How to brew Long Jing green tea

Long Jing, also known as Dragon Well, is one of the most famous Chinese teas in the world. Some people are impressed by the unique flat shaped leaves, some are captivated by its exquisite flavours of beans, nuts and more. Yes, the liquor of these yellowish-green leaves will tease your taste buds with its unforgettable refreshing, brisk, yet complex taste. You can learn more about Long Jing Here (https://www.zhentea.ca/xi-hu-long-jing-dragon-well/).

Vessels

It is actually very easy to brew yourself a cup of perfect Long Jing at home. Let’s start by choosing good brewing vessels. Please avoid porous materials like pottery, clay or yixing purple clay. Chinese green teas aim to preserve the essence of spring right in your cup so they generally have a delicate, brisk, and refreshing smell. A porous structure will absorb some of that amazing aroma, not something you want with your green tea. Glass is ideal so that you can enjoy the view of the leaves while they brew. Glazed porcelain and other nonporous vessels are also fine.

Ratio

The perfect textbook ratio of brewing Chinese green tea is 1:50. An intuitive way to look at it is to lightly cover the bottom of the brewing vessel. However, brewing tea is just like cooking, a recipe is a guideline, adjustments are always recommended because we all have our own preference. The water to leaf ratios (millilitres water : grams of tea) that we used in the video are:
Gaiwan: 30:1
Tumbler: 100:1
Teapot: 283:1

Feel free to adjust the measurements according to your vessel and preference. If you ever feel like your brew “wrecked” the tea, don’t worry, simply add some water to dilute it or steep it a bit longer for a stronger taste. I believe these types of “mistakes” are important for learning and will definitely help you with your next brew.

Water Temperature

We used boiling water in our video because it’s good quality Long Jing. As I always say boiling water is the simplest, easiest, quickest and most effective way to test the quality of a tea. Good teas need boiling water to release and enhance its taste. However, never hesitate to lower your water temperature if you find the Long Jing performs better in lower temperature. As a tea drinker, all we can do to improve the taste of the tea is find the best way to brew it.

Brewing time

Green tea brewing time is usually around 60s to 120s depending on the leave/water ratio. If you’d like to do multiple infusions, steep the leaves 10s to 20s more for each successive infusions. Rather than a stopwatch, we suggest using the liquor colour as a guide when brewing. It not only saves you the mechanic works of using a stopwatch, but also draw your attention back to the tea itself. To be able to really taste tea, the first step is actually to focus your attention on the tea. Isn’t it?

3 ways of brewing Long Jing

We demonstrated 3 ways of brewing Long Jing: gaiwan, tumbler, and teapot. Please, share with us how you brew your Long Jing at home, and don’t hesitate to ask any questions or give us some suggestions.

To jump straight to the method/vessel you use, here’s an index
Gaiwan: 0:21
Tumbler: 3:24
Teapot: 5:53

I hope this video helps you get the best flavour possible from your Long Jing (Dragon Well) green tea, whether you choose a gaiwan, tumbler or a teapot. Remember, you can learn to eyeball these and tune them to your own preferences by using the techniques we covered in the video. Use your taste as the guide and practice intuitive brewing often, and you’ll get your perfect sip every single time.