If you’re a green tea drinker, you might well want to check out this great offering on the Deli’s impressive tea shelves. It’s what we’ve come to call “Daily Dragon Well,” and it’s wonderful. So much so that it’s become my partner Tammie’s new morning favorite at our house. She’s been drinking it regularly for the last four or five weeks. I can see why—it’s smooth and flavorful with almost no astringency at all!
In Chinese, the name Lung Ching translates into “Dragon Well,” a reference to well as in “water,” not “good.” The tea is named for the now-famous well outside the town of Hangzhou in Zhejiang, which is said to be the home of an especially magnificent and magnanimous dragon. (Dragons have a long-standing close relationship to tea drinking in China.) Somewhere, I once read a tea book that said Dragon Well was an ideal tea to enjoy while reading. I have no idea why that would be, but I always remember that recommendation. I guess there’s nothing to lose—try some next time you take out a good book and see what you think.
This particular tea comes from farms outside of Dragon Well’s hometown, long known for its excellent tea production. It’s processed to keep the flavor profile crisp and nutty. There’s a nice tension between sweet and astringent notes that keeps the flavor focused on the style that folks in the region have long preferred (most Dragon Well for export is processed to be more easily produced for a lower price). The aroma is vegetative and sweet. The taste is beautifully herbaceous, with a hint of roasted chestnuts in the background. The Dragon Well is also wonderful at room temperature, which makes it exceptionally easy to just keep drinking all day long!
