Dragon Well Tea In My Favourite Tea Pot!

by Sandra
(Watsonville)

Yes, I received my tea. It came much faster than I expected. Even though this is not early in the season as recommended, I figured it would be better than the average.

I got the three-in-one sampler and the 10g King sampler. I've tried all but the King, so far.

I liked the A grade very much, it had a very subtle and fugitive flowery aroma.

The AAA not so much. It smelled and tasted of asparagus, but the fault may be mine. I suspect I put a good deal too much in. I prefer my tea on the weak side.

The Jipin is fabulous with a very slight sweet note followed by a delicious grassy-ness, and an undercurrent of something "jungle-y", mysterious, and appealing.

I am an absolute novice. Although I have always preferred hot green tea to hot black, I've never had really good green tea before.

I brew my green tea in a small (one-cup) Chinese pot. I believe it's Xia Xing (I'm sure I've spelled that wrong.) But the pot is hand-thrown from excellent clay--very, very, thin and very, very, smooth, quite hard and not at all brittle.

The hand thrown lid fits perfectly and stays in place when pouring. The handle is not re-curved back to the body as in English type pots, but merely sticks out to the side and is hollow.

The color is a deep terra cotta but it does not appear to be glazed, just burnished. It has lightly incised Chinese characters on the side.

I'm telling you all about my pot because although I've had it for many years, I've never had a tea I thought good enough to brew in this perfect piece of workmanship. Now I do.

Thanks,
Sandra