Brewing Dragon Well Green Tea

by Marylyn

I was given a present of West Lake Dragonwell tea. How should I brew it to maximize its best qualities?

Please address:

1) water type,
2) water temperature,
3) brewing vessel,
4) use of lid--yes or no,
5) brewing time--1st and subsequent steeps,
6) anything else...

Answer:

Green tea is relatively easy to brew. Here are some general guidelines:

Amount of leaves

Standard recommendation is 3 grams of leaves in 8 ounce of water (about 225 millimetres) in a glass, infused over 3 times.

For my friend HQ's Dragon Well tea, 1 gram is about 60 tea shoots.

Choice of water

For water, it depends on where you live. Here are some ideas:

Tap water: Fine if it is not hard or too chlorinated. If chlorinated, leave overnight.

Distilled water: Can make the tea tastes flat if it does not contain any minerals.

Mineral water: Mustn't be too hard or devoid of minerals. Ideally between 10 to 100 milligrams per litre.

Choice of vessel

To be honest, any cup would do, although personally I prefer a clear glass (6 to 8 ounce) for Dragon Well green tea because you can admire the leaves standing up and dancing about.

This is the method commonly used in China.

Western tea experts like to use a gaiwan (basically a small white porcelain bowl with a lid), which is acceptable too.

You can experiment with leaf first, water later, or surface dropping (water first, then leaf later) if you are using a gaiwan.
(Several of my customers report excellent results with this).

Use of lid?

If use a lid, steep for 2 to 3 minutes then decant.

If using the decant method, leave a bit of liquid (says 1/3) to seed the next infusion.

If not using a lid, brew longer (say 10 minutes) until the favours come out.

Other factors

Other consideration such as water temperature, number of steepings can be found in Dragon Well Green Tea

Number of infusions is very subjective. I brew 1 gram of leaves for 5 times in an 8 ounce cup, which probably is extreme.

Some of my customers brew 3 gram for 3 times in an 8 ounce cup.

This is because this tea can seem to be very mild, but once you get it, and especially you are trying a real West Lake (there are many fakes around), it is very "rich" and very refreshing and cleansing.

Any more question, ping them to the comment form below.

Hope it helps.

PS: the higher the leaf quality, the easier and more consistent the brew.