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The original Dragon Well Tea came from Lion Peak Mountain in West Lake (Xi Hu). Due to its popularity, Dragon Well Tea is now cultivated throughout China. Today any tea that is produced using the same technique is called Longjing.

Three Points to Teach You the Way to Choose :

1: To know when the tea is picked:

The best Dragon Well Tea is gathered several days before Qingming (Pure Brightness, 5th solar term) when new twigs have just begun to grow and carry “one leaf and a bud.” To make one kilogram (2.2lb) of finished tea, 60, 000 tender leaves have to be plucked. In the old days Dragon Well tea of this grade was meant solely for the imperial household; it was, therefore, known as “tribute tea”. That is one of the many reasons why Dragon Well Tea is so precious. Dragon Well Tea can only be produced for 6 weeks a year. A good tea picker can harvest only 2 kilograms of fresh leaves in 10 hour a day.

2: To know the way and how much time to roast the tea:

Once the tea shoots are harvested, they must be roasted the same day. After picking the tea is “withered”, the tie guan yin tea is spread thinly to dry for 8 to 10 hours to remove moisture and reduce any grassy or bitter flavor. Once the tea is sufficiently dried, it is “Roasted”. Roaster usually uses bare hands to roast tea to feel his work. It is an extremely hot job and takes novices many years to harden their hands so that they do not feel the heat. Watching an experienced roaster dry the tea is like watching a martial art master. It takes a novice over 5 years to master 10 hand required movements to dry the tea. A master roaster can only fry 1 kilogram of high grade Longjing Tea each day. After roasting, the freshly processed Dragon Well tea is ready to drink.

3: Aroma also is one of the most important factors in judging the quality of a kind of tea.

By putting 3 grams worth of leaves into 100 milliliters of boiled water, people can judge the quality of the tea by the smell. Dragon Well Tea is pan fried, so it has a delicious chestnut aroma which should be high, and lasting. The brewed tea is floral with an exceptionally long sweet aftertaste. Lesser teas often taste weak, grassy, or bitter.

High quality Dragon Well Tea will never have these features. The easy way to buy a West Lake variety is to ask for an authenticity certificate. This won’t guarantee its authenticity, as tea gardens often sell fake tea with the certificates they have been issued. If possible it is always best to purchase tea at an actual tea plantation.