion.
2. Weight Loss
The theine, inositol, folic acid, pantothenic acid and aromatic substances in Longjing tea can adjust the metabolism of fat. Tea polyphenols and vitamin C can lower the level of cholesterol and lipids.
3. Resist Aging
Theine can remove redundant free radicals, protecting the fatty acids from over oxidation. The over-oxidized fatty acid in free radicals can accelerate aging.
4. Allay Tiredness
It can stimulate the central nervous system, excite your mind, promote your thought and improve working efficiency.
5. Inhibit Decayed Tooth
Fluorine in Dragon Well Tea can combine with calcium in teeth easily, creating fluorapatite which is hardly soluble in acid. With this protective layer, your teeth will become stronger.
6. Inhibit Cancer Cells
Dragon Well Tea contains about 15 percent catechins, the anti-oxidation ability of which is 40~100 times greater than Vitamin C. It can be used to delay vascular aging and make your blood purer.
7. Cure Night Blindness
The high amount of Vitamin A in Longjing tea can insulate you from night blindness and xeroma if you drink it regularly.
How is Longjing Tea made?
1. Pick fresh tea leaves: Dragon Well Tea leaves are picked during different periods of time. Generally speaking, the best is picked before Qingming Festival around the beginning of April, which is called Mingqian Tea. The one picked before Grain Rain around the middle of April are also fairly good and are called as Yuqian Tea.
2. Spread and cool: Spread the leaves with a thickness of about 2cm (0.8 in) for about 2 hours to give off the heat during transport.
3. Fry: Put the cooled leaves in a wok in gentle temperature and fry it with hands. This to send out water of the leaves.
4. Spread and cool: Spread the fried leaves and wait for 40-60 min. Get out the broken pieces.
5. Dry: There are many methods. Usually, the leaves are fried again with low fire. After, put charcoal in a bag and put the bag in the container with Longjing. The charcoal should be changed every 2 months. Lime powder can do the same thing, but it should be replaced every month.
How to Select Longjing Tea
Touch: Pick up some dry tea leaves and entwist them. If they become powder, they are the best; otherwise, they contain too much water.
Watch: The dry tea leaves should be bright green, flat, smooth and complete, and there is no or few impurities. The apex of the leaves is shaped like a sword. After brewing, the soup is clear in light green or yellow green.
Smell: To check if there are some bad smells like smoke, coke, acid, rot and mildew.
Taste: After brewing, it has a mellow taste, which can leave in your mouth for a long time.
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How to Brew Longjing Tea
1. Boil water: Spring water is the best. If you don’t have it, tap water is also fine.
2. Rinse tea cup: Pour some boiled water into the tea cup to warm it up. After, pour out the water.
3. Pour some tea leaves into the tea cup and then pour in 1/3 cup of water. Shake it well and pour in another 1/3 cup of water. Leave it for 3-5 minutes, a cup of dragon well green tea is ready to be enjoyed. Note: The tea leaves are usually 1/50 of the water.
Longjing Tea Price
Quality is the decisive factor for Longjing Tea price. Generally, the higher the price, the better the quality. In Chinese tea market, the price ranges from CNY 20~30/500g to CNY 600~700/500g. Usually, Dragon Well Tea priced at CNY 50~60/500g is of good quality and can meet most people’s requirement.
Further Reading:
How to Make Chinese Tea