How Longjing Tea is made and how to brew it

The Long Jing tea comes from the Hangzhou region of Zhejiang, China. It is known as China's "king tea." Most people feel its taste as rich and fulfilling.

The richness of Longjing Tea, including its fresh, smooth, brisk flavor and sweet aftertaste, is the reason tea drinkers seek out or enjoy good Longjing.

Each flavor is rich and filling yet refreshing and elegant. It is best consumed in a single sip. It has a sweet and intriguing aftertaste.

Longjing tea has a rich history, and if you want to know how it is made and how to brew it, here are the details:

Dragon's Well Tea

Dragon's Well tea, or Longjing tea, is a smooth green tea with fruity flavors. The tea is described as having vegetal base notes resembling spinach that are similar to additional flavors like chestnut and rich cream.

Green tea from Dragon's Well is traditionally picked by hand, and for the best teas, special care is taken to collect uniform leaves.

Superior grade Dragon's Well tea is of a high caliber and stands out for its uniformity in terms of leaf size and shape as well as its tenderness. Most of the highest-quality Dragon's Well teas originate in Zhejiang's West Lake region.

Like many other Chinese teas, the tea leaves are pan-fired after harvesting in a large wok. The leaves maintain their vibrant green color and nutritional integrity because the heating process stops the leaves from oxidizing.

This variety of green tea offers a number of health advantages due to its high catechin, vitamin C, and amino acid content.

Manufacturing Process

In order to remove about 30% of the water, the leaves must first be stretched out in a bamboo basket for 8 to 10 hours. The next thing is to roast it in a steel pan. It is roasted for 20 minutes at a temperature of 80 to 100 °C.

The roasting is constantly carried out by hand. Roasting Longjing tea involves the "8-Hand Movement,". It includes the following actions, grasp, toss, shake, pile, throw, buckle, press, and grind. The skilled person knows when and how to use specific motions to roast tea properly.

Less than 10% of water remains in tea leaves after roasting. Tea leaves are cooled in a bamboo basket for between 40 and 60 minutes in this step.

Finally, get rid of any broken pieces. And roasting good tea in the pan once more at 60-70 °C for roughly 20-25 minutes, or until the water content drops to 5%. The Longjing tea has completed all steps for manufacturing. The yerba mate tea bags nearly follows the same process.

How should you make Longjing tea?

In Zhejiang, where this tea is made, a pinch of tea leaves is placed in a water glass, and then hot water is added. Without a cover, the infusion takes place. Here’s how you should make Longjing tea:

First, boil some water, then allow it to cool for four to five minutes or until the temperature reaches between 75 and 80°C. For green tea to taste its absolute best, this temperature is essential.

One teaspoon of the leaves should be covered with water, and it should be given three to four minutes to diffuse. Naturally, if you are making tea at home in a teapot, one teaspoon of tea per person is right, plus one more for the pot, and good luck.

Tea should be poured into glasses. As you can see, it does take some time for the leaves to settle at the cup's base. To ensure that the flavor is properly released by the leaves, the glass may be topped off several times over the course of an hour.

Health benefits

The nutritional value of two grams of Longjing tea is 21 calories, 10 milligrams of sodium, 3 grams of total carbohydrates, and 1 gram of dietary fiber.

The antioxidant content of Longjing tea is high. The tea has one of the highest concentrations of catechins and is rich in vitamin C, amino acids, caffeine, and fluorine. So Longjing tea has a lot of health advantages.

Bottom Line

Drink a cup of Longjing tea to emulate the emperors of centuries. The grassy, nutty undertones and stunning green hues of Dragon's Well tea will be loved by tea drinkers.