Tea and the subconscious

I've sampled Lung Ching (Dragonwell) and decided I just don't especially want to go further with it- a perfectly good tea that doesn't especially speak to my soul. I hope I won't get an epiphany some rainy afternoon when I don't have it on hand. Toci

I've been there, and similarly wrote it off... and now a couple years after my last cup I do find myself enjoying the nutty/roasted quality of it on occasion. It still isn't my favorite, and I'd have to say it has been one of the most wildly varying teas with no basis in anything... expensive, inexpensive, supposedly guaranteed genuine, most assuredly fake, etc. and none of those have any effect on which are actually good. I've had obviously cheap/fake Dragonwell which was great and I've had some hand-delivered, genuine that was not for me at all. I think it is that total unknown factor that keeps me away mostly. It has it's place and finding the right one for you is the trickiest part.

- Dominic

I agree with Dominic. Living in Zhejiang province, as I do at the moment, I have experienced a wide variety of "Longjing" type teas. I would not presume to tell anyone what is 'real' and what is 'fake' but I have seen with my own eyes that Longjing varietals are grown in every corner of this province and most of what is grown and processed into flat bud shaped green is not grown in West lake. While I like fresh Longjing quite a bit, I am not interested in it after it is a couple months old. I don't know why it is more famous than the myriad other tea types that can be found in every corner of Zhejiang as well as Jiangxi, Anhui etc.

Well, at least it isn't just me :) I was considering Dragonwell grown in West Lake to be "genuine" and the rest to be "fake." Not fake as in it's grown in a whole other country (which also seems to happen), it's still processed in the style of Dragonwell tea just not right from the source... it's not like you open up a package and it is keemun inside or anything. The only ones that truly worry me are the ones that seem to be coated in some substance to make them especially bright green and stay that way.

It has to be fresh or it's not even worth the effort. I agree though, that as I work my way around Chinese greens that I find many that have the same nutty/roasted/chestnut type flavors without all the wild variance and sometimes price that Dragonwell can have.

- Dominic

I dont know what is more popular in a Chinese grocery store TGY or Lung Ching. You got your choice of brands. Ill pay attention to the commercial taste versus what I can get at a exclusive Chinese tea shoppe. There is a guy at the PPP tastings who I understand always brings back Dragonwell from his trips to China since it his favorite. Maybe I can trade him some puer which just recently requires a minimum seal of approval about location and leaf type. You single out any tea and taste enough of it you know the difference is related to other factors besides being bogus. With Dragonwell you can start with grading and the time of year. The Chinese relate grading to quality which means you pay more or less.

Jim

PS If I cant taste the muscatel > >